Deceitful Vows by Brook Wilder
Chapter 11
Andrei
Two days later
“Vodka or scotch?” asks Dmitri.
“I don’t need a drink,” I reply quickly.
“I think you will regret being sober when Talia arrives.” He grabs two bottles from the bar. “I’ll just pour both in the same glass.”
I can tell he’s counting the days until he can say I told you so. Cocky little shit.
He watches the amber liquid fill the glass and then hands it to me. “I hope this girl is worth your effort.”
“Paige Reyes is just another deal.” I place the glass back down. “Once I have what I want, she’ll be sent on her way.”
“So it won’t be an actual wedding?”
“She won’t be stuck in a loveless marriage.” I get up and walk over to the window. This room suffocates me. “If she wants a divorce, I won’t object.”
“And you?” he asks.
“I don’t care who I marry as long as it’s to my advantage.” I twist my lips. “And Talia never had anything to offer.”
I’ve invited Talia over for lunch this afternoon to break the news. In person. Her father could’ve told her, but it’s my responsibility to inform her. I will face the fury like the man I am. No, like the pakhan I am.
“I’m going to go change my suit,” I tell Dmitri as I hurry to the door. “Make sure the waitstaff has the table set up on the terrace. And that guards are concealed around us.”
Dmitri nods. “I understand perfectly.”
Talia’s temper is infamous. She’s attacked other women for the smallest slights. She’s cut men for disrespecting her. She showed no remorse when she sliced off a soldier’s nose for brushing against her ass at a club. The place was crowded, and he was protecting her.
Talia claims she’s saved her virginity for me, but I think the truth is that no one dared take it.
I go to my suite to change into my gray suit while Dmitri makes sure everything outside is in place. I decided to entertain her on the terrace by the garden, so she can’t break anything, or worse, refuse to leave the house. I toss the shirt I’ve only had on for two hours onto my bedroom floor and enter my walk-in closet. The wound on my shoulder catches my eye. It was stitched by our surgeon. And even he admired Paige’s ingenuity.
I wonder how far her ingenuity extends. She acts as if she has no knowledge of the Bratva, but the woman can patch a wound.
My fresh shirt slides over my skin, and I think about her hand pressed against my chest. She barely whimpered and held her shit together as we were shot at by a speeding jeep. She’s bravery mixed with vulnerability.
Maybe she is innocent. Maybe it’s not an act. She’s done nothing but tell me the truth so far.
But there’s something else about her that I can’t put my finger on, and I know there’s something else she’s not telling me.
I check my watch and head downstairs as Talia enters the main foyer. She beams as she sees me, and I wonder if she’s expecting a formal proposal today. Or a ring. I have a ring, but it won’t end up on her finger. Talia is dressed in the typical Bratva princess dress. Low cut but tasteful, fitted around the waist, and draped over the hips. Her long legs are showing off on a pair of designer heels.
The guard takes her purse and checks it.
“Always cautious, my dear Andrushka.” Her voice radiates with practiced sweetness. “It is so good to see you, and thank you for inviting me over.” She leans into me. Her lips brush mine softly as she presses her breasts against me. “You have my condolences, but we must continue to live our lives the best we can.”
She runs her hand over the marble-top console. Is she appraising the furniture or picking out what to keep and what to toss?
“The garden.” I hold up a hand and gesture in the direction of the terrace.
“Have you been redecorating?” she asks. “Or perhaps it’s your mother, Eva?”
“I made a few changes after the funeral.” The smirk on my face causes her to pause.
“How is Eva holding up? I should come visit her.”
“She wants privacy right now,” I reply, knowing my mother’s feelings.
Talia smiles tightly and continues out the French door. She clasps her hands together as she surveys the setting. A table set for two, draped in white silk and dripping with yellow roses. Talia bounces toward the table and waits for me to pull out her chair. I ordered the best possible meal for the occasion. Lobster and white wine.
The waiter pours the wine into our glasses. She gobbles down the lobster, breaking it with her hands while talking about our future. It’s time.
“Talia, earlier you said we must continue to live our lives the best we can.”
“I did, Andrushka. After we marry, I will do whatever I need to do to help you forget the past.” She lifts her glass toward me, but mine stays on the table.
“Unfortunately, we must go our separate ways to live our best lives.”
She slowly lowers her glass. “What do you mean by ‘separately’?” Talia looks over at the house. “Are we living in separate wings?”
I shake my head. “You won’t be living here at all.”
“I understand that your late father had many mistresses. I understand that men in your position often do. As your wife, will I have a house in the neighborhood?”
“Doubtful. Your father can’t afford it.”
There’s a glint in her eye as her breaths shorten. Her chest rises and falls as she begins to understand my meaning.
“We are supposed to be getting married,” her voice strains. “Andrei Vasilyevich.”
I shake my head. “Not anymore. I will be marrying someone else. Someone that’s not you.”
“What? Why? Have you spoken to my father?”
“I have, and I told him I would tell you.”
“I don’t believe you.” She grabs her phone from her purse. The call goes straight to voice mail. The coward.
“The contract was between our fathers,” I explain coldly. “My father is dead, and your father’s loyalties are as good as dead, given his track record.”
“Only because your father kept mine at a distance. Once we are married, that will change.”
“There will be no marriage, Talia. I have already compensated your father for the broken contract.”
“What about me?” She raises her voice. “Don’t I get a say in this?”
I’m silent, not that anything she can say will sway me, but I will allow her to have her say.
“Since I was a little girl, I’ve been told that I was destined to marry you. That I was a princess destined to become a queen. I spent my entire life being told by my mother that my worth came from being your wife. And now you do this to me! How dare you, Andrei Vasilyevich!”
“Fine.” I toss my napkin onto my plate. “I will give you the same payment I gave your father.”
“Fuck you!” Talia screams. “Do you think I’m a whore who will be placated by money?”
“Business deals don’t always pan out, and consider your family lucky they can walk away.”
“I’m not a deal to be broken.” She stands up. “And I’m not a whore you can pay off. Fuck you, Andrei Vasilyevich.”
Her hands shake as she snatches her wineglass and chucks it in my face. The guards step out from behind the bushes, but I motion them back.
“I hear you have a whore of your own, so this must be why you are treating me like one.” She points her finger at me. “That’s the truth, isn’t it? Is that who you’re going to marry?”
“And who has told you these lies?” I ask calmly, wiping my face.
“My father heard that you got into a shootout with Igor’s men when you were on your way to visit one of your whores.”
I sit back, folding my arms. “And how does he know this?”
Talia’s face turns pale under her heavy makeup. She sputters, knowing she’s revealed too much.
“If you’re watching me, you should know the truth,” I answer for her. “I don’t chase whores. Or marry them.”
“I swear I will peel the skin from the woman’s face who marries you.”
I open my jacket. “Tell your father if you attack a member of my Bratva, then I will retaliate.”
Talia grabs the empty wine bottle and breaks it against the back of the wrought-iron chair. Swiftly, I grip her wrist and hold the jagged glass aloft. In frustration, she spits in my face.
Dmitri runs at her and grabs her from behind around the waist. Three guards appear, and she struggles against them, screaming and howling. But her yelling brings no one to her rescue, and the staff minds their business.
But I can see a face looking out a window on the second floor.
“You will pay for how you’re treating me, Andrei Barinov!” she shrieks in Russian. “I will make sure of it. I will dance on your grave and then on your father’s. Fuck you and your whores. I will go to my father and tell him how you have treated me. Igor will end you—the same way he ended Vasily.”
I turn my back on her. “If he does come after me, he better not miss.”
I suspected Igor was responsible. Now, thanks to Talia, it’s confirmed. I will never regret my actions today. My instincts will always give me the upper hand. I would’ve had a snake in my bed if I had married Talia.
Talia’s screams continue into the distance as she’s hauled out of sight.
Dmitri orders the men to usher Talia around the house. He motions to the waiter, who rushes over and grabs the edges of the tablecloth. He lifts the cloth and carries the whole thing off to the trash.
I set off down the path as my guards remain in position. Talia doesn’t make idle threats, but I don’t think Igor needs her to tell him to eliminate me.
I continue to a large maze hedge my father had built, but I don’t enter. Memories appear in my mind. As a boy, his soldiers would chase me through the maze, and I learned how to hide from a pursuer. It was my favorite place to play until I discovered my father fucking one of the new maids as tears ran down her face.
“Is his office empty?” I ask Dmitri.
“Yes, Andrei Vasilyevich. The furniture is gone. It’s also gone from his playroom.”
I give him a sideways glance. I’m never sure if Dmitri is being serious or sarcastic.
“Women are the deadliest opponents,” he continues. “We always underestimate them.”
I grin. “Talia is controlled by jealousy. Her fury has proven how untrustworthy and unstable she is. She has harmed people who should not have been touched and made lifelong enemies. She felt entitled, and now, I’ve taken that entitlement away.”
“You may have been right,” he replies. “But be careful, Andrei Vasilyevich, of what she can take from you.”
I look up at the window, but the face is gone.
