Deceitful Lies by Brook Wilder
Chapter 46
Paige
“Andrei, please don’t treat Eva this way. It’s a slippery slope. Things like this start out small, and then they grow bigger.”
“Things?” he questions. “You mean abuse. I’m not like that. I’ve taken care of your father.”
“Against his will.”
“Should I turn off the machines?” he asks sarcastically.
It’s the hundredth argument we’ve had since Andrei arrived home. He spent the afternoon pulling apart Eva’s furniture before returning to our suite and grilling me about Kenney. I want to tell Andrei everything he wants to know, but I have no idea who Kenney is dating or where he hangs out.
I’ve tried to find out.
But it turns out we don’t know the same people anymore. I stare at the awful look Andrei is giving me. He looks like a tiger about to attack. I’m nervous around him again, as if the time we spent together no longer matters.
Has he forgotten everything?
“No, Andrei,” I tell him, collapsing onto the bed. I’m too easily defeated. “No, don’t do that. I admit it. I need the accounts too. For Emma’s sake.”
“Only for Emma?” he asks as if he can see straight into my mind. Andrei frowns at me, displeased that I won’t admit the truth. “Are you sure, Paige, that you don’t know where the information for the accounts is hidden?”
I don’t know anything else, and frustration gets the better of me. “If I knew, would I be here arguing with you?”
We glower at each other, scowling hard and narrowing our eyes in our standoff. Slowly, the ridiculousness of what we’re doing to each other dawns on us. Our anger melts away into laughter. I fall back onto the bed, holding my stomach while Andrei lies beside me.
I look over at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you laugh this hard before.”
He smiles. “It clashes with the image.”
“Andrei, I swear I have been raking through my brain to think of a hiding place. I can’t think of one. I need to go back to the house and look.”
He stops laughing, as if a switch has been flipped, and scowls at me. “No, it’s too dangerous. I’m not having you taken away from me again.”
I’m a little flattered, but I don’t have time to be silly. “We need what might be hidden in that house, and we’re losing time.”
He sighs, gazing up at the ceiling. “You seem to be the one in control now, Paige.”
“If I were in control, you wouldn’t be in the Bratva.”
He stares at me, and I take pleasure in the small victory of surprising him again. Andrei leans closer; his lips press against mine, and my body melts, responding to his. It will always crave him, no matter what happens between us. I know I’ll never want anyone else this badly.
I want to be with him, and I show it, wrapping my leg around his hip and keeping him locked in place. I return his kiss as if it’s the only thing keeping me going. The only thing that makes me feel alive. My hands tug at his shirt, and he pulls it over his head. Andrei smirks at me in the sexy way he does, and instantly, I’m wet and eager to make up.
For a moment, I can forget everything while he settles in between my thighs. I gasp as he pushes into me. His skin rubs slowly against mine as he holds me firmly in his strong grip. I close my eyes and let the pleasure take over. I forget the unkind words and the accusations spoken between us. It wouldn’t feel this good if I didn’t love him. If he didn’t love me.
I cling to his back and press into him as his thrusts quicken. His hot breath warms my bare shoulder. I squirm to take more of him in, and the sensation climbs steadily until the intensity causes me to lose my breath.
I shout as I come, and my arms tighten around Andrei’s shoulders. I stroke his hair, moving my hips until he buries his face in the pillow, gasping as he comes. He lifts his head and looks at me, looking puzzled that I can make him feel so good.
I lie nestled against his side, leaning in close. Our legs tangle together as I gently stroke lines along the muscles in his arm. We don’t look at one another as we lie side by side. Andrei rests his hand on my hip, holding me gently.
“Do you have any more secrets, Paige?” he whispers.
“You’re the one who’s a mystery,” I reply, but without reproach. “I thought you were just a slick charmer at that wedding, but each day I find more in you that I like.”
His hand slides along my hip, resting on my waist, and Andrei tugs me against him. “I kept you out at first because it didn’t matter. Now, I want to keep you safe by keeping you in the dark.”
“It’s not keeping me safe,” I tell him. “I’m sorry I kept secrets from you.”
“I’m sorry I’ve done the same,” he replies. “You are my wife.”
“Am I?”
“Of course.”
“But it’s fake.”
“Does it feel fake to you?” he asks.
Andrei presses his mouth to my forehead and apologizes again for keeping secrets, but he doesn’t tell me if he has any more, so why wouldn’t he? I don’t press him. I lie in his arms, satisfied I have this moment close to him. I can’t leave him until Emma is back.
I nuzzle closer. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you told me there were people more wicked than you.”
He tenses underneath me. “Do you trust me enough to tell me everything?”
“I won’t try to leave until it’s over.”
“You don’t have to go.” His voice is raspy.
“I’ve caused enough trouble. When it’s over, I want to leave.”
“Then let’s not discuss it now. We’ll work together to get back Emma, find the money, and return to a normal life.”
“But what is normal?” I ask.
Andrei lifts my hand to his lips and holds it there while he thinks, and then says, “I don’t know, Paige.”
