Page 115 of Shattered Cradle (Makarova Bratva Duet)

“It’s okay, honey,” Yulia says. “I’ve got you.”

“I need to get out of this house,” Olivia says. “It feels like a prison.”

“I know,” my mother says. “Don’t worry. We’ll go somewhere nice tomorrow.”

“What’s happening tomorrow?” I interject.

Both women flinch. “Uh… Olivia and I thought we’d go have dinner tomorrow.”

I turn to Olivia. I can see my earlier words still swimming in her face. Despite all that, there’s still hope. Hope that she can change me. Hope that she can find the good man she thinks is buried somewhere inside.

Hope I need to extinguish.

“There will be no dinner tomorrow,” I snarl.

“But—”

“That’s my final word on the matter.”

“That’s not fair!” Olivia says, her voice rising.

“Neither is life. You will keep to yourself while you’re here. You will stay away from my parents.”

“Why?” she protests.

“Because I said so.”

More tears stream down Olivia’s face, but this time, I don’t feel any guilt. Because this time, my cruelty has a purpose.

It’s the only way to protect her.

27

OLIVIA

I stare dumbly at the blank piece of paper in front of me.

Apparently, it’s been so long since I’ve seen another person that I can’t even draw them anymore.

I haven’t heard from my siblings in days. I expected that, but their silence is much louder thanks to my newfound isolation. More specifically, thanks to Aleks.

He wouldn’t let me have dinner with Yulia, and I haven’t seen his father around the house since our confrontation in the hallway, which I suspect Aleks also has something to do with.

He’s punishing me.

But I don’t know why.

So when the door opens, I assume it’s one of the maids. And I still turn around immediately, desperate for human contact of any kind.

It’s not a maid, though.

“Yulia?” I breathe. I’m half-convinced she’s a hallucination.

She gives me a tired smile. “Hello, darling. How’re you holding up?”

“That’s a trick question, right?”

She glides forward in her champagne-colored silk pants and an ivory blouse that drapes over her slight shoulders. She looks like a Renaissance painting come to life.

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