Page 52 of Sacred Vow

He grabs hold of my wrist and with one quick yank pulls me inside.

Marlena starts to step in with us, but Andrei puts his hand out.

“You stay there. Igor will take you where you need to go.” He hits the button inside the elevator and before I can say a word to Marlena, the doors close, and I’m whisked away.

The ride home drags by in stifling silence, and Izzy presses herself into the corner of the elevator as we ride up to the penthouse.

I touch my fingertips to the small of her back, leading her from the elevator into the foyer.

“Andrei, let me explain.” She stops before we get to the stairs.

“Not yet, Izzy. I’m thinking of your punishment, and I can’t do that if you’re talking.” I glide my hand down to her ass, squeezing it.

“You can’t just keep punishing me.”

I laugh. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

She spins away from my touch and hurries into the living room. As though I won’t drape her over the back of the couch and give her the punishment she’s earned. My staff know when not to enter a room, and none of my men would dare put eyes on her when I have her pants around her ankles.

“Wait.” She thrusts her hand out and runs to the other side of the couch. Fine. I’ll play her little game. I keep my position behind the useless barrier.

“For what?”

“I want to talk about this. You can’t just keep going around spanking me every time I upset you.” Her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes dart around the room. Looking for an escape that doesn’t exist.

“I’m not going to spank you,” I assure her.

“You’re not?” Her question has caution.

“No.” I fold my arms over my chest. “So tell me, Izzy, what was the plan today? You lied to me about going out to lunch with Marlena. I guess I understand that part, since you went to a therapist instead. What was the rest of the plan?”

She drops her hand. “She helps people with trauma. People like me, who have blocked out memories. I was hoping she’d be able to jostle it all loose and I’d remember what I’m supposed to know.”

“Did it work?”

Her shoulders drop. One step over the couch and I can have her in my arms, but I force myself to wait. I can’t touch her yet. If I touch her, I won’t stop and right now I need answers.

“No.” She drops her purse onto the couch. “She said it will take more than one session. But she’s hopeful that I’ll be able to get the memory to come back on its own. I just need to make my brain believe it’s safe to remember.”

Except it’s not.

“If I remember,” she continues, “you won’t have to marry me. You’ll be able to pass along whatever it is these guys want, and I can go back to my life. And you can go back to yours.”

I fist my hands in my pockets. It’s the only way to not grab her and shake sense into her.

“No, Izzy.” I keep my voice low, firm. I need her to understand this. “We talked about this already. I understand you want to remember, you want to figure this all out. But even if you remember and it’s something that they want, it won’t help. Because if you remember, you’ll remember more than just helpful information. You’ll remember something else.”

“Like what?”

“You witnessed it, Izzy. All of it, and if you remember, you’ll remember who was there, too.” There’s an entire world where darkness and danger touch everything. Her blocked memory has saved her from being touched by that darkness. I want to keep her there, where she’s safe from an image she’ll never get out of her mind once it’s there.

Her brows pull down. “I saw the accident. I know.”

“It wasn’t an accident, Izzy. And if you remember, you’ll be remembering that too.” There’s more I can say, more I can tell her, but it would risk triggering that memory. The doctors told her mother and me what we could do to help her get the days back, but we agreed to do our best to keep that memory from revealing itself.

She takes a slow breath. “If not remembering puts me in danger, and remembering puts me in danger… what am I supposed to do?”

“I already told you what we’re going to do. You just haven’t accepted it yet.”

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