Page 15 of Wicked Vow

He folds his hands in front of him with all the bearing of a man delivering an edict. “I will not torture or kill you, Kasilov, in recognition of your loyalty and at the request of the woman who has the most right to want you punished. But I will tell you this. Natalia Obelensky will stay in my home for now, under my protection, and you arenotto come near her again. Do you understand?”

I shouldn’t care. My business with her should be done. If anything, the only reason Ishouldcare is because I want to punishherfor the fool she made out of me, for the way she turned the tables on me. But it has nothing to do with that.

The idea of never seeing Natalia Obelensky again, of never touching her again, never speaking to her again, doesn’t fill me with the sense of unfulfilled rage that I would have thought.

Instead, it makes me feel empty. As if a piece of myself has been taken, to be locked away from me–a piece I didn’t even know that I needed.

When I look up at her, I see an emotion that I now recognize on her face.Regret. Sadness.But there’s resolve, too. And I know she agrees with Viktor’s decision.

“If you do try to contact her, or see her, or disturb her in any way,” Viktor continues, “your life will be forfeit, Kasilov. Do you understandthat?I will have you killed. From this moment on, you will have nothing more to do with Natalia.”

It settles over me, then, the weight of what’s happened. It feels as if a tether has been cut, something I’d been holding onto without realizing it, and I feel adrift, weightless, as if every bit of purpose I had has been taken from me.

Viktor’s face hardens, and I realize with a start that I hadn’t answered.

“Yes,” I say quietly, and I can’t look at Natalia. I can’t see whatever emotion is on her face–and I can’t bring myself to watch her leave.

When she does, all three of them leave together, leaving me cuffed in the room, alone, waiting for someone to take me away from the compound.

I’ve been alone many times in my life, and I’ve never minded it. In fact, I’d preferred it.

But at that moment, I learn with devastating depth what it means to be lonely.

The door closing behind Natalia seems like the loudest sound I’ve ever heard.

Natalia

“You’re sure we’re safe?” Ruby asks me as we sit in the back of Viktor’s town car, the divider up and separating us from the driver and Viktor in the front seats. “You trust this man?”

I pause, trying to clear the thoughts in my own mind long enough to think of what will best reassure her.

“I don’t know him all that well,” I say slowly. “But I know that he’s generally always been regarded in the circles my family was a part of as someone who kept his word, even when he was someone who ran less–palatable businesses. And from what I know, he’s become a better person in the past year. He’s changed his businesses, and if anything, he’s more trustworthy now. I know it’s not a lot–but it’s what I have to go on. My sister trusted him,” I add. “And he helped her. So yes, I believe he’ll help us.”

Ruby nods. “I trustyou,” she says, her fingers lacing through mine. “If he really does give me a job in some upscale club of his, that will change everything for me.” Her voice holds a faint note of yearning. “I hadn’t ever really hoped for anything like that.”

“You deserve it.” I squeeze her hand. “I meant it when I said I didn’t know how I would have managed without you. I was so lost when I started at theCat’s Meow.You kept me afloat when I felt like I was drowning. I wasn’t going to leave you behind when I had a chance to get out.”

Ruby smiles at me. “And if he is telling the truth, then he’s going to protect you from Mikhail, too. That feels like a relief, I’m sure.”

I nod, because I know that’s the answer she expects–and it’s the one that makes sense. Nothing makes sense about how I felt my stomach drop when Viktor said that Mikhail would be killed if he tried to contact me again, or when I realized how permanent the separation is meant to be. Not just me, but our child, too.

It’s what I should want. I have no reason to want Mikhail near me. The pleasure we found in each other isn’t enough–it can’t be. But I feel as if a pit has opened up in my stomach and in my chest. As if I’ve been hollowed out from the inside, and none of it makes sense.

It feels as if what I know about him isn’t the whole story. Ever since I understood his justification for it all, it felt as if I might have seen something real in the beginning, when I had trusted him. That there’s a man under the cruelty who needs a reason to come out.

I don’t entirely believe that the Mikhail who kept me captive is who he truly is. But I also know that anyone who heard me say that would think I was insane–and understandably so.

We ride in silence until the car pulls up in a circular driveway in front of a huge stone house, with lush garden landscaping around the path leading up to the front door. I see Ruby’s eyes go wide as she looks at it, her head tilting to take it in through the car’s tinted window.

“This is where Viktor lives?”

I nod, a small smile playing at the corners of my lips. “Yes, I think so.”

Ruby glances at me. “Did you grow up somewhere like this?”

I can’t help but laugh a little, then. “Well, it didn’t look exactly like this, but yes–the general concept is the same.”

The car stops, and Viktor gets out to open the door for us both. “Welcome to my home,” he says, gesturing for us to go first up the stone path to the door.

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