Page 45 of Forbidden Vows

Laura nods slowly. “I hated it. I was this close to jumping out the window one time.”

“Anton can’t keep me here like some kind of caged animal.”

“You’re a Karpov now, and it’s only temporary.”

I shake my head, refusing to accept such a thing. “No, this can’t be. He didn’t say anything about that and neither did you before now.”

“It’s part of the process. Had I not gotten over that stage myself, I would’ve warned you. But I came out with a different perspective. I embraced my role and my new life. Andrei understood that I was his, and that he was mine; there was a mutual respect between us,” she says.

“Laura, I can’t live like that. I have plans. I have things I want to do. My café project. I finally have the freedom and theopportunity to build something. What exactly is expected of me? To wait home for my husband every night, barefoot, with dinner ready?”

“Anton should be the one having this chat with you, not me,” she decrees, a look of discontent shadowing her face. “I’d be irritated, too, if I were you.”

“My God, you are serious.”

“For what it’s worth, everything is done this way in order to protect you.”

I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around everything I’ve just learned. I try to reconcile the beauty of my new home with the metaphorical shackles now clasped around my ankles.

“He can’t keep me prisoner in my own home,” I say, a shiver running down my spine. “We just came back from our honeymoon. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“But it does. Not only are you the wife of the head of the Bratva, but you’re pregnant. Like it or not Elieen, that makes you a target. There are people out there who would harm you and your child to unseat Anton, including your ex-fiancé.”

I shake my head. “No. Sergei might not be happy about the broken engagement, but surely he’d never hurt a child?”

“He absolutely would if it’s Anton’s child. And he’s not the only one. I know you’re not naïve, having grown up in the lifestyle. You have to believe this is for your own good.”

I reject the premise altogether and abruptly excuse myself. Too angry to speak or listen to reason, I resort to spending the rest of my evening in our suite, seated by the window with a cup of tea, trying to figure out how to get out of this place.

I’m asleep before Anton comes back.

“My meetings took longer than I expected,” Anton says the next morning at the breakfast table. “I’m sorry.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I snap and set my tea mug down. “You couldn’t even be bothered to answer my calls or messages.”

“I did.”

“Only to tell me that you’d see me in the morning.”

He stills by the chair he just pulled out and gives me a long, pensive look. I measure him from head to toe. He’s tired. The top buttons of his shirt are loose, and his five o’clock shadow has grown thicker. Clearly, he hasn’t slept all night.

“Please, forgive me,” Anton says and takes his seat next to me. He covers my hand with his atop the table. “We’re dealing with a few loose ends regarding our marriage, Eileen. I need to make sure you’re safe.”

“Well, from what Laura tells me, you intend to lock me up in the house for supposedly that very reason.”

“I’m trying to avoid that. or to at least shorten the induction period,” he replies. “I don’t want this part any more than you do. But it has to be done. Our family is a complex matter. Our enemies are ruthless. Eileen. The last thing I want to do is anger you in any way.”

“I’m not angry; I’m hurt.” I sigh deeply. “You don’t trust me enough to let me handle my own life?”

“No, I don’t trust the monsters beyond these doors to leave you alone,” he corrects. “I trust you, Eileen. You’re my wife. It’s going to be uncomfortable for a while, and I hope that when it’s all over, you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.”

“What if I want to go back to my father’s?”

He shakes his head slowly. Judging by his calmness, I already know what’s coming. “I think you know that’s not an option now. Your father wouldn’t allow it any more than I can.”

“So then, I am really a prisoner here while you go out and stay gone for hours, leaving me like a silly bird in a cage.”

“It’s not like that,” Anton says, pulling in a deep breath as I tug my hand away from his. “Eileen, I promise, if it were safe for you, I’d let you out—”

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