Vow of Deception (Deception Trilogy #1) by Rina Kent

“This is the first and last time you do that. Repeat it and you’ll meet a worse fate than being buried in a grave.”

He releases me with a shove and I stumble back toward the door, my heart beating so loud, I can hear the buzzing in my ears.

“What are you going to do with me?” My voice is small, fearful.

“Whatever I wish.”

My teeth chatter for a different reason than the cold weather, but I can’t resist the feral need to ask the question, “Are you going to hurt me?”

His attention fixes on me, his eyes turning ashen, blank. “Depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether or not you’re good at following orders.”

I stare up at him with another swallow. I’m not, I’m really not. But I need to start to be, because I don’t want to give this man a reason to hurt me.

Not that he’d need one.

“You’ll be cleaned up before you come to my house.” He gives me a condescending glance, cementing the fact that he does indeed think of me as a pest.

“When will that be?”

“Now.”

“N-now?”

“You have an objection?”

I shake my head once. I want to see Larry again, but that will probably put him in danger with these men, so I opt not to do it. I’ll have opportunities to come see him once I’m…someone else.

That realization hits me deeper than I would’ve anticipated.

I’m going to live as someone else.

I won’t be Winter Cavanaugh anymore.

My thoughts are reinforced when the Russian says, “From now on, you’re Lia Volkov. Wife of Adrian Volkov.”





6





Adrian





I’ve never believed in second chances.

Trusting that someone can change is wishful thinking in ninety-nine percent of cases. It’s a waste of time and energy.

However, there’s always that pesky one percent. The anomaly.

The…deviation of human behavior.

The fact that it’s almost impossible to predict or catch such a moment is what makes it special. Desirable, even.

It’s a sin waiting to be committed.

An untouched rose about to be plucked so it will wither in a place that’s far away from her natural habitat.

And even that one percent can’t be trusted. It’s not that people change of their own volition. They’re forced to by external exertions, by circumstances and tragedies.

In a way, second chances don’t really exist. They’re a myth told once in a while to appease emotionally fragile people so they can look forward to new days instead of spiraling into depression.

Sooner or later, however, they realize such things don’t exist and are hit by a deeper form of depression, a form that will eventually lead to their ruin.

I don’t believe in myths. I’m a man of facts. I may twist them in my favor, I may use a distorted version to reach a certain end, but I do not go after illusions.

And yet, there’s an exception.

An illusion I will pursue.

The woman sitting beside me in the back seat of my car is a myth, herself.

A doppelgänger.

“Do you believe in doppelgängers?” Lia once asked me as we sat down for breakfast.

I raised a brow. “Doppelgängers?”

“Don’t give me that look. They’re real! It’s said that everyone has forty people who look exactly like them. They’re scattered all over time and space, so it’s extremely rare to find your doppelgänger in the same time and place.”

“Lovely.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You don’t believe me.”

“I only said ‘lovely’.”

“You’re being sarcastic.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, you are, Adrian!”

“Hmm. How can you be so sure?”

“That’s not the point.”

“What is, then?”

“Imagine my doppelgänger somewhere in the world right now.” She gave me a soft smile. “If you saw her, you wouldn’t be able to tell us apart.”

“That’s impossible.”

“It is possible. I hope it happens to you.”

“You seem to be the one intent on meeting her. Why don’t you wish for it?”

“No, Adrian! We can’t meet our doppelgängers. The first one who sees the other will die,” she whispered the last words with a spooked tone.

The first one who sees the other will die.

That’s exactly what happened. Lia saw this homeless thing and just disappeared as if she’d never existed.

When you don’t believe in something and it ends up happening, you blame that something because you can’t simply start believing in what you never have.

This woman is that something.

She’s the one who took Lia away and thought she could waste her life in the dirty streets without repercussions.

She stares out the window as my senior guard, Kolya, drives the car through the busy streets. My other closest guard, Yan, sits in the passenger seat, keeping an eye on the road, his hand close to his gun on his waistband. They’re strong, loyal, and silent men, who speak with actions more than words. Just as I prefer it.

Winter is gripping the door handle with both hands. It can’t be because of Kolya’s driving, since it’s smooth. It can’t be because she’s mesmerized by New York’s night view, because her eyes are unfocused.