Page 23 of The Pakhan’s Forced Bride (West Coast Bratva Pakhans #3)

As soon as I realized what was happening, I raced home.

The first indication that something might be wrong was when I got the notification on my phone that my laptop had logged into the security feed just a few minutes after I left my house.

Then I figured out it was Belle.

It made me curious, so I started watching the videos as well. What was she looking for?

But in the end, she led me straight to the truth.

I only had to watch two of them before I knew, without a doubt, that it was Benedikt behind the attacks. We all train in the same way. Our allies have a distinct pattern of attacks. We all learn the same tactics so that we can work together when we need to.

It was obvious. I was being attacked by someone inside my alliance, and the only possible person it could be was Benedikt.

I kept an eye on Belle’s movements on my laptop. She watched every video, then searched around the program as though she was looking for more. I couldn’t understand what she was doing, but I didn’t like it.

Then, when I was notified that she was leaving the mansion in a hurry, I had to have my men follow her. I couldn’t ignore it.

Even if I want to believe in her, I have been in this business for far too long.

Trust is earned and quickly lost.

My men didn’t go into the coffee shop with her, but they watched from a distance, sending me photographs of her sitting with her brother and Ulyana.

I’d seen enough.

I had all the answers I needed.

Leaving the scene at the warehouse, I put my team manager in charge of cleaning up the mess, and I headed home to wait for her.

To confront her.

And all the while I waited, my anger simmered deeper and hotter.

Now, Belle is standing in front of me, staring at me as though what I’ve said is a surprise.

“Ardalion, please let me explain.”

I’m staring at her, the beautiful girl I’ve been obsessing over for the past few months, this gorgeous, kind, happy soul—and I don’t recognize her.

After all this time, I realize I was right in the beginning.

It was too easy to take her. She was too easy to keep and too easy to please.

All this time, she was a spy, planted in my home, in my life, to feed information to her brother.

My heart is shattered as I stare into her beautiful blue eyes.

Right now, she is like a siren, a temptress of evil. But her soothing words and attempts to calm me no longer have any effect on me.

I’m furious.

I’m angry with myself for falling for everything.

And I’m angry at her for being so good and luring me in.

All this time I’ve spent preparing for an enemy, when the enemy was right in my bed, in my home.

Belle opens her mouth to plead again, and I shake my head, holding my hand up to silence her.

“I don’t want to hear a word of it. Everything that comes from your lips is a lie.

They sent me a beautiful, yet deadly temptation, and I was so fucking stupid I fell for it.

I fell for your softness while all this time you were a spy, a snake, cold-hearted and dangerous.

You are a disgusting human being, Belle.

I have never met someone so efficient at being devious.

I believed you. I believed everything.” I snort, laughter bursting from my lips.

Angry, in disbelief at how efficient she was.

Belle’s mouth drops open, and her brows knot as she glares at me.

I’d be angry too if I were caught.

I stare at her, watching, waiting.

Belle’s eyes are glittering with tears, but I won’t fall for that.

“Crying? Fake tears? Or are they real? Real because you got caught? You slipped up when you went to see him. I can’t believe you told me you’d be home waiting for me.

And last night, when I came back from the warehouse, you comforted me after being a part of the devastation that took my men’s lives.

How sick is that? You gave me your body to take away my hurt.

Are you soulless?” I snarl, stepping closer to her as anger wells inside me.

She brushes away a tear and shakes her head. I wait for her to defend herself. To tell me I’m an asshole for accusing her of these things. But she doesn’t. In my mind, I’m pleading, begging, desperate to hear her tell me I’m wrong. My body is shaking as panic and anxiety rush through me.

The one thing holding me together right now is the desperate need to believe that I’m wrong about her. That’s all. It’s the last thread. A hope that’s quickly fading away.

Belle takes a step backward, creating distance between us. Her face is distorted with emotions, her lips pressed together, and her eyes flooded with tears.

My heart sinks lower, into the pit of my stomach, shattering even more when I understand that she isn’t going to tell me I’m wrong. She isn’t going to defend herself.

“I’m leaving,” Belle says, barely a whisper, her voice broken.

She speaks softly, not even sounding angry.

She turns to walk away from me, and I want to stop her. I want to shout for her to wait, to come back, to stay.

But I can’t.

The anger is in control right now, not me.

She goes upstairs to pack her things, then I listen from the living room as she leaves. The front door closes behind her. And the house falls silent and cold. Void.

For a long time, I couldn’t move.

I shake my head, clenching my jaw, standing in place with my hands clenched into tight fists at my side.

She betrayed me.

She shattered my trust.

I was a fool not to realize that something that good could never be real.

***

She’s been gone for an hour.

I take a shot of vodka, not knowing what to do with myself.

An hour turns into two.

The anger fades, and reason slowly slips into my thoughts.

What I said to her was beyond cruel. I didn’t even give her a chance to explain anything, to say anything. I just tore her apart with my words. Harsh, nasty words.

Why was I so cold?

Sitting on the edge of the sofa, I hang my head in shame. The harshness of my words was a direct reflection of the pain I was in.

And the only reason the pain was so intense is because I have feelings for her.

I let out a heavy breath of air when the truth slams into my thoughts.

“Dammit, Ardalion,” I groan, disappointed in myself. I let her walk away. The most incredible thing that has ever happened to me—I treated her like shit and then let her walk away.

Now that I know what’s really going on with me, I have to fix it.

I can’t let things end like this. I’m such an asshole. She didn’t even need to tell me that for me to work it out. It’s obvious.

Racing, I grab my phone and call Nestor, shooting a hurried version of the story at him in a rush of words that I hope make sense. He had no idea that Benedikt was planning these attacks. But he also doesn’t want me to retaliate.

I have to reassure him over and over again that revenge isn’t my plan. I want to talk to Belle, not her brother. I have to make things right. He’s reluctant at first, but eventually he tells me where Benedikt is staying in Los Angeles.

It’s a race against time, because I know the only reason he was still here was to get Belle back, and now that he has her, he might already be on a plane back to Las Vegas.

I drive like a madman to the house Benedikt has rented in town.

When I get there, his security systems obviously notify him, because he comes outside before I’m able to park and climb out of my car.

“What the fuck do you want?” he growls, his arms folded over his broad chest as he glares down at me from the steps of his villa.

“Please, let me speak to Belle,” I say, laying myself bare, not even mentioning the attacks or revenge or things that don’t matter in this moment.

“Belle?” he snaps. “Why the hell would I let you near my sister?”

“Please, Benedikt. I’m begging you. Just let me talk to her for a few minutes. I have to tell her I’m sorry.”

He snorts. Amused. Cold.

“You won’t be talking to my sister, Ardalion—not ever again.”

“Can you please pass on a message—" I beg.

“I won’t be passing on any messages for you, either. She will never see you again, and she will never hear your name again. You should forget she ever existed.”

I have never felt panic like this before. The idea of never having a chance to make things right, to at least apologize, to fight for her—it makes me wonder if there’s any point in living without the chance of having her.

She is once in a lifetime, one of a kind. I can’t fathom the idea of losing that when I was lucky enough to find it in the first place.

Movement catches my eye behind Benedikt, and my gaze shoots to a window to the left of the front door. I catch a flash of long hair, peering through the glass, before she ducks out of sight.

I hurt her so badly. I wish I could scream her name and tell her how sorry I am.

I take a step forward, blinded by my need to see her, to hold her again.

“Leave,” Benedikt snarls, pulling a Glock from his belt.

He leaves it hanging at his side, not aimed at me, but the intention is clear as his fingers wrap around the trigger, and I have no doubt he would love to put a bullet through my skull.

This is not the time to push my luck with him.

I tear my eyes from the window where Belle was standing only a moment ago. She feels so close, yet an infinite distance away from me.

I will have to find another way to reach her.

I won’t give up, but I have to be patient.

Later that night, I find out that Benedikt has flown home with his sister. Belle is back in Vegas.

She’s gone.