Deceitful Vows by Brook Wilder
Chapter 15
Paige
I’m no longer allowed to be left alone, but Natasha prefers to sit outside my door, tapping on her phone. Occasionally, I’ll hear Dmitri’s voice booming down the hallway through the thick wood. Jealousy makes me glare at the door when they’re laughing on the other side. How dare anyone laugh when I’m being held against my will?
Always alone with my thoughts, I worry about my father and Emma. What are they doing? Are they okay? Of course they’re not. They need me. How are they getting money? Do they have enough food? Oh God, I should be home.
Worry and guilt make me turn down the multiple luxuries I’m offered. I sit by the window in a hard wooden chair and refuse to look at the expensive things in my room. I glare at the maid who changes my bedding daily. I pick at the gourmet food served on my plate. I walk with four guards through a garden in bloom, but I keep my eyes on the path. One of the maids offers to give me a mani-pedi, and I tell her to fuck off.
They all think I’m crazy.
I overhear Natasha speak to a maid exiting my room. “She’s not as bad as the last one. Be thankful she’s only spoiled.”
Spoiled. My nostrils flare at the unfairness. It’s his fault. He brought me here. Don’t they understand I don’t want to be here? I flop down onto the bed and glare at the door. I hate him. I should be worrying about my family uninterrupted, but I always end up wondering when I’ll see Andrei again.
I was told he picked a different dress for me. The one I picked was labeled “inappropriate.” Well, it’s hanging up in my closet. Absent-mindedly, I wander into the closet several times a day and touch the long ties. Closing my eyes, I imagine what his hands felt like on my breasts. I truly thought he’d do more. I don’t think I would’ve stopped him.
It started out as a game. Teasing him was a way to get back. But it backfired and turned into desire.
There’s a tap on the bedroom door, as if I have a say in who gets to come in. The door opens, and briefly, Natasha appears, checking to see where I am. Quickly, I let go of the dress and step out of the closet. Natasha twists her lips. I haven’t been forgiven. She steps aside and an older woman enters the room.
An older woman that I recognize.
I admired her looks at that tragic wedding. She was the woman sitting near the main table beside the man who was later shot. There are soft bags under her eyes that make her look forlorn. I’ve caught glimpses of her on my walks. Up close, I can see that she has Andrei’s eyes, but she looks as if she’s just stopped crying.
She smiles. “Hello, my dear. I want to speak with you.”
Natasha gives me a sharp look. “If anything happens …”
The woman looks at Natasha, and Natasha leaves the room but keeps the door open. The woman pats the end of the bed, and I sit beside her but not too close.
“I’m Eva. Andrei’s mother.” She has a slight accent. Eva holds out her hand, and we have to shake. “How do you feel about your wedding to my son?”
And say nothing, Little Ms. Lucky.
“Honestly, I feel nothing about it.” I can’t lie, but I also don’t feel inclined to confess.
“I know you are scared,” she says. “I know because once I was sitting … locked in a room, waiting for Vasily to become my husband.”
I must look like a ghost, gawking at her with my mouth hanging open. No, that can’t be possible.
She ignores my reaction and continues. “My marriage to Andrei’s father was arranged. My father was a man of ambition, and I was the best opportunity he had to reach it … even in death. From the moment I met Vasily, I was terrified of him. And rightfully so. I lived in dread from my wedding night to his death.
“Every night after our wedding, it became progressively worse. And then, my father-in-law died and Vasily threw himself into the work of running his Bratva. He paid little attention to me other than the one reason he needed me in his bed. I was thankful when he took his first mistress. The only time he was pleased with me was when I became pregnant with Andrei.”
Eva pauses, and the sadness in her eyes is overshadowed by her wide smile.
“It was the first time I was happy since our wedding,” she continues. “To feel my son growing inside me, Finally, someone I could love and who might love me back just as fiercely. My happiness faded after Andrei was born, and Vasily strove to raise my baby boy into a monster just like himself. But one day it changed.”
“What happened?” I whisper, absorbed in her story.
“One day, Vasily beat me so fiercely that I thought I was going to die. But then Andrei came between us. My brave little boy defended me. Vasily turned his anger on our son—a child. I would never let him hurt my boy. I found the energy to scream for Vasily’s brigadiers to save their pakhan’s son. And they finally came to hold Vasily back until he was calm.”
“Why did he beat you?” As soon as I say it, I want to bite my tongue for being insensitive.
“I didn’t want his mistress in my bed,” Eva replies quickly. “After that day, he moved me into my own wing, far from him.” Her voice softens, but her expression is fierce. “I will not stand idly by and allow Andrei to become a monster like his father.”
I take a deep breath and sit up straight.
“It may be too late,” I tell her. “I saw his men drag a screaming woman away. She was screaming for her life, and she had been with your son. I saw them from the window. There’s a room in the attic.”
Eva waves her hand dismissively. “Andrei didn’t lay a hand on her. That room in the attic was my husband’s. It’s been empty since his death. As it should have always been. You must learn to be a good wife. The Bratva has rules that you must learn and adapt to.”
“I don’t want to marry into the Mafia.”
“We are not the Mafia, dear.” Eva frowns at me, expressing her displeasure plainly. “And I would purge that word from your vocabulary.” She reaches out and holds my hands firmly. “It will work. It will be okay. Be brave and you will end up with what you want.” Her grip tightens on my hands. “Sava Khodemchuk said that to me years ago, and now I’m telling you.”
Before I can ask what that means, something has Eva’s attention. I look up, and Andrei is standing in the doorway. My shoulders tighten to my ears, but Eva takes her hand and runs it through my hair.
“You are safe, my dear,” she says.
With trepidation, I look at Andrei, not knowing how he will react.
Wait … Did he send her?
Andrei looks thoughtful as he holds out his arm to his mother. She rests her hand on him as they walk into the hallway. The door shuts immediately, and the lock clicks. It’s the middle of the day, but I crawl into bed, pulling the duvet around me for warmth. My mind is filled with even more questions, each one questioning the others.
