Page 138 of Beautiful Deception

I huff. “You’re two million dollars in debt? Jesus fuck. Listen.” I grab his jaw and press him into the mattress. He gulps. “I will pay off your debts. And I will give you a place to live and pay for your food so you don’t end up on the street. But I will not pay you any money. You will get to live rent free somewhere, so count yourself lucky. This is a better deal than most people get from me. I’m only doing this because I love Inessa. I am going to make sure you don’t die because of your stupidity. But this doesn’t grant you leave to get into more debt. If I find out you’ve fallen back into debt, I will take the apartment and free food away from you. And you will be on your own. And you will have nothing and no one and you will die. Is that understood?”

He lets out a feminine squeak. “Yes.”

“Good.” I let him go. “Now, go take a shower. You reek.”

“Thank you, Viktor. Thank you.”

“You should be thanking your daughter. I’m doing this for her and only her.”

“Thank you anyway.”

I ignore his thanks and leave the shitty motel room so I can get back to my wife. Gleb Petrov will be ok, if he’s not stupid.

Hopefully this will start to mend things between Inessa and I.

Inessa

“You did what?” I ask after Viktor tells me what he did for my dad. “But… why?” I’m lying in our bed, my face still swollen, and my body achy. It’s going to take me weeks to fully heel.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Viktor’s features soften. “For you, Inessa. I did it for you. I know you love your dad. I know you risked my anger by keeping him a secret so he’d live. Now, I’m going to save him. I know it’s what you want and I know it will help make you happy. And I just want to see you happy after everything that happened. I just feel terrible.”

I can tell Viktor is beating himself up badly for what Natasha did to me. It’s the same way I beat myself up for lying to him.

Enough is enough.

“I want you to stop feeling terrible,” I tell him, holding out my hand. He takes it without hesitation. “I want to stop feeling terrible. I just want us to be happy going forward. You’re willing to put aside your hate for my dad and save him for me. That means everything, so thank you for that.”

“I love you, Inessa. I fucked up and I’m going to do everything I can to make it up to you.”

“No. Let’s just agree to move on. I want to move on.”

His eyes tighten. “From me? You don’t want to be together anymore?”

“Viktor, no. I want us to be together. I still love you despite everything. If you’re willing to start from scratch then… I’m willing to do the same. I will prove to you that I will never lie again if you can prove to me you’ll always keep me safe.”

“I like that deal.” He presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “And to start, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of everyday as you heal.”

I believe him.

I love this man with my whole being and despite everything that has happened, we’re making our marriage a reality. We’re going to fight for each other.

Weeks pass and Viktor, Julia, and Mrs. Green take turns taking care of me. At the beginning, I needed help going to the bathroom and taking a shower. My body was so bruised and beaten. I had broken ribs. I had to take things slow due to my internal bleeding the doctors fixed up for me.

And during all of that time, I had my new family with me.

Even Elena came by, now that I don’t have to hide who I really am anymore. Things were a little awkward between her and Viktor but he was respectful and understood that Elena is my best friend.

Ever since then, she’s been coming over every weekend to keep me company.

My healing process takes a long time and during that time Viktor and I just talk. We really get to know one another more.

“What were some fun things you used to do with your mom?” he asks me one afternoon as we lie in bed together. We haven’t been intimate since our huge blowout fight and since I got hurt. I’m glad Viktor hasn’t pressured me into having sex. He’s been content just to hold me in his arms.

“We used to go to this little children’s bookshop near our house. They had toys and other little things. We would spend hours there together almost every weekend just reading books. They had story time for the kids there. I miss those moments with her. Of course, as I got older, we stopped going, and then she died in her car accident when I was a teenager. But I still miss those moments at that bookshop with her.”

He hugs me in closer. “I used to take Julia to the library when she was little. I had to be a dad to her when I felt like a kid sometimes, even though I was in my early twenties when my parents died. Julia was just five. God, she loved going to the library. Still goes.”

“But you don’t go with her now?”

---