Page 51 of Midnight Wedding

“I hope they do. You’ll make a goodpatron.”

“No, I won’t.” He turns away, shaking his head. “We’d just better figure this shit out.”

“Tigran—”

“We’ve lost enough already, brother. I’m not about to lose you too.”

He walks away. I watch him go, my emotions a mess. I knew marrying Lena would make trouble, but I hadn’t thought about the way it would mess with Tigran’s life.

If I fail, he’ll have to take my position, and I know he’ll blame himself for the rest of his life if that happens.

He doesn’t deserve that burden.

I lick my lips as I climb into my car. I can still taste Lena on my tongue. My pretty little wife. So fucking gorgeous, rough, andfierce. She has no idea how close to death we both are right now, but I’m not going to let her down.

Not her and not my child.

Chapter 18

Lena

More of my things show up over the next few days. Arsen must be stopping at my mom’s place every day and gathering just enough to fit in a single bag instead of bringing it all in one big trip.

“Your husband is strange,” Mom says to me over the phone. I pace around the library and do my best to ignore the weird creaking sounds I hear coming from the walls. This house feels like it’s alive sometimes.

“In what way?”

“He’s polite. Very nice, actually. But I don’t know—” She hesitates. I know she hates saying bad things about people. Usually, when she doesn’t like someone, she just pretends like they don’t exist. But she can’t do that with Arsen.

“Go ahead, tell me. I’m giving you a free pass. Say what’s on your mind.”

“He’s too serious.”

My eyebrows raise. That’s not what I was expecting. “How’s that?”

“He doesn’t laugh. I told him a really good joke and it barely made him smile. Even your father doubled over. But Arsen? Nothing.”

“I guess I hadn’t noticed.”

“You’re married to the man. You’d know him better than I do.”

If only that were true. Since moving into this enormous house, it’s like I barely see him. Either he’s coming and going when I’m asleep or he spends most of his time in his apartment deeper in the city. I know things are busy with his work and his Brotherhood or whatever, but it’d be nice if he were around at least a little bit.

At least he keeps his promises. Mom says he made a huge deposit of money into her account, more than enough to cover all their bills and then some. Dad quit his job and Vadim’s acting like we just won the lottery. Which I guess we kind of did.

“I’ll find you all a place to live out here,” I tell her as we wind up the conversation. “How’s that sound?”

“I don’t know. The suburbs?”

“It’s just Roland Park. Ten minutes from downtown, tops.”

“More like twenty with traffic.” She sighs, but I can tell she’s thinking about it. “Just come home and visit soon, okay?”

We hang up and I go wandering in search of sustenance. Maud’s in the kitchen and practically insists on cooking me a fancy lunch, even though all I really want is some toast and crackers.“You’re eating for two,” she chides, steering me over to the table. “Just wait a minute. I made soup.”

At least it’s delicious. Chicken noodle, rich and warm. Better than the condensed canned stuff I’ve always eaten, which is all we could ever afford. Maud watches me slurp it down with a little bit of pride.

“Arsen says you’re an explorer.” She lingers at the side of the table. “What’s that like?”

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