Page 42 of Ruthless Vows

Alexei appears a second later. “Why didn’t you reply?” he asks, not noticing Lucia yet.

She’s behind me, my body concealing her.

“I was in the middle of something, Alexei,” I say on a sigh, annoyed at his interruption.

“What?” he asks, confused.

I step aside so he can see her. As soon as their eyes meet, I swear my brother grows paler. Lucia makes a sound that’s a cross between a whimper of surprise and a scream.

“Lucia?” Alexei chokes out.

My eyebrows rise at the obvious recognition in their gazes. “You two know each other?”

Alexei looks at me, seemingly getting over his earlier shock.

“What the hell are you doing with my ex, Ivan?”

I’ve always heard the phrase “feeling like a rug was swept out from underneath you.” But it isn’t until this moment that I truly understand what it really means.

CHAPTER 13

Lucia

This is a nightmare. Someone please wake me up.

I think by the time you get to my age, most women have encountered that man they fell hopelessly in love with. The man they would have done anything for. Most of the time, men like that have several flaws that for some reason we willfully choose to be blind to. Toxic relationships are a slippery slope. And my slippery slope was Alex. Alex Shaw.

That was his name. I’m starting to realize it was fake. And another thing I’m suddenly violently thankful for is that he wasn’t that man for me. I’ve never experienced that kind of toxic love. I’ve never experienced love at all. Maybe that’s why I’m strong enough to stand tall in the face of this bizarre situation. Because if I don’t, I’ll fall to pieces.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, looking straight into Alex’s brown eyes.

Brown eyes I used to know so well. Brown eyes I can’t believe I forgot. Because they’re so much like his brother’s, I should have known the moment I saw them.

He’s still staring at me in shock. I can feel the tension in the room. Particularly from Ivan, whose head is swinging back and forth between us, no doubt trying to understand what’s going on.If it were any other moment, I’d find it funny that this is the first time I’ve ever seen him so off-kilter.

Alex blinks, seeming to come out of his shock.

“I live here, Lucia. What the fuck are you doing here?”

Ivan glares, but he doesn’t even look in Alex’s direction, keeping his eyes fixed on me. I work up every single nerve I have inside me to look back at him, wringing my hands together as I try to figure out this situation.

“Apparently, I live here as well,” I reply in a mutter.

He seems to have heard enough from me because his gaze swings to Ivan next, who speaks up before he can.

“Alexei,” he starts, and I can’t help a scoff. So that’s his real name? Both men turn to me for a second before looking back at each other. “What are you trying to say?”

Alex’s—or Alexei’s—jaw grinds. “Don’t ask when you already know, Ivan. I was just telling you about her last night. What’s going on? Why is she here? Did you go looking for her in New York? Why did you bring her here?”

Ivan is white as a sheet. I can sympathize. This is so fucked. He doesn’t seem to be able to voice the words, so I figure I might as well do so for him.

“Your brother and I are getting married,” I say in a low tone, quickly, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

Alexei snarls, that face that I used to think was so beautiful becoming a mask for a second. In a way that used to scare me. It’s one of the reasons things didn’t work out between us. Because he was always wearing that mask.

“Like hell you are,” he snaps. “This doesn’t make any sense. How did you two meet? Are you doing this to punish me, Lucia? Is that it?”

“No. I had no idea you were even related to Ivan, Alex,” I grit out, making sure to emphasize his name—the one he gave me.

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