Page 77 of Ruthless Vows

It’s the nicknames that give me hope because the dead look in his eyes makes my heart clench. I’m scared after all this, he’ll simply just send me packing.

“So…” I trail off, unsure what to say. “What have you been up to the past few days?”

That’s the best opener I could think of. Although now that it’s left my lips, I want to facepalm so bad.What are you doing, Lucia? Pathetic.

“Nothing much, Lucia. How about you? You’ve been busy.”

I blink. The most I’ve done over the past couple of days is lie around and feel sorry for myself.

“You have, Lucia,” he says insistently. “I’m sure you were at least partly responsible for the fall of that scumbag, Murray, so good job, sweetheart.”

My lips part and I stare at him for the longest moment. He picks up the glass on the table in front of him and takes a sip of his drink. I’m pretty sure it’s whiskey. I also know I’ll find a cosmopolitan in the cup that’s been placed in front of me, but I don’t reach for it.

“I thought you were mad at me,” I finally manage.

“I am, Lucia. I’m even more angry considering the fact that you purposefully hid what happened at your job in New York away from me.”

My breath hitches. “I didn’t mean to. I just didn’t want anyone to die.”

“Well, that’s really too bad,krasavitsa. When the news of Murray’s fraud broke, I looked into it and found out everything that happened on my own. And then I flew to New York. I found him,” he says, brown eyes hard. “You don’t need to know the details, but he begged in the end. Asked for your forgiveness.”

I should feel sick at that. His casual confession, his allusion to torture—but really, all I can feel when I look at Ivan is my racing heart and the urge to touch him.

“Why would you do that if you didn’t care?” I question on a soft breath.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Lucia, but feelings don’t just disappear that quickly. If you know how to make it so I don’t care about you anymore, please let me know. I would be glad not to.”

“I don’t want you not to care,” I say quickly.

His eyes study my face for a couple of moments.

“Yeah, I figured. From the number of texts you left on my phone. Riddle me this, Lucia. If you came into my home with false intentions and kept up those intentions the entire time, then why won’t you just leave me alone? I let you go. You’re free to do whatever you want. Just let me go.”

My eyes well up with tears at that. “I can’t do that, Ivan, because I need you. I didn’t realize until I didn’t have you anymore just how much I need you. You’re right, I made a mistake. I should never have believed Adrian at all. But over the last week, I’ve been thinking, and the truth is, I didn’t agree to marry you because of him or because of your threats to go to war with my family…”

Ivan casually raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

“I’m not going to pretend that those things didn’t contribute to my decision,” I hurriedly backtrack. “But If I’m being honest with myself, I agreed to marry you because a part of me was curious. Because I felt and still continue to feel this overwhelming attraction toward you. And my time in your house helped to solidify it. Of course I fell for you Ivan, how could I not? You have a wonderful heart and you care for me the way I want to be cared for. How could I ever want anything else but you?”

By the time I’m done speaking, Ivan’s eyes are warmer, his expression softer. He clears his throat before speaking.

“That was a nice speech,krasavitsa.”

“I meant every word. I’m never going to forgive myself for believing you could be capable for what happened to Adrian’s mother.”

“I haven’t denied it,” he points out.

“I know you didn’t. I trust you, Ivan,” I say quietly.

That seems to be all he needed to hear. He releases a soft breath, staring at me the way he used to look at me before. That casual admiration that makes everything in the world worth it.

“You know, I was prepared to make you work for it. But now all I can think about is kissing you and having you in my arms.”

I choke out a relieved breath. My heart skips several beats.

“What’s stopping you?” I ask, getting to my feet.

I don’t hesitate to walk to him and he doesn’t stop me when I slide myself into his lap, locking my arms around his neck.

---