Page 119 of Viparious

“There were always new babies in the house. I didn’t like hurting them.”

Does my wife take our daughter away from her? No, she wraps her arms around the freak’s thin shoulders.

I lift Verena out of Ana’s reach despite knowing she won’t hurt her. Somehow she’s managed to teach herself that the shit she was taught is wrong after being raised by child traffickers. It doesn’t mean she can hold my kid. I don’t even like my brothers having her. Without looking at Inessa, who is most likely glaring at me, I turn and call her name as I walk to the office.

She’s not wearing heels, but her socked feet still manage to make noise as she follows me to rage. Good. If she starts speaking again, I don’t give a fuck what the conversation is as long as she stops ignoring me. She doesn’t slam the door behind her as I take my seat and leave space for her to sit on my other side. Some of the anger dissipates and transfers to me when she takes the seat opposite.

Verena’s spit-covered fist touches my cheek and it gets the first smile on Inessa’s face in the last two days.

“What’s wrong with you now?”

Her head snaps to me at the question, and I move further back, silently telling her to move her ass where she belongs. The huff on her lips is unnecessary as she lifts out of the seat and rounds the desk. She throws herself into me with more force than required, as if I’m someone weak that would break under it.

I move her hair over her shoulder as Verena reaches her hand out so she can’t grab onto it and my bratty wife finally opens her mouth.

“Nothing, just because I love you doesn’t mean I forgive you for abandoning me. I understand why you did it, and I understand that you’re heartbroken. But you still did it when you could have told me.”

Pressing my lips to her forehead, I speak softly as all the guilt mixes together.

“I couldn’t.”

I don’t know how I managed to tell her in the first place. It’s a blur that I can’t fully recall, but she knows the important parts. Both mother and daughter move at the same time. Like a mirror image of the other, they lay their heads on my shoulder opposite the other. Verena has hold of Inessa’s thumb and I’d give the world for Vanya to be here. But she’s not and soft lips brush my jaw before an equally gentle whisper.

“That’s even more heartbreaking that you didn’t trust me. But I’m not a newborn who won’t remember. You have to do something for me if you want me to stay.” Whatever she wants is hers and I wait for the demand. “Amend the prenup, remove the clause about you taking my baby if I leave.”

I laugh because she’s crazy and is it fuck ever happening.

“You want me to speak to you, or be your wife, then you’ll do it and treat me like one rather than forcing me to stay here. Let it be my choice instead of me choosing my daughter because I will choose her eleven times out of ten over myself and over you.”

I sit taller, my arms automatically tightening around them both as I refuse to do what she wants. I’ll give her any item, she can tattoo me, I’ll even let her pierce my damn dick, but am I fuck ever allowing any condition that makes it okay for her to leave.

“Fine, I can live with that being the reason you stay.”

She sits up and presses her hand against my shoulder. Verena has fallen asleep on my other side, making her lower her voice despite the wildness in her eyes.

“Then I’m leaving,” she dares.

She was back in the same night without me having time to plan. There’s nowhere she could go. Even if it’s to Maximoff’s, I’ll drag her back. So, I move my arm from around her and ask, “Would you like me to call you a car?”

Her tone hardens and she roughly grabs my jaw. “I’m being serious, Vlad.”

“So am I. You can go to the middle of undiscovered land, deep in a jungle, or to the fucking moon, and I will always find you. So go, I’ll prove it to you that way. But I will not remove that clause when I know that’s the only thing stopping you from filing for a divorce again.”

She blinks and moves her head back, muttering to herself, “That’s fucked up.”

I don’t know who has made her believe I’m some upstanding citizen with the moral code of an accountant, but she’s deluded.

“To you? Yes,” I say evenly. “To me? No. I don’t really give a fuck what makes you stay as long as you’re here. I’d prefer you to do it willingly, but I’m not above forcing your hand where my family is concerned.” My voice deepens as I watch her dark eyes widen. “I told you once that I will do whatever is necessary for my family. Your mistake was taking over my life, so now you’ll stay here at my side where you belong. Not two steps ahead or two steps behind, your place is right fucking next to me.”

She glares at each curse word and cups the back of Verena’s head. Our daughter’s not going to be some do-gooder either, she’s going to be vicious and psychotic. With her mother’s mouth and my violence, she’ll rule the fucking world and niceties won’t be a requirement when it’s going to be dropped at her feet.

Inessa still argues despite the softness in her features.

“Not good enough. I don’t want a captor. I want a husband. If you can’t do that, then there’s nothing for us to discuss unless it’s about our daughter.”

My chest expands every single time she says those two words and I pull her closer to kiss her cheek. “You have one, and you will only ever haveone.”

“No, I’m married. There’s no partnership between us when your secrets and neurosis are there.”

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