Alik’s hold tightened still and tears ran down my cheeks. His face then showed every single nuance of pain and rage he felt and his mouth moved right to my ear.

“I watched you fuck him. I watched you kiss him. I watched you fucking hold him, watched you stroke his hair!”

“Alik—” I cried, but just as I did, Alik stepped back and the back of his hand smacked across my face.

Losing my footing under the force and shock, I slumped to the floor, Alik pacing in front of me, hitting at his head with the heels of his hands. “Why? WHY?” he screamed and whipped to face me, his head tilted to the side.

“Kisa, baby, my Myshka, why did you make me do this?” Alik’s voice was gentle, apologetic, completely opposite to a moment ago. I rolled my head to face him, my cheek throbbing from the hit.

Alik bent down and stroked across my forehead with the same firm hand he hit me with. “I watched you fucking him, Kisa. You fucked another guy, and now I gotta make you pay. That pussy of yours belongs to me.”

I shook my head, tears spilling down my face. “No, Alik, please… You don’t understand.”

Sighing, Alik looked away, and when he turned back, I began to speak, but Alik gripped my hair and dragged me to my feet.

“Alik!” I cried, but he didn’t stop, just yanked me forward until I stood at the bottom of the large bed.

“Alik, please,” I begged. “I love him! I … I love him.”

Alik froze and pulled me forward by my hair. “Say what? You want to tell me that again?”

“I… I…” Alik fisted my hair tighter, to the point I thought it was going to rip from my head.

“Tell me again!” he ordered, and I sobbed.

But then a wash of numbness filled me and, looking Alik straight in the eyes, I declared, “I love him. He’s my soul mate. I want him… I want him…”

Alik paled and reared back as if I’d physically hurt him. I could actually see the pain in his face. “Alik—”

Another strike knocked me onto the bed. I didn’t scream this time, just landed on the mattress and felt the blood from my bust lip trickle down my chin.

“Your soul mate? You’ve only just fucking met him!” Alik roared and, beyond seething, ran his hands through his short hair, then sent a punch straight into my stomach.

I coughed and spluttered as the blow robbed me of my breath, and Alik roared again. Bending down, he had tears in his eyes. “Kisa,” he said quietly, running his finger down my cheek. “I don’t want to hurt you, but a good Bratva wife doesn’t fuck around. You’re making me do this to you. You need to be taught a lesson, Myshka. You’ve betrayed me, but…”

Alik sighed and pressed kisses all over my face. My body was curled inward, trying to find the ability to breathe.

“But I need you. But…” His body tensed again. “I can’t stand the fucking thought of you with him, baby. Can’t get the thought of you riding his dick from my head.”

Alik tipped back his head and growled in frustration. Facing forward once more, he pushed me back onto the mattress and crawled on the bed. “I need to fuck you,” he said firmly. “I need to show you who you fucking belong to.”

My heart sank as he spoke those words. “No… please, Alik… Please…”

But he didn’t listen, didn’t care. Alik snapped open the fly of his jeans and pulled off his shirt. Once he was undressed, he reached for my dress. I freed my arms from around my stomach to push his hands away, but Alik took my wrists in one hand and struck me across the cheek with the other. In the aftermath, he acted as though nothing had happened.

I resisted, fought back for as long as I could, picturing my Luka in my mind. I didn’t want Alik to take me and rid me of Luka’s feel. I didn’t want him to touch me.

He killed my brother.

He framed my Luka.

Alik leaned down, teeth bared and squeezed my wrist until I heard a crack. I was sure he had broken it. Spots danced in front of my eyes with the searing pain. He ripped away my dress, running his nose up my neck, almost tenderly, then his hand wrapped around my throat.

Tears filled Alik’s eyes as he stared me down, my sight fading in and out of blackness as his grip on my throat cut off my oxygen.

“Myshka, you’re mine,” he said as he pushed my thighs apart and placed himself at my entrance. “I need you to be mine.”

As he slammed his cock inside me, his hand slipped off my throat, allowing me to gasp in a breath, and his hand took tight hold of my hips. He took me roughly, bruisingly, making sure I knew he was in control… that he, and only he, possessed me.

As he drove into me faster, Alik leaned forward, my eyes unable to focus through the blows to my face, the choking of my throat, the sexual assault.

“I’m gonna kill that fucker tomorrow, Myshka. Take him out. So get him out of your mind. Then no more fucking waiting. We’re marrying the day after and you’ll learn your place once and for all. Do you hear me?”

My head was cast to the side, my eyes trying to focus on anything around the room. Suddenly, Alik’s hand slammed down on my cheeks and he forced me to look at him. Another blow branded my cheek with pain, and he shook my head as his hips slammed into my pussy. “I said do you fucking hear me?”

I tried to speak, but my cheeks were numb, my lips too swollen to move. Instead, a desperate noise slipped through my lips, and Alik smiled down at me, accepting it as my submission.