Page 95 of Vow of Silence

My family name, my legacy, follows me like a black fucking cloud.Myspecial cloud. Just for me. Raining shit down on me wherever I go, no matter how sunny the day for everyone else.

Fuck me.

I twist my hair, laying it over my right shoulder as I head for the foyer. My heart swells at the realization my visitor is likely Benito; who else would piss off my father to that extent?

Well—I guess she could, too.

Brigida stands poised in our gloomy halls, focusing on a dusty painting to her right. Her hands rest elegantly clasped before her curvaceous form, wrapped in a fashionable pantsuit with a small designer bag across her body.

“I apologize for the surprise visit,” she says, moving toward me. “But I wasn’t certain I’d get past the gate if I gave notice of my intentions.” She glances pointedly at my father’s office, one door ajar enough for him to eavesdrop.

I turn my head toward his direction and raise my voice as I say, “I’m honored to have you here.”

“I thought we could head out together and do a little shopping,” she says. “As soon-to-be mother and daughter-in-law.”

“Shopping?” I glance down at my jeans, torn at the knee, and knit sweater.

“You’re fine as you are.” Brigida jerks her head toward the front doors. “Take as long as you need—I’ll wait outside inthe car. You won’t require anything other than yourself and whatever you normally carry on your person.”

She doesn’t give me a chance to respond, turning so damn smoothly that I wonder if her fucking feet even touch the floor when she walks. A burst of cool air seeps through the foyer when she steps out into the overcast day, the slip of a black town car visible on the driveway.

I turn to head upstairs for my things and jar to a stop when my fucking face almost hits Ivan in the chest.

“You know I come too,” he drawls in his broken English.

“As much as I’d rather you didn’t.” I sigh. “Not in the same car, though.”

He chuckles. “Could be a little tight, do you not think?”

I lift an eyebrow at his stupidly broad shoulders and smirk.Fucker.I don’t want to like him. He’s not allowed to be goddamn funny. “I’ll be back down in a couple of minutes. You’ll be fine to wait for me here.”

To my surprise, he accepts my statement, crossing his arms over his thick chest and widening his stance. My gaze drifts past Papa’s office as I head for the staircase, my heart clenched in a fist. I wait for him to erupt from the doors and protest my decision to leave the house.

Yet, I’m met with silence as I take the first step, hand to the banister to steady my janky nerves.Fuck this shit.It was two days ago, for Christ’s sake. I shouldn’t be this worked up about some stranger’s death still. Goddamnit—I don’t give a shit about the fucking man I shot; why the hell do I care about some woman I didn’t know?

Perhaps because it feels all too familiar.Caroline.I draw a shaky breath as I crest the landing and turn for my room.Get it together, Nastasya.Brigida is outside. She’s my concern now.

Death is as common in this life as taxes and fucking breathing. I can’t stay messed up over losing the ones I love, let alone some fucking stranger I knew all of five minutes.

People live and die—it’s just the way things are.

It’s also just the way things are that in this life,we’resometimes the ones who create that death.

I slip into comfy sneakers, grabbing my phone as I regain my balance after my heel catches on the back of my second shoe. I scroll through to his thread and tap out a quick message to Benito.

Should I be concerned that your mother is here?

I shunt keys and lip balm into a small bag while I wait for his reply. A cursory sweep of one hand through my hair, and I turn away from the mirror, satisfied I won’t muddy Brigida’s reputation too severely being seen at her side.

My phone vibrates next to my bag.

Is she? Did she say what she wants?

I can almost hear the confusion in his voice—at least in the voice I remember.

She wants to take me shopping.

A beat passes before he sends a brief and somewhat unsatisfying response.

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