Page 18 of The Pakhan’s Forced Bride (West Coast Bratva Pakhans #3)

Walking into Ardalion’s office, the last thing I would ever have expected was to see my brother standing there.

Initially, at the sight of him, my heart leaps with joy. It's Ben. I’ve missed him so much, and I want to drop everything I’m holding and run to hug him hello. But reality gives me a very hard slap in the face when I realize that this situation is very far from ok.

It’s obvious they’re in the middle of some kind of heated discussion.

I heard Nestor shouting as I neared the open door, but it looks like the argument is actually between Benedikt and Ardalion.

“Ben?” I murmur, unsure of anything. He’s glaring at me. I guess he didn’t expect to see me, no more than I expected to see him.

But he doesn’t look happy. Not in the least. His face is flooded with anger as his eyes narrow and his jaw sets tightly.

He’s not saying anything.

Why isn’t he talking to me?

Instead of answering me, he turns back to face Ardalion.

“ What the fuck is this ?” he yells, pulling his gun from the holster at his back and pointing it at Ardalion.

Just as fast as Benedikt moves, Ardalion does the same.

I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

I open my mouth to say something, but close it again. What if I say the wrong thing and set them both off? What if one pulls the trigger by accident? I don’t want to see either of them hurt.

My ears are ringing with panic.

The room is so quiet that the silence is heavy.

I dare to drag my eyes off Ardalion and Ben to glance at the other two men. They’re not moving either. Everyone is in shock.

Something snaps inside me, and I let out a horrified squeal. “What are you doing? Stop this at once.”

They ignore me. Not even a flinch.

The two men are glaring at each other as though they might shoot at any second.

“Please,” I beg, trying again to be heard.

No one moves. No one answers.

“Nestor?” I shout. “What is going on?”

He quickly shakes his head, his brows knotted.

He’s as shocked as I am.

The tension is escalating quickly, and I’m desperate to stop it before it gets any worse.

Giving up trying to reason with either of them, I run into the office and stand between my brother and Ardalion. Now their weapons are aimed at me instead of each other. I face Benedikt. He drew his gun first. I want to reassure him that I’m okay, that Ardalion hasn’t hurt me anyway.

“Get the fuck out of the way, Belle,” my brother snarls at me.

“No, put down your gun. This isn’t how we’re going to solve anything,” I shout back at him. Fear is pulsing through me like fire blazing over dry fields.

This is a horror show. I have to get them to stop.

I walk closer to Benedikt. “Ben, it’s me, I’m okay. Please, stop,” I say, more controlled, not shouting, forcing myself to keep my voice even.

Behind me, I hear Emmanuil. “Ard, put down the gun, man,” he says calmly. “Just take a breath and calm down.”

“I won’t drop my weapon until he does,” Ardalion snarls.

“Fuck you, Ardalion. You’ve been hiding her this whole time?” Benedikt shouts. His eyes are wild with anger. His finger flexes against the trigger of his gun. I wince, squeezing my eyes shut. When I open them again, he hasn’t moved.

“Ben, please ,” I beg him, taking another step towards him. My heart is racing. My palms are sweaty.

His eyes drop from Ardalion, looking straight at me. The intensity of his stare steals my breath away.

He looks like he’s filled with hatred.

“Do you have any idea what you put me through, Belle? My little sister—sneaking off with the enemy. Hiding while I hunt for her day and night, not sleeping, hardly eating, my life falling apart because I thought you’d been taken against your will.” He spits the words at me with disgust.

“Ben, I didn’t—" I stammer, turning to look at Ardalion, who is saying nothing. I thought they were negotiating for my release. I thought Ardalion had been in contact with my brother for weeks.

“Don’t even fucking bother talking to me, Belle.

You’re disgusting. I can’t believe you were fine putting your family through this while you played happily in LA with this asshole.

Did you even think once about me? Or Mom?

Did you think about Ulyana? She’s been crying non-stop, begging me to find you.

We’ve been going through hell. I don’t even know who you are anymore.

” Benedikt’s words cut into me, leaving me speechless and stunned.

I would never put my family through that.

It hurts that he thinks I would ever do something like that.

I want to defend myself, I want to tell him I didn’t leave by choice.

But the tension in the room is so horrific, I’m afraid he might start shooting without thinking.

My eyes are burning with the threat of tears, but I’m fighting to hold them back. I need to keep my emotions in check, stay as calm as I can to bring down the tension.

“Ben, it’s not what you think,” I manage to say, reaching up to touch his hand, trying to get him to see I’m still me. I’m still Belle. I didn’t hurt them on purpose.

He pulls his hand away as though I’ve stung him.

He snorts an angry laugh. “So, I didn’t just see you walk into my enemy's office, smiling, ready to drink champagne and enjoy your weekend? I didn’t see that?

I’m supposed to ignore how happy you look?

Is that what you’re telling me? How dare you think you have a right to tell me anything after what you’ve done.

You have this secret, sick little relationship with a guy whom you know I despise.

You’re disgusting, Belle. Selfish. And you’re a liar. ”

His words are so nasty, his assumptions are getting worse the longer we stand here. I’ve never seen this side of Benedikt before. He’s never, in my entire life, spoken to me like this before.

My heart shatters.

Tears stream down my cheeks when I realize that nothing I say will help calm him down or make him see the truth. He’s blinded with rage. And it’s directed at me.

He thinks I ran away. He thinks I’ve been hiding from him.

All this time, I didn’t know they weren’t in contact with each other. All this time, Benedikt has been searching for me. If I knew, I would have tried to reach out to him. I wouldn’t have left it. I would have been pleading with Ardalion.

I hate the fact that he’s been in hell over this. But I didn’t know.

“Ben, please,” I whisper through my tears, my throat closing around my words.

“Save your fake tears, Belle,” he snarls. “How am I supposed to explain to Ulyana what you’ve done?” he spits.

“Don’t you dare speak to her like that,” Ardalion growls from behind me, his hand wrapping around my arm as he pulls me out of Benedikt’s line of fire.

He pushes me behind himself, protecting me from my own brother’s rage.

“You have no right to speak to her like that. This is my city, my turf. She’s under my protection while she’s here. ”

My heart beats even faster. I don’t understand what’s happening.

Benedikt bursts out laughing, but it’s a nasty, cold laugh filled with malice and darkness.

“You can have her. She’s a traitor. She’s made it clear that she doesn’t care about her family by choosing you over us.

So keep her,” Benedikt says, his voice low and void of emotion. It’s like he’s gone numb.

“We need to get him out of here,” I hear Nestor say to Emmanuil.

But I don’t want Benedikt to leave before I’ve had a chance to clear this up with him. But how can I do that without telling him that Ardalion kidnapped me?

He’ll kill him.

And it also doesn’t explain why I arrived here, roaming free, carrying a bottle of champagne with a smile of my face. Shit. This looks so bad. Everything looks bad.

Emmanuil positions himself between the two men, and Nestor approaches Benedikt.

He reaches out, cautiously, wrapping his hand around my brother’s gun he pulls it from his grasp.

“Come on, man, it’s not worth it to start a shoot-out in here. Let’s go. We can sort this out when everyone has had a chance to cool down.”

“I’ll fucking kill him,” Benedikt seethes.

“Your sister is alive. She’s safe. That’s what counts. Right? She’s not a prisoner in someone’s basement.”

Benedikt’s eyes shoot to me. “No, she’s playing princess, dressing up, and drinking champagne. Having the time of her fucking life.”

I press my lips together, ignoring the tears streaming over my cheeks. I don’t say anything because it’s pointless. Nestor is right. Everyone needs to calm down. I need to ask Ardalion what is actually going on.

“Come on, this isn’t helping.” Nestor shoots Emmanuil a desperate glance. Emmanuil nods and walks towards Benedikt. He nudges my brother towards the door, and Nestor does the same, with each man walking on either side of him to try and control him.

At first, it looks like my brother is going to put up a fight. Then it looks like Ardalion is going to yell something at him.

I grab Ardalion’s arm and shake my head, pleading with him to stay quiet. There’ve been enough harmful words thrown around this room already.

Ardalion clenches his jaw and holds back whatever he wanted to say.

I watch Nestor and Emmanuil lead my brother out of the office.

For a long time, I stare at the door, not daring to move. Waiting. I’m too tense to assume it’s over. My brother might come bursting back through that door any moment.

We hear the elevator in the distance. I’m holding my breath.

Ardalion lets out an angry sigh, and my shoulders relax. They’re gone.

I turn to look at him, so many questions racing through my mind.

He turns away from me, pushing his hand through his hair, taking a number of deep breathes, and then rolling his shoulders.

I wait, biting my lower lip, anxious and confused.

Ardalion places his handgun on his desk and turns with his back to it, leaning against it.

Finally, he looks at me.

“Ardalion, what just happened?” I ask, my voice small, sounding fragile. I clear my throat and tilt my chin up, searching for my strength.

“I didn’t know he was coming to LA,” he sighs.

“That’s not what I meant, though. I mean—why was he so shocked to see me with you? I thought you were already negotiating with him for my release.”

Ardalion pulls his mouth to the side, biting the inside of his cheek. His silence is annoying me.

“Didn’t you tell him you had taken me?” I ask, getting angry.

“I didn’t,” he admits.

“Why? Wasn’t this a revenge thing, or a blackmail, or a ransom thing? What was the point of kidnapping me if you weren’t going to use me as a tool to get what you wanted?”

He shakes his head. For some reason, he has no answers for me.

I’m no expert on kidnapping, but this doesn’t make any sense.

I hate the fact that my brother and Ulyana have been worried sick about me. I hate the fact that Ardalion won’t tell me what’s going on.

The silence between us grows louder, building a wall and pushing us apart.

I can’t take it anymore.

“I’m going home,” I say, barely a whisper. My energy is completely drained from my body. Today was supposed to be special. I can’t believe how quickly it all went wrong.

I walk towards the office door, pausing to look at the picnic basket, lying on its side, the contents fallen out.

I don’t even have the strength to pick it up, so I just carry on walking.

I feel numb inside as I walk towards the elevator.

What worries me is that I don’t know what’s going to happen next. My brother is furious with me. He practically hates me. I can’t go back to Las Vegas until I’ve spoken to him.

But am I still welcome in Ardalion’s home now?

I’m married to him.

But that was for some revenge plot that apparently never happened.

So, what did happen?

The elevator doors close, and I’m carried down to the ground floor, my head spinning with questions and confusion.