Page 56 of His Forced Bride

I can feel her pulse racing where my fingers wrap around her wrists, can see the flush spreading down her throat.

Before either of us can say anything else, my phone rings.

I release her, stepping back as I check the caller ID.

Unknown number, but the area code is familiar.

I answer, putting the call on speaker.

"Gravitch."

"Mr. Gravitch." The voice is female, cultured, with a slight accent I can't place. "My name is Viktoria Mirova. I believe you know my daughter."

Inessa goes perfectly still, her face draining of color.

"Mrs. Mirova."

I keep my voice neutral, but this woman makes me want to kill something. "What can I do for you?"

"You can release my daughter and allow her to come home where she belongs."

"Your daughter is exactly where she belongs. In her husband's house."

Viktoria's laugh is a cruel, nasally sound.

"Her husband. Yes, I heard about your… arrangement. Quite creative, forcing a grieving girl into marriage to salvage a business deal."

"Inessa married me willingly."

"At gunpoint, from what I understand."

Inessa presses her hand to her mouth, staring at the phone with horror.

If she says a word, I'll be forced to end this call, but finding out what Viktoria is up to is worth this slight risk.

"I don't know what you think you know?—"

"I know my daughter never would have agreed to marry you under normal circumstances. I know you've isolated her from her friends, her support system. And I know that legally, she still has options."

"Such as?"

"Such as annulment. Divorce. Transfer of her business assets to family members who can properly protect them."

The threat is clear.

Viktoria isn't just demanding Inessa's return.

She's positioning herself to take control of the company.

"Inessa is an adult," I tell her. "She can make her own decisions."

"Can she? When she's trapped in your compound, unable to communicate with the outside world?" Viktoria's voice sharpens. "Let me speak to her. Now."

I look at Inessa, whose lips are pursed, eyes narrowing at me suspiciously.

It's like she's testing me to find out if I'm really as vindictive as she thinks I am.

But she has no idea who her mother really is.