Page 55 of Forbidden Vows

It’s meant to bring the Bratva heads closer together, but even I can sense the thick tension between them these days.

“Someday, you’re going to learn enough about the Karpovs to completely redefine the concept of love you learned from whatever fairytale book you read when you were younger,”Laura says, then waves and smiles at another Bratva wife.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I’m being a Debbie Downer, aren’t I?”

“I get it,” she says as she waves at somebody else.

Everybody knows and appreciates her. So many women are eager to talk to her, yet she’s here with me, keeping me company instead of buzzing around and socializing like the Bratva queen she is.

“Up to a point, I’m sure you do,” I reply, “but we both know I’m dealing with way more than just separation anxiety.”

“Separation from your family, you mean.”

“Yes.”

“I know Anton and Andrei considered inviting the Donovans tonight, but it’s supposed to be a Bratva thing. Inviting the Donovans would’ve meant inviting other non-Russian families, too, and the boys are still mending fences with the Benedetto’s.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised after that whole debacle with Tommy Benedetto.”

“I think we are all in agreement that wasn’t Andrei’s finest moment,” Laura chuckles. “But that’s my man—smart and savvy until you cross him. Thankfully, Anton was there to save the day, and you, if you remember.”

“How could I forget?”

Laura sighs deeply. We both gaze across the room to where Anton and Andrei are busy talking to the Ivanovs and the Fedorovs. I’ve been brushing up on my Russian genealogy lately, and I’m pleased that I’m able to recognize almost half of the people present at this function. It makes me feel less lonely.

“The Karpov men didn’t have it easy growing up. Their mother passed away at a time when they still needed her gentle influence. Their father was a titan, an ironclad bastard, the typical Russian warlord albeit in a pinstripe suit,” Laura tells me. “Which is why both Anton and Andrei aren’t the share-their-feelings type. I’ve been married to Andrei for quite a while now, and do you know how many times he’s told me he loved me?”

I give her a curious look. “Once?”

“You underestimate him,” she flashes a cool grin. “Three times.”

“Wow.”

“I know, right? He practically fell apart the first time he said it, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm,” she says. “Watch their actions, Eileen, not their words.”

I nod slowly. “I keep telling myself that. Besides, it’s way too early for me to demand love from a man who barely knows me.”

“Give him time,” Laura replies. “He’s proven himself thus far, hasn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“He listens when you have something to say, right?”

“Unless it’s about me going out, even with a double security detail. Then he just shuts down on me. Completely.”

Laura raises an eyebrow. “After the heap of trouble you got yourself and Ian into, you bet your sweet ass he’s going to shut down on you. There are some things you’re clearly going to have to learn the hard way.”

“I don’t like living in a cage. Laura. A gilded cage, granted, but it’s still a cage.”

“We put on a nice dress, a fancy pair of shoes, beautiful, priceless jewels. We’ve got disposable income at our fingertips, people tending to our every need and whim… living is about making yourself comfortable in your cage, Eileen, just as I’ve learned to make myself comfortable in mine.”

I shake my head slowly. “Truth be told, I agree with you. Born and raised a Donovan, I feel like I traded one gilded cage for another. I guess I’m just tired of it all.”

“No, what you are is anxious. Afraid. Thrown into a situation you never truly wanted. Not on these terms, anyway. I suppose you would’ve liked a traditional first date, a few dates with Anton before he popped the question.”

“I would’ve liked it if our first date didn’t involve him kidnapping me, that I knew his name, and if Anton had popped the question in general,” I chuckle.

“Yeah, I know. They’re terrible at this,” she says. “Andrei practically shoved a marriage contract in my face. I told him to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine and to propose to me like a real man, even though the whole thing was a setup from the start.”

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