Page 53 of Wicked Vow

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I can still taste the hint of blood on my lips from the kiss when I walk into the front door of Viktor’s house, the emotion of the night hitting me all at once with a wave of exhaustion. I’d intended to go straight up to my room, shower, and go to sleep, but Caterina catches me almost as soon as I walk in, her face taut with worry.

“Are you alright?” she asks, looking me over. “I heard about what happened in the club. Sasha is in the living room–come with me. We want to make sure you’re okay–”

“I’m fine,” I start to say, but I’m already being herded into the living room, where Sasha is perched anxiously on the edge of one of the chairs. Caterina guides me to the sofa, and I sink down onto it immediately.One place to land is as good as another, for now, I suppose.

“I heard Mikhail broke into the club?” Caterina’s mouth tightens. “And he was taken to Viktor, I assume to–”

“Viktor is giving him another chance,” I say quietly, stopping her before she can finish the sentence. “Because I asked him to. And I’m too tired to argue about it, so please–”

Caterina takes a deep, slow breath, but she glances at Sasha and then back at me and nods.

“We just want to make sure that you’re okay,” she says gently, and I nod.

“I’m fine. If anything, it’s Erik that everyone should be worried about. Mikhail did a bit of a number on him.”

“So we heard,” Caterina says quietly. “Viktor was pretty upset about it.”

“Did you see Erik after?” Sasha asks, leaning forward. “Did he say anything?”

I nod. “He was upset, too. He didn’t really want to see me, and I can’t entirely blame him. He even questioned if I’d set it up, since I was the one who asked him to go to the club.”

“What?” Caterina’s eyes widen. “I’m sorry, Natalia. I wouldn’t have thought he would say something like that to you–”

“It’s fine. He’d just been beaten up, and he was angry. I get it. But I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other again. Sorry,” I add wryly, looking at Caterina. “I know you and Viktor were trying to set the two of us up.”

Caterina sighs. “Viktor especially thought he might be good for you. He’s been a good business partner for Viktor. Open to ideas, not too overbearing, but with plenty of capital to get things moving. It’s really helped Viktor diversify things, which is what we–and especially I–wanted. He’s always seemed very polite and gentlemanly, and he’d mentioned wanting to meet someone. It seemed like such a good fit.”

“Other than the part where I’m pregnant with someone else’s baby?” I look at her wryly. “I don’t know how he would have felt about that, if we’d gotten that far.”

“I think a good man likely wouldn’t care,” Caterina says, and Sasha snorts.

“Caterina, you’ve been around these kinds of men your whole life. You know that isn’t true. A lot of menwouldcare. But there are men like Liam, who love you regardless.” Sasha shrugs. “He did seem like he might be a good fit for you, Natalia. You even said he’d been patient with how hesitant you were to let it get serious. It might be worth seeing if he wants to patch things up after this.”

“It’s not as if he’s the only man in New York.” Even I can hear the touch of exasperation in my voice. “You’re all acting like he is.”

“We just want you to be happy–”

“Beforethe baby comes, or I’m obviously pregnant? Is that why you’re pushing this so hard.”

“Natalia–” Caterina starts to say, her expression a little guilty, but Sasha cuts in.

“He won’t be in New York much longer, either,” Sasha adds. “He’s going to be in Boston soon, working with Viktor and Connor to start a new business venture there. They’ve been discussing it for a while now, from what I hear. He’ll be there for some time, and ifyouwere in Boston, too–”

She trails off, her expression eager. “You can stay at the McGregor estate with us for now. I already know they’d be happy to have you. We’d be able to spend time together–get to know each other better. Boston is lovely, and so is the whole McGregor family–it would be wonderful, Natalia. I really want you to come and stay, and so does Max–”

“I don’t want to just shrug off Viktor and Caterina’s generosity–” I bite my lip, feeling uncertain. I’m tired, and after the day that I’ve had, I don’t know how I can makeanydecision right now. “It’s a lot to figure out–”

“We would never want you to not be with your family,” Caterina says firmly. “If you want to go back to Boston with Sasha and Max when they go, we would absolutely understand that, as much as we’ve loved having you here.”

“I’ll have to think about it,” I say carefully, trying to think past the fog of exhaustion that’s creeping over me. “But it’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about ever since you brought it up. I just–I need some rest.”

There’s too much that I can’t talk about right now–all my conflicting feelings about Mikhail, how sure I am that Erik and I aren’t going to work. After tonight, I’m more confident than ever about that. But I don’t have the energy to convince them of it right now.

“Of course,” Caterina says quickly. “You should go to bed. We can talk more about Boston in the morning.” She reaches over, squeezing my hand. “Get some sleep. And don’t worry about Mikhail. Viktor will make sure that he’s taken back to his hotel and stays there.”

That’s the worst part, of course. I keep replaying the night in my head as I go up to my room, and I can’t stop thinking about the way he’d kissed me in the champagne room, how frantic he’d looked, how desperate. I can’t stop thinking about his battered appearance in that room, about how he’d leaned into that last kiss, how much he’d wanted me even then. It had been as if, even on the cusp of death, I’d been all he was able to think about.

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