Page 22 of Wicked Vow

“This is Dimitri.” Caterina tilts her arms so I can see the baby she’s cradling. “His sister, Viktoria, is upstairs in the nursery, and the other two are at school. My stepdaughters.”

“I can’t believe you have four children.” I look at Dimitri, trying to imagine holding a baby of my own like that, and it’s hard for me to picture. “When I met you, I don’t even think you were pregnant? You must have been, though–”

“Only just. I thought I’d lost the baby when I was kidnapped. I had no idea it would be twins.” Caterina laughs. “It’s been a challenge, but Viktor has been wonderful. It’s been so much different than I’d thought it would be when he and I were married. He’s really tried so hard to be the husband I need. It’s been remarkable to see.”

“So you really love him?” The question comes out before I realize it, the words spoken before I can think about them once again, and I wince.Maybe I should have gone back to sleep.“I’m sorry, that was too personal of a question. We don’t even know each other all that well.”

Caterina shakes her head, laughing softly. “It’s fine. Honestly. You come from the same kind of family I did–we know what these kinds of marriages are usually like. I didn’t expect to love my husband. And I didn’t at first.” She laughs again, tucking Dimitri closer to her. “I hated him at first. I wouldn’t even let him touch me. But things changed after I was kidnapped. Viktor didn’t understand what I needed from him, to care for him the way he was beginning to care for me. Once he did, everything changed.”

“How did you make him understand?” I look at her, a small glimmer of emotion that I don’t quite understand flickering to life in my chest. “Men like that–”

“Are stubborn and intractable?” Caterina chuckles, shrugging lightly. “It wasn’t easy. We fought. He took his anger out on me, more than once. He didn’t know how to deal with his feelings, and I didn’t know how to begin to meet him halfway. We were both very stubborn in our own ways. But I stuck to what I told him I needed, beyond anything else, for us to have a chance. And in time, he saw that he wanted happiness with me more than the legacy he’d thought he built.”

Caterina pauses, glancing over at me. “There was a time when I didn’t know if we’d ever be anything other than what we started out as. We both had things from our past that we needed to deal with. But we found a path forward together. It wasn’t easy, though.”

“I’m glad it worked out for you,” Ruby interjects, her gaze flicking between the two of us. “But I think it’s probably not the usual way that it turns out.” She gives me a pointed glance. “I don’t think men like that usually change.”

“You might be right,” Caterina says, her voice pointedly light. “But we can’t sit hereallday talking. I’ll take Dimitri upstairs, and then we should head out. You both need clothes, and Natalia, maybe a hair appointment?” She smiles gently. “Ruby mentioned you had dark hair when she met you. I’m guessing it was to keep you hidden?”

I nod, not really wanting to fill in that it was Mikhail who stripped the dye out and not because I’d asked him to. “I’d definitely like to get it back to the color it was. This is all really kind of you–”

“Before you say ‘I don’t have to,’ I know that,” Caterina tells me, shifting Dimitri in her arms. “But you’ve helped our family, Natalia. We want to help you.” She pauses, as if thinking of how she wants to put what she says next. “I try to do what I can, to make up for some of what Viktor used to be involved in. So does he. Helping Sasha, helping you, helping Lena–it’s all a part of it. So you don’t need to worry about being a burden. You’re not, and we can talk more about what the future looks like while we’re out.”

Dimitri lets out a small cry, and Caterina hushes him softly. “Give me a few minutes, and we’ll go.”

She gets up then, heading out of the living room, leaving Ruby and me to sit there and think about what she’d just said.

* * *

It all feels strange, being thrust so abruptly back into something that so closely resembles my former life. Caterina’s driver is waiting for us when we come downstairs, and we slide into the black town car while Caterina leans over and gives him directions to take us into the city, downtown.

“I have appointments already made,” she says with a bright smile, looking at the two of us. “Whatever you want to get done, you can. And any clothes you need, all of that–it’s on us.”

“That’s too much,” Ruby protests, and Caterina shakes her head.

“Absolutely not. It’s not even a little trouble for us. Just enjoy it, please.”

Ruby starts to say something else, but I reach over, patting her hand, and she glances at me anxiously. She’s had plenty of sugar daddies, I know that, but I can tell it makes her uncomfortable taking something like this from Caterina and Viktor.

“And there’s no–strings?” Ruby raises an eyebrow. “I’m sorry if that sounds rude, but–”

Caterina laughs. “No, I understand. No strings. My husband and I are happy to help you both. For you, Lena, that means getting you set up, finding you a place to live, and a job in one of my husband’s clubs–if that’s what you still want. For Natalia, it means the same, but giving her a place to stay until she can decide what she wants to do with her new future. Trust me, this makes me very happy. I have an entire foundation dedicated to helping women who need new beginnings.”

“Well then, thank you.” Ruby shifts next to me, the words still coming out with an edge of discomfort to them. She’s quiet until we reach our first stop, where the driver lets us out. As we step out onto the curb, Ruby grabs my hand, stopping me briefly as Caterina walks ahead.

“I really don’t know if I like the idea of being someone’s charity project,” she murmurs. “You really feel comfortable with this?”

“It’s not charity,” I whisper. “Not really. Ruby–I know it feels strange to take things that don’t have strings attached, but she is telling the truth about the foundation, and I think the rest of her intentions, too. They’re just trying to help. It doesn’t hurt to accept help.”

“I don’t know if that’s true–”

“Hey.” I squeeze her hand. “I’ve got you. I’m not going anywhere right now, and if I do, it won’t be all that far away. I promise. If something goes wrong, I’ll haveyourback, not anyone else’s. We’re friends.Bestfriends. So let’s accept the offer of help that we came here for, and if it turns out that there’s anything shady about it, we’ll find a way out.”’

Ruby nods as we walk a little faster to catch up with Caterina. “You did get out of that situation with Mikhail,” she whispers softly. “So if anyone can hold her own if something goes wrong, it would be you.”

“Hey. You too.” I elbow her gently. “You handled what happened with Igor. We’re both tough. And whatever happens, we’ll get through it.”

The first stop is the salon. Caterina has me set up with a stylist already while she and Ruby get their nails done. Before I know it, I’m in a chair with a displeased-looking woman running her fingers through my hair with an expression ofwhat did you do to thison her face.

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