Page 43 of Claimed By Desire

My family and the Bratva were his entire life, and now it looks like he’s going to lose all that.

Just like I am too.

I feel adrift and confused as I end up outside on the balcony. The water in the pool is heated and I stick my feet inside. I try calling Lev, but it goes to voicemail after only a single ring—meaning he smashed thatfuckyoubutton. I text him, just a little message saying he should call and talk to me, but he doesn’t. I didn’t really think he would.

But I wish I could explain.

How Alex showed up when I was playing piano. How I was naked, and lonely, and in a bad place, and how Alex looked at me like I was the most desirable woman in the entire world.

How we made a stupid decision with lasting consequences.

None of that matters now. We made our choice and I married Alex thinking that would somehow make everything okay.

I was stupid and naive.

And in the end, I’m still all alone.

I leave the pool and head inside as the door opens. Alex comes into the apartment. He stinks like smoke and heads directly into the kitchen to pour himself a drink.

I linger at the island as he throws down half a whisky.

“How about one of those for me?” I ask, trying a half-hearted joke.

He only glares at me. “You’re pregnant.”

“I know. I’m only kidding.”

“Good joke.” He finishes the glass and pours another.

“How bad is the shop?”

“Burned to the ground.”

My feet go icy cold. “That’s terrible. That shop was everything to Dad.”

“It’d been in his family for three generations.”

“What about the watches?”

“Some were in a fireproof safe and those should be fine. Some can be cleaned up. But we lost a lot.”

I slump down into a chair, feeling beyond exhausted, and it’s only a little past four in the afternoon. “What do we do now?”

“I met with Valentin Zeitsev.”

My eyebrows shoot up as Alex tells me about his conversation with thepakhan. I don’t mention that I ran away to Paris to avoid marrying him once-upon-a-time, although I don’t think I need to say it out loud. The stormy, possessive look Alex gives me suggests that thought occurred to him.

As if Valentin cares about me even in the slightest.

“Now you’re stuck cleaning up this mess.” I hunch forward on my elbows and prop my chin up. “How are you going to do it?”

“I’m not sure yet. Valentin offered me resources. I suspect I’ll make good use of those.”

“You’re going to fight a war for a Bratva that probably wants to throw you out.” I shake my head at the absurdity of the situation. “Why would you do that?”

“Because it’s our only option. Either I do as mypakhanrequests, or I end up dead and my child is raised without a father. That’s not an option.”

I lick my lips and look away. “Where am I in all of this?”

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