Page 76 of Deceitful Vows

Viktor scoffs instead of bothering to deny it. “I don’t need to be around Andrei Vasilyevich to see what is happening to him. I hear how he is acting, and that tells me it’s wrong. He’s not acting like a pakhan but like a man. A desperate and brutal man who is letting his cruelty guide him. Andrei needs you, or he’ll make a costly mistake.”

I take a long minute to think. He must have done something awful to shake Viktor up.

“I can’t go back, Viktor,” I finally say. “And you know why I can’t.”

Viktor tosses back his head and drags his hand over his face. His long fingers move slowly over his high cheekbones, and the gesture ends with a deep sigh. “You can’t see a way to be together?”

“And what happens when his cruelty kills the baby and me?” I ask defiantly. “There will be no way to turn back if I’m dead. If my baby is dead. I can’t do this for him. He has to want to change. I’m not asking for the impossible. I’m asking him to stop breaking the law.”

Viktor narrows his eyes on me. “You know what he is.”

“So do you,” I reply coldly. “Take care of Emma, and thank you for bringing her here to see me.”

His lips pressed tight, Viktor glares at me as if I’m the sole reason for our world careening off balance. I want to shout at him.This isn’t my fault. I’m not the bad guy!

But I can’t. His angry expression resembles mine, the way I looked when my parents fought and wouldn’t listen to me. It all seemed so logical. I didn’t know why they weren’t getting along, but I knew they could fix it if they wanted to.

I was so foolish, but I was also in the dark.

When Viktor doesn’t move fast enough, I walk over to the door and swing it open.

“Viktor, there are things you don’t know about,” I state firmly.

“Are they more important than him?” he asks, voice thick with attitude.

He walks toward the SUV and jumps in. Emma waves from the passenger window before they pull away. It’s not that easy for me and Andrei. We can’t decide to be together and for everyone else to fuck off. I have a good reason to fight. It’s for my baby.

I look at the statement again and frown. Not only would it be wrong to keep the money, but it would trap me. The Bratva won’t let me disappear if I steal from them. My late father is proof enough to convince me that it has to be returned. If I really want to be free, I will have to let go.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and stare at Andrei’s number.

No, I sigh, slipping it into my pocket. Maybe Zhanna? No, she’ll call me a fool and then advise me where to buy a private island.

No, I need to trust someone else.

Someone who others will never find fault with.

Chapter 46

Andrei

It’s easy to track Gleb down. He’s no longer reckless and bold and going out in public like the boss man whom no one would dare touch. He’s made too many enemies in too short a time, and that’s a bad ratio.

One has to choose enemies wisely, more wisely than choosing a friend.

With a little outside help, Natasha finds Gleb’s bloodstained shirt, which he tried to wash.

Another mistake he’s made; you always burn the clothes.

She leaves it in the trunk of his car for the police to find after they receive an anonymous tip reporting a drunk driver. Kenney Grant’s DNA was all over the shirt, but somehow Gleb managed to get out of jail on a bond.

He has only one choice left to him. The safe house in the suburbs, the same one where Viktor made his first kill. But I don’t sneak around in the middle of the night.

Boldly, I walk up to the front door.

Am I taking too many risks because Paige left me? Am I hoping she’ll come back and save me if she hears I’ve gone mad? I don’t know. Maybe a shrink with a degree can figure it out. But in the meantime, I have work to do.

The guard stands in the doorway staring at me as if I’m insane. He has a broad and stocky build, with a head that looks like it is entirely too small for his body. His mouth parts as he tries to put it together. He’s a little bulkier than me but totally green. He has to learn his job.

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