Page 56 of Forgotten Vows
I lowered the cup. “Alrighty, then.” With a curt nod, I raised my brows. “Now?”
Allan nodded. “It is best not to keep the Boss waiting.”
Oh, I’m thoroughly familiar with making sure the big guy of the house doesn’t wait for an insignificant and lowly little woman.
“Mmm-hmm.” I smiled politely while feeling too icy inside to speak any further. Dipping my chin and holding my hand out as if to suggest I’d follow him right this instant, I tried to keep a lid on my attitude.
Since I ran from all that I once had, and since I cut ties with my overlord of a father, I lost all desire to bow to a man. Being a single mother on the run fueled my independence and strengthened my sense of self-worth and feminism. But Luka Dubinin was ultimately in charge of my son’s safety, though, so I could bend and keep my mouth shut about him ordering me around.
Don’t bite the hand that feeds.
It is what it is.
He’s in charge. So go get the “verdict” already.
When I found him in the study, I was pleased to discover that this wouldn’t be some kind of medieval interrogation, complete with torture tools or a dungeon. In this darkly decorated room of masculine browns and mahogany furniture, Luka sat at the desk with a serious and no-nonsense expression. On a loveseat was Gabriella with her baby. Alexsei was there, too, seated in a chair. With the way they’d all stopped laughing andsmiling, interrupted by my arrival, it almost seemed like I was trespassing on a fun family meeting.
“Well, don’t mind me,” I quipped wryly.
“Come in,” Luka said, gesturing for me to take a seat in the chair directly across from him.
I sat and waited, unafraid but curious.
“I’d like to speak with you about what you expected from the Dubinin Family.”
That was a formal start. “Protection.” I stated it plainly, not changing my tune. “I was attacked by two members of the Rivera family because they deemed me a weak link toyourfamily. I know they mean that Lev is a link, as Ivan’s son. It seemed fitting to expect my son’s father to provide protection.”
“You mean to provide protection after you hid the fact that he existed for years?” Luka’s cool expression didn’t change.
I sighed. “I cut ties with everyone I knew when I learned I was pregnant with Lev. I cut ties with Ivan because it seemed that he’d moved on. We weren’t stupid. Once we learned of each other’s identities, we knew that you and my father would not approve.”
“To my understanding, that is also why Ivan broke things off with you,” Luka replied.
I opened my mouth and closed it. Perhaps it was becoming a bit of a broken record to insist that Ivan left me because he wanted another woman instead. The longer I was here and the more I heard from everyone who mattered to Ivan, the more I was inclined to believe him. That he’d lied about an affair just to make me hate him and so I’d cut ties with him. “Correct. That’s what he says.”
“And all you want is protection for your son?”
I nodded. If I wasn’t careful, I’d want the whole thing. A husband. Love. A home. A future. Peace. But all those seemed out of reach yet.
“You’re not here to collect intel?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. Who the hell would I send it to?”
He only stared at me, making me wonder what he wasn’t following up with.
“You’re not here for money?”
I smirked. “I’ve learned to scrape by on next to nothing for eight years on my own. You’re barking up the wrong tree if you want to look at me as some kind of a gold-digger.”
“It’s a valid question,” he replied. “You come from a wealthy background. You might be missing it.”
“Health is wealth. So long as I can see that my son’s well-being is secure, that’s all that matters now.”
He drummed his fingers on the desk, watching me. If he was trying to intimidate me with that hard stare, he was wasting our time. I grew up under the severe scrutiny of my father. I knew how to play this game. Zone out. Stare ahead. Look bored. And above all else, rely on sarcasm if I was expected to speak.
“What about the well-being of your father?”
“Well-being? I was under the impression he was dead.” I didn’t blink or flinch.
