Page 129 of Deceitful Vows

I shake my head, too sickened to consider a worded reply.

“He did. We were young, but we were so in love.” Tears burst into her eyes. “Then you drove him home and I never saw him again.”

For the first time in almost a minute, I suck in an entire breath. She’s not talking about Andrik. She thinks I was occupying my afternoon with Bayli.

“I drove him home, Aleena. I swear to you that wasallI did.”

Her tear-filled eyes seek the truth from my eyes before she adds words to the mix. “You weren’t with Bayli today?”

“No. I wasn’t. Not today and not at your sixteenth.”

She looks relieved—for half a second.

As her eyes bulge, she folds in two and vomits into a bush siding the river pool. I cringe, almost certain I’ll join her if I assist her now.

Mercifully, even while under the influence, Nikita has no trouble handling vomit. She pats Aleena’s back until all the ghastly liquid in her stomach is expelled, and then she assists me in getting my sister back to our room.

Aleena continues to mumble under her breath throughout the slow journey, but her voice only loudens enough for me to understand her jabbering once we reach the safety of our suite. “They could have love and money. We-we could give them that.” Her throat bobs a handful of times before she locks eyes with Nikita. “You just need to tell Maksim the truth. That you’d never intentionally hurt his mother.”

“He knows. He was there.”

She moves closer to Nikita to ensure she can see the honesty in her bloodshot eyes when she says, “No, he doesn’t. They told him it was a ruse”—Nikita’s stomach doesn’t seem anywhere near as unbreachable when Aleena burps in her face—“and that you knew he was there. They’re putting all the blame on you.” She hits her with the same pleading look I plan to give her when she’s not drunk. “You have to tell him the truth. They need to be told when they’re wrong. They only treat us this way because we let them.” My heart beats at an unnatural rhythm when she quotes something I said to her when I was being removed from her party with Bayli. “If we don’t like how we’re treated, we should stand up for ourselves.” Her focus returns to the present. “Tell them to either ship up or ship out. And we should do it now.”

“Now?” Nikita and I say in sync.

“Uh-huh.” It hurts that she directs her attention more at Nikita than me, but I’ve endured so much rejection in my life that the knocks are getting easier. “Let’s get it out of the way. That way, if he’s not interested in what we’re offering, we can do whatever the hell we like all day tomorrow. Stuff the consequences.”

“Stuff the consequences.” I stare at Nikita like I don’t know who she is when she says, “I’m going to confront him and give him a piece of my mind. If it weren’t for me, his mother would most likely still be admitted.” She jumps up too quick for her drunk head but recovers quickly. “Tomorrow. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“No! Not tomorrow,” Aleena whines like all her chips are on Nikita. “We need to do this now before it’s too late.”

My eyes bounce between Nikita and Aleena’s rapidly disappearing frame when she charges for the door with Shevi hot on her tail.

“What do I do?” I blurt out, lost. It is usually Nikita chasing me around, demanding I put on my responsibility hat. I’ve never dealt with the shoe being on the other foot.

“Go with her,” Nikita answers just as Aleena disappears into the hallway before she shoves me toward the exit. “I’ll be right behind you. I just need to grab my bag. It is the equivalent of a first-aid kit. It may come in handy.” When I groan, confident I am treading in waters way over my head, Nikita laughs. “I’m joking. Go. Your baby sister needs you.”

The reminder of Aleena’s title is all I need to get my feet moving.

I race out the door, shouting to Nikita that I’ll meet her in Aleena’s room.

“I’m right behind you,” Nikita assures me just as our suite door closes with her being the solo occupant inside.

I make it into the elevator with only a second to spare. It jolts into action before I can spin to see which floor Aleena selected. It isn’t the forty-fourth floor as anticipated. It is the lobby.

“Kazimir isn’t staying here,” Aleena says when she spots my stunned expression. “He’s at home, with Mother.”

After dipping my chin in understanding, I use the remainder of our elevator ride to prepare for the battle we’re about to endure. This is no longer about men who think with their dicks. It is about the unachievable expectations our mother placed on us when we were children.

The exodus of fluids from Aleena’s stomach must have taken her down the quick route to sobriety. Her strides out of the elevator when it arrives at the lobby are remarkably stable. She glides across the marble floors without a single stumble, only fumbling when the same face that stopped me hours ago presents again.

She stares at Bayli as if she’s seeing a ghost.

His watch mimics hers to a T.

If anyone else but my baby sister were beside me, I’d be jealous Bayli can’t take his eyes off her for even a second to acknowledge the people unwillingly trapped in their trance. That’s how enthralling their stare down is.

Bayli only has eyes for Aleena, and the realization pinches the last of the air out of Aleena’s sails. Her shoulders sink the longer she continues her stalk.

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