Russian Mafia Boss's Heir Read Online Free Page A

shelf.
    “What?” Tori whispered. “You’re looking at me as if I’m going to shatter into a million pieces at any second.”
    “Are you?” He knew his voice sounded harsh, but he wasn’t all that happy at the moment.
    “No.” She sounded affronted, but then she blushed. “I’m not usually a wimp. I just—I guess I freaked out a little. That’s never happened to us before.”
    Jamie piped up from the backseat. “It really hasn’t! I don’t know what the deal was with those guys!”
    “I’ve never seen them there before,” Mara added. “And we go there at least twice a month on the weekends.”
    “So the fact that this has never happened before means what?” Mikhail knew he was being harsh. He was still seeing Tori slung over a man’s shoulder, some stranger’s hand touching her rounded bottom. It was going to take him a good while to get over that.
    “What do you mean?” Tori frowned. “You can’t judge me based on my reaction to one incident. You don’t even know me!”
    “I don’t have to judge you.” He turned and faced forward, staring over the dash at the dark streets. “Stanislas has already told me everything I need to know.”
    “Oh, this will be a great marriage then!” Tori burst out. “Let me just tell you now. My stepfather doesn’t know a damn thing about me! He thinks he does. He thinks he knows everything! But if you base your opinion of me on what Stanislas says—” She mocked her stepfather, waggling her eyebrows and pulling a horrible face. “—then you might as well figure our marriage will be done before it begins.”
    “So disrespectful to a man who took you in and raised you though you weren’t even his responsibility.” Mikhail shook his head in disgust. He couldn’t abide ungratefulness or entitlement.
    Tori snorted. “Yes. And can I just say how tiring it is to be reminded of that fact every single day of your life? How would you like to be force fed a constant stream of reminders that you don’t really belong? Would it make you loyal? Or would it piss you off? What if Stanislas reminded you every damned day that you owe him your position of power? That he chose you to be his successor and trusted you to lead? What if he rubbed your nose in that for the next twenty years? Would you be grateful? Or would you be tired?”
    Mikhail thought of the many, many times that Stanislas had indeed said things that made it seem as if he were issuing a gentle reminder that Mikhail’s future rested on Stanislas’s good opinion. Was that really what Tori’s life had been like? And could he fault her bitterness if it had?

Chapter Four
    Tori rolled over in bed, squeezing her eyes closed and wishing it were tomorrow. Or better yet, she wished it were yesterday. In fact, she wished it could be yesterday every single morning for the rest of her life. That way she would never reach her unwanted wedding day. She could just live out a happy existence as a single girl with a life of possibility ahead.
    She groaned and sat up. She caught sight of her reflection in the dresser mirror and flung a pillow at the offending sight. A hard night of crying did not make for a happy morning. She was all raccoon eyes, puffy red skin, blotchy cheeks, and a rat’s nest of black hair forming a knotted halo around her face. All in all, she looked like the bride of Frankenstein.
    “Not inaccurate actually,” she mused thoughtfully. “I think you could definitely classify Mikhail as a Frankenstein character. Except he’s not ugly.”
    She lapsed into silence, thinking about his handsome face and the way it had felt to have him carry her against his chest. He was so incredibly strong. She’d felt like a tiny bit of nothing in his arms. And really, the guy had ripped apart those men who had attacked her and her friends as if they’d been playground bullies and not grown thugs.
    Someone banged on her bedroom door. “Get out of bed!” The housekeeper’s voice drifted through the thick