Page 47 of Forgotten Vows
Riding in the car with the Dubinin forces wasn’t reminiscent of my past, though. They talked to Lev. They even joked about hating homework and whatnot. Between those two cousins, they kept the banter going and made sure the ride was pleasant.
It didn’t feel like a chore, or like we were being carted around like possessions to guard. It wasn’t like we were being forced to relocate, either.
Still, watching Lev go into the building required a leap of faith from me.
I knew a few Dubinin guards were near. Misha attended this same place a couple of days during the week. It wasn’t like I was dropping Lev off somewhere random and exposed to intruders.
Yet, that paranoia was a persistent beast.
“Breathe,” Emil quipped once we drove away.
I shot him a dirty look. Catching Ivan’s eye, though, I had to soften a bit. He seemed just as worried, and I almost regretted holding both him and Lev back from having this kinship.
“He will be fine,” I said, mostly to myself than to them.
“And I will be done with a few matters in the office before he is due to be picked up,” Ivan replied.
I nodded, unsure what else to say.
It was different to be in the Dubinin home without Lev to watch over. I wasn’t completely sold on befriending Gabriella, but from the sounds of it, she was busy with a fussy baby and trying her best to console Andre.
Bored for the first time in years, I tried to get lost in a book in the garden. Waiting for Lev to come home would be agony. So, I picked up my phone and tried to text Kalina. The more I didn’t hear from her, the more I worried. Something about being near, yet so far, bothered me.
It was probably nothing more than this slight guilt I suffered from keeping Lev from Ivan for so long. Seeing how good they were together, truly bonding, lifted my spirits. It was a step in reshaping my views on what family meant, and that shift in my attitude was extended to wanting to check in on my distant cousin.
As I sat in the garden and watched the birds flit from rock to rock in the ornamental water feature, I couldn’t help but overhear the Dubinin men as they patrolled. I doubted I was fully out of sight, but perhaps I was sitting there so still for so long that they’d forgotten I could overhear them.
And I heard it all.
How I had to be a spy for the Riveras.
That I’d shown up like a gold-digger.
Or that my father lived and sent me here. But then maybe I was the one who killed him as a power-hungry daughter who’d felt wronged her whole life.
Drama, drama, drama.I rolled my eyes, not in the mood to convince myself thatit is what it is. Instead, I put my energy into stemming my temper.
I didn’t want to back down like a hopeless victim to all this stupid gossip, but I also hated to hear anyone talk so wrongly about me and my character.
I was no traitor. I wasn’t a damn spy. And my son wasn’t a bastard, rejected and worthless, whom no one wanted around.
When Lev was finally picked up, I hugged him until we both laughed in the backseat of the car.
“I missed you, Mama!” he exclaimed.
Just holding him close reset my world. It was like the sun was suddenly shining again. All was right once more.
He smiled, turning to nod at Ivan. “I missed you too!”
It didn’t escape my notice that Lev hadn’t settled on what to call Ivan yet, but I wasn’t going to push it.
Later, though, when Lev and I were going over some of his paperwork for this new school experience, I saw the same gossiping, judgmental guards patrolling through the house. Lev noticed them too, and I wondered if he’d overheard things too. I wasn’t afraid to resort to violence if someone called him abastard to his face. He was a good boy and a sweet kid. He didn’t deserve that kind of nonsense.
I sent him off to play with Misha in the dining room before I took matters into my own hands.
I came here for protection and I supposed that implied that I’d made myself a guest here. But that didn’t mean I had to roll over and take crap like this.
Facing the pair of older guards, I crossed my arms and tipped my chin up. “Why are you so against me or my son being here?”
