Page 6 of The Russian’s Forced Bride (Kamarov Bratva #2)

And then, beneath her passport, there was other relevant information about her. Her age—twenty-two—her blood type, among other details.

“You’re going to marry her. So I’d advise you to get used to seeing her face from today. Get a place here in Chicago and settle down with her,” Matvey declared, as if he hadn’t just taken my right to decide away.

My body immediately stiffened, a sudden coldness making it hard to move. It wasn’t long ago that I was the one mocking him for being handed over like a lamb to the slaughter. And here I was, about to live that same fate he was somehow lucky to escape from.

But this—I couldn’t escape from this.

I was a foot soldier—a pawn to the Bratva. There was only so much I could do in defiance of my Pakhan’s orders.

But at the same time, a piercing heat spread into my heart. Arlette Whitmore was one woman I couldn’t allow into my life. She was a force that disrupted the balance of my world—like a curse I couldn’t shake.

She was everywhere, in everything, and it was beginning to sicken me.

My jaws were locked in a steaming anger.

“You didn’t discuss this with me, Matvey. Is this a joke or something?” I asked, taking one last drag of my cigarette and tapping it against a metallic ashtray on Matvey’s table. I then looked right into Matvey’s dark green eyes with a smile, even though I wanted to put a hole in his skull.

“We were going to tell you,” Matvey claimed, “but things became too messy and bloody.” He then sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Good . I wasn’t the only one feeling like a block of lead was resting on my shoulders.

“You remember Jaxon Whitmore stopped right by my office just before he died, don’t you?” Matvey asked, now leaning forward and resting his elbows on his desk.

I nodded in reply, wondering if my guesses about why that man came by were true.

I was right, wasn’t I?

“Apparently, Joaquin Saavedra was forcing Jaxon to do some nasty shit for him. He came to ask for protection for his life and his daughter’s from the Bratva, and of course, he signed over a third of his company’s shares to us.”

Hmm .

But, unluckily for him, he didn’t get to enjoy that protection because he was killed afterward.

Matvey then continued, “We were able to track down who had been behind Jaxon’s death from surveillance footage, and it was none other than the man whom Jaxon had run to us for protection against—Joaquin Saavedra.”

Matvey then slid a stack of documents my way, including photos of Joaquin’s men prowling around the Kamarov mansion and other evidence indicating that Joaquin was responsible for Jaxon’s death.

Joaquin Saavedra was an intercontinental facilitator, as well as a money-grubbing and power-hungry madman.

He had never directly messed with the Bratva, but it seemed to me that his ego was growing. Joaquin must have had something that gave him the guts to kill Jaxon Whitmore on Bratva territory.

But that wasn’t all.

“From what I’ve heard, Joaquin has been watching the Bratva cash flow system for a while, Rafael, so I need you to be very careful. We’re dealing with a smart man who suddenly went off the radar after that stunt he pulled,” Matvey warned me, and I took a sharp breath, scoffing afterward.

Joaquin Saavedra was a fool—one who loved to dip his hands into a crackling inferno, hoping to survive.

But from all Matvey had just said, I figured out why he wanted me to marry Whitmore’s heiress. It further solidified our share of her father’s company and offered her immunity and protection.

But ….

“I don’t want to marry her,” I told Matvey flat-out.

His gaze on me hardened, like he couldn’t believe his ears.

But I was just as stubborn as he thought himself to be.

His voice dropped to a dangerous calm. “You’ve been given an order, Rafael. Your only choice is to obey.”

A muscle in my cheek ticked as a smile dragged across my face. He was right, and I knew he was, but it was satisfying to see Matvey try to remind me of my place. I tossed the paper he had given me back onto his desk before leaning back in the armchair.

“Alright, you win.” I lifted my hands in mock surrender, and Matvey raised a brow, clearly surprised at how fast I’d changed my mind.

But the change wasn’t out of the blue. I figured I had no choice, and a twisted part of me reveled in the thought of having that woman in my world and within my grasp.

She had managed to pique my interest, and I wanted to know what about her was so exotic to me.

“What?” I asked Matvey while crossing my arms in response to his confused expression. “It’s my duty to obey, isn’t it? Although I do have a condition to this.”

“A request?” Matvey asked, narrowing his eyes at me, and I nodded.

“I need to meet her alone first. A piece of paper can’t prepare me to live with a princess forever.”

Matvey scoffed at my words with visible irritation. He wasn’t just going to make all the decisions without me having a say, and this was my way of letting him know that.

And there it was.

Matvey sighed, cussing me out in Russian before he nodded. “I’ll make arrangements.”

A smirk tugged at my lips.

Good .