Page 64 of Deceitful Vows

His comment pricks me hard, and I grip my hands in my lap. The weight of my baby presses against my arm, and I can’t give up yet. Too many people are depending on me. Everyone depends on me. It’s the first time I have felt the burden of being a part of a Bratva. Andrei has felt this for years, and my heart swells with empathy now that I feel it too.

“Then split them up,” I suggest with renewed force. “So they can’t plot and plan. But they can’t stay here!”

“Paige, they may have to …” he replies sternly.

“They’re murderers!” I shout, and the silence feels palpable. I lower my head to catch my breath and look up, raising my chin. “You know it, Andrei. They’re a bunch of heartless murderers. If I had a knife, I’d line them up and draw the blade across each throat as I walk down the line. I don’t want them here!”

The spirit leaves me suddenly as I choke on a sob. I spoke the truth in cold, harsh terms. I said what no one else dared, and now I stick in the knife. “If you won’t listen to me, then think about your baby.”

I went too far. I feel as if the clouds have parted and dumped a blinding storm down on my head. The darkness in his gaze comes flooding back and sweeps me along like a raging river. I lose my footing, and I’m swept in deeper. I feel his hate again where I once felt love.

I try desperately to lighten the mood and try another approach. A sweeter approach to get what I really want.

“There’s something else.” My voice is shaking.

“What is it?” His voice sounds dull.

“When this is over,” I force optimism into my voice. “Maybe you could go into construction? And give the Bratva to Sonya?”

The look he gives me makes me feel like a stand-up comedian bombing so badly that the hecklers stay quiet. I try to clean it up fast. “You spend a lot of time visiting the sites. You’re very good with real estate, and people have built great wealth through it. Legitimate wealth.”

Andrei sits down heavily, a sour twist to his mouth. “Should I tell the guards to go out there and hustle listings? Paige, it is unrealistic. The Bratva will always exist. How we exist will be determined over the next few months. I thought we had discussed this. I thought you understood?”

The exasperation in his voice makes me feel self-conscious, like he’s calling me a dummy without stating it. “Can’t we plan ahead? Can’t you focus on something else besides murder? And what about Sonya?”

“What about my sister?” His voice is stern, but his words are deliberate.

My sister.

“I didn’t expect her to appear with an army at our door. How can she be so insensitive as to bring them here? Are you sure she’s not a threat?”

“Paige, I love you,” he says it, but it sounds harsh. “Please believe me that I can do this. But I need you to be by my side.”

“What if—”

He cuts me off with a roar. “There will be no morewhat ifs. I will win this. Why do you doubt me?”

Of course, that’s why he’s angry. I have good reason to doubt Andrei, but I don’t dare say. He wants to possess everything, and to hell with the cost. Me, my baby, and the money that he thinks belongs to him.

My fear morphs into anger when I realize I have yet to receive a cent. My bank account has money in it, but it’s not my money. It’s not the money that almost got me killed—the money that transformed my father into a criminal, the money that killed my mother and my cousin, and the money that sent my sister away.

It destroyed my family. So why isn’t it in my hands?

Taking a trembling breath, I ask the forbidden question, knowing that I will never like whatever the answer is.

“Andrei,” I say. “Where is the money?”

Chapter 40

Andrei

I stare at her, speechless. Is that what this is about? Another argument questioning my decisions as if I haven’t tried everything I could think of already. As if we’re only alive because of good luck or fate and not because I know what I’m doing. And then it comes down to money.

I didn’t expect it from her, but I suppose she still wants to run away.

“We’re working on it, Paige,” I reply calmly. “Money just can’t appear without a paper trail.”

She winces at my tone.

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