Page 49 of Sacred Vow

“How is your throat?” he asks.

“A little sore,” I answer, moving up to my elbows.

“I’ll get you some ice water.” He kisses my forehead. “Get under the covers. It’s bedtime.”

Normally, I’d argue. It’s barely ten o’clock, but he’s exhausted me, so I do as he says while he gets the water.

Moments later the glass is put down on the nightstand beside me and his hand wipes over my hair, pushing it away from my face. Sleep weighs me down, and all I can do is listen to his movements.

He walks around the room again, then his cellphone vibrates on the dresser where he left it. He’s quick to grab it.

“Yeah?” He keeps his voice down. I hear his clothing rustle; he must be putting his boxers back on. “I got his call finally. He’s setting it up.” The door creaks as he opens it. I chance opening my eyes enough to see him.

His back is tense.

The door clicks.

“This is it.”

Marlena squeezes my hand as we look for the suite number on the directory.

“Here it is. Martina McDougal. Suite three hundred four,” Marlena reads off. “It says LPC. That’s not a psychiatrist.” She points to the credentials behind the engraved name.

“No. She’s a licensed professional counselor. It’s the best I could find on such short notice. Doctors are booked for weeks in advance. She has dissociative amnesia listed on her website.” I glance over my shoulder at Igor, our guard for the day, standing behind us watching.

He’s already frowning, and we’ve only just arrived.

“You don’t have to wait. I’ll only be an hour; we’ll meet you down here.” The man is worse than a shadow. Where I go, he goes, no matter how much light is on me.

“I’ll be in the waiting room,” he says.

I look to Marlena and roll my eyes. The elevator doors open and we all step inside.

“How did you get Andrei to agree to this anyway?” Marlena asks, pressing the button on the panel.

“I didn’t,” I say, leaning over toward her and keep my voice low. “I told him I was meeting you for lunch.”

“Izzy.” She flicks her eyes toward Igor. “He’s going to tell Andrei where he took you.”

“He took me to meet you, and we’ll have lunch after.” I shrug.

“I have to get to work after,” she argues as the doors slide open.

“Then we’ll grab a hotdog from a cart. Don’t worry about it. If this works, then Andrei will be off the hook. He’ll be too relieved about that to care about where I spent my time today. Besides, I have a damn bodyguard. I’m being safe.”

We reach the office, and I take a deep breath. Everything’s going to change after this appointment. The danger will go away, and Andrei can relax. His vow to my brother will have been kept, and I can go back to my normal life.

A twinge of sadness at that realization touches my chest. My normal life isn’t exactly perfect. I’ll have to get a new job, hopefully one that pays enough for the rent, my bills, and a little extra, so I can keep saving to have my mother’s ashes interred beside Craig.

“Hey. You okay?” Marlena rubs my arm. “You know you don’t have to do this.”

I raise my chin. “It’s this or marry Andrei.”

“I’m not sure marrying the uber rich, hot guy is the worst thing you can do.” She tries to smile, but it’s not touching her eyes.

“You mean, the uber rich, hot mafia guy,” I correct her. “Who doesn’t love me.”

She rolls her eyes. “You know how I feel about relationships, so you won’t get me to try to convince you that love is all that matters. If you have to get married at least it’s to someone who has the resources to let you live your own life, right? I mean you can go back to school to finish your degree and then you get a job at a hospital. You’ll be so busy with your career, you won’t even notice that you’re married.”

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