Page 50 of Cruel Promise

Mrs. Brown takes one look at me once I come down to the kitchen for breakfast and pulls me into a hug. “Oh, dear. What have you been through? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I wish I had. Then that would mean there was a possibility of seeing my mom again.

Instead, my mind is filled with the dead bodies of the men who attacked me, Jason saying cruel things to me, and Dimitri walking away after he said he’d help me. Lastly, Nikolai’s face takes up the contents of my mind. The way he was so angry and worried for me last night.

“What happened?” Mrs. Brown asks.

“I can tell you what happened,” Claude mutters as he sticks buns in the oven. “This little drama queen decided to run away again. Didn’t go how you expected, did it?”

“Don’t be mean,” Mrs. Brown scolds.

Claude shrugs. “Why not? She left with Dimitri Ivanov. Even I know to keep my distance from him. Everyone knows. It was stupid and silly. You got hurt. I mean, look at your face.”

I haven’t, actually. I’ve been too afraid to look at myself in the mirror, but I can feel the puffiness in my cheek. The pain every time I accidently brush my hand against my face.

Mrs. Brown grabs my shoulders and walks me over to a corner of the kitchen away from Claude. “Dear, did Mr. Petrov do this to you?”

“If I said he did, would you help me leave him?”

She hesitates, telling me everything I need to know. Mrs. Brown won’t help me escape. Edmund won’t help. I know Claude will never offer his services.

I sigh. “No, it wasn’t Nikolai. It was some other men. They hurt me. Nikolai … saved me from them.”

“Oh, good.” She smiles, her shoulders relaxing. Good for her that she doesn’t have to feel guilty about the boss she works for. “We should really ice your face. It’ll help bring the puffiness down.” She grabs a bag of peas from the freezer and a dish towel from a cabinet and wraps the peas in the towel before holding it to my face. “Keep it there, dear.”

My arm feels numb as I reach it up to hold the peas. All of me feels numb.

I should be afraid of that fact, but I’m not.

Mrs. Brown tries giving me another comforting smile, but it doesn’t work.

It never works.

NIKOLAI

The nightclub is dead in the middle of the day.

Only Dimitri is there, bent over the bar, looking at a piece of paper.

I storm right up to him. “Did you think it would be funny to take my wife from me?”

He doesn’t look up as he replies. “I didn’t know she was your property. She asked for my help, and I gave it.”

“By abandoning her where she could get hurt? In fact, where shedidget hurt. If you were going to steal my wife, at least have the decency to make sure she’s all right.”

Dimitri laughs as he finally looks at me. “Do I look like I give a fuck about your wife? I thought it was funny, the way she came to me for help. But I didn’t do anything to her. I didn’t hurt her. It wasn’t my fault she left the club.”

“How can we work together if I can’t trust you? We’re done.”

“We’re not done, Nik.”

“Nikolai,” I growl.

“I still have what you want—a hold on this city. We can still make each other a lot of money. I promise I won’t do anything like that again. It was just a bit of fun.”

“I wasn’t laughing.”

“That’s because you never find anything funny. Is Ava alive?”

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