Page 150 of Dirty Grovel

Sydney’s eyes tighten. “They don’t really allow guests here, Sut. As far as I understood it, this was a one-time visit, courtesy of the strings your baby daddy pulled.”

My heart drops. “If he did it once, then he can do it again.”

Sydney gives my arm a squeeze. “I think it might help me focus a little better if I didn’t have too many distractions.”

“Oh…” My face falls. “Yeah. Right. That makes sense.”

Sydney draws me in for a tight hug. “We’ll see each other soon, okay?”

I nod, biting back my tears as Sydney starts walking away with Nurse Tawny. I watch them go, my heart beating erratically against my chest.

On the one hand, I feel a kernel of hope take root inside of me. Maybe curses can be broken… right?

On the other hand, I feel this deep, cavernous sadness that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Once Sydney and her nurse have disappeared inside the white building, I make my way to the car park where Artem is parked.

I slip inside quietly, my head foggy with tumultuous thoughts that I can’t tame. I feel unmoored, lost and alone, stranded in a sea of uncertainty.

“You okay?” Artem asks as he backs up.

“I… I’m not quite sure,” I say. “I think I’m just tired.”

As Artem drives me back, I keep my gaze fastened on my window. The ocean zips past us, and immediately, I’m hit with a storm of memories.

I remember shirts stretching against Oleg’s burnished muscles. His scarred hands mapping every inch of my body, relentlessly, hungrily. The smell of salt and sex, mixing with the moonlight falling against our naked skin.

Is it possible that I’ve ruined everything so fast?

We’ve gone from lovers to strangers. I haven’t touched him in days. He no longer holds me at night. We’ve barely even spoken to one another since the incident tore through our world.

He had warned me about unforeseen circumstances.

Fool that I am, I hadn’t listened.

Absentmindedly, I trace my fingers over my swollen belly. This feels like the only piece of him I get to keep close these days.

But how can I reverse it now, when I’m the one that pushed him away?

And for what reason? Artem was right—Oleg did nothing wrong. He was simply trying to protect me.

He was simply trying to contain the mayhem that my sister unleashed.

Oksana warned me. Oleg warned me.Everyonewarned me.

Being a Bratva wife was not easy. You need a special skillset to survive it.

For the first time since meeting Oleg, I find myself asking the question—do I have what it takes to be the queen of Oleg’s world? Is it possible that I’ve created the downfall of the one person I cherish more than anyone else in the world?

Simply by… being me?

48

SUTTON

The last thing I need is to be faced with another challenge while my head is swimming with doubt.

And there’s no bigger challenge than the appearance of my future mother-in-law, waiting in the living room for me, with a garment bag and expectations sharp enough to draw blood.

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