Page 80 of The Pakhan's Arranged Bride

He’s not angry with me.

“I will hunt that fucking rat down and chain him in a fucking basement and watch him starve to death, slowly and painfully.”

Benedikt is furious, but all of it is directed towards Miron.

“Ben—" I stand up, reaching my hand towards him. He seems blind with rage.

“I’ll find him tonight and skin him alive,” he shouts, veins popping out over his temple.

“Ben,” I say his name as gently as I can, trying to break the spell of his anger. He pulls his phone from his pocket, trying to call someone.

I rush over to him and put my hand over the screen. “Ben, what are you doing?”

“I’m calling Jadon, I want Miron—I want him now. His life is over.”

“No, just wait, look at me,” I say, lifting my hand to touch his cheek. My heart is racing, as though I’m confronting a wild animal. A bear, furious and dangerous.

Benedikt pulls his face away from my touch and shakes his head. “This can’t go on anymore, Ulyana. He doesn’t deserve to breathe another breath. He deserves to be screaming in agony.”

Benedikt is towering over me, not hearing me, hardly seeing me. I feel small and lost and like I have no power to stop him from doing something really stupid tonight.

He can’t go after Miron in this state.

Miron isn’t the most powerful man, but he’s sneaky and clever and he won’t hesitate to kill Benedikt. And Benedikt, in this state—he’s not going to be paying attention to the details.

Desperate, I climb into the sofa Benedikt is standing near. I stand on the seat and reach for him again. “Ben,” I say sternly, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards me.

He turns to look at me, and he’s confused to be face-to-face with me, instead of towering over me as usual.

His brows knit as he looks me up and down, seeing that I’m standing on the chair.

I don’t know if I look silly, or out of place, but the randomness of this act breaks the spell of his anger.

“What are you doing?” he asks, one side of his mouth curling into a smile.

I take his face in both hands and breathe a sigh of relief. “I’mtryingto get your attention.”

“You always have my attention, Yana,” he sighs.

“Not for a moment there, I lost you.”

He takes a deep breath and nods. “Sorry. I’m angry. All this time you’ve been dealing with that alone—the way he was torturing you, terrorizing you—what kind of a monster does that?”

“You’re not angry at me?” I ask cautiously.

His eyes lock with mine and he wraps his arm around my waist, stepping closer to the chair he holds me against his chest.

“I finally understand you,” he whispers. “And all I want now is for you to feel safe. I want to be the one who gives that to you.”

“Well, running off to chase Miron tonight is not going to make me feel safe,” I say sternly. “If you want to give me safety, work with me to take Miron down.”

He chuckles. “I realize that now. As much as I want to go after him tonight—I need more of a plan.”

“Notyou, Benedikt.Us. We need a plan,”I say, narrowing my eyes, seeing if he will agree to this.

He rolls his eyes. “Yes, we. We can work together. It’s far better than you putting yourself in danger thinking you can do this alone.”

I grin and lean my forehead against his. He strokes his hand over my hair, whispering against my lips, “I never want you to feel scared of him again. I’m going to protect you, Yana. You mean more to me than I’ve told you. I want to show you that.”