Deceitful Vows by Brook Wilder

 

Chapter 34

Andrei

 

“Stay away from her, Talia,” I warn her.

 

“Can’t she speak for herself?” Talia laughs, pacing in a tight circle in front of me. “No, look at her. She’s shaking. Not what I expected of my fill-in, Andrushka.”

 

Talia feels no shame for her deranged actions. Her father had to use a piece of paper to bind me to his mad daughter. This woman can never claim my heart when she doesn’t have one.

 

“I’m warning you, Talia.” I relax my jaw slightly. “Don’t come near her again. She has nothing to do with what happened between us.”

 

“She has nothing to do?” Talia shrieks. “You placed a crown upon her head! The crown that belonged to me! My life has become a never-ending nightmare of humiliation since you broke off our engagement. And for what?” She stops pacing to look Paige up and down. “Is she worth it? How much did this whore cost you, Andrushka?”

 

“She’s my wife,” I answer calmly, though my fists are tightly clenched. “She is a Barinov now. And you will show her the respect she deserves.”

 

“Respect?” Talia’s cold eyes are filled with endless hate as she steps toward me. “Just because she can spread her legs doesn’t mean she deserves respect. Can she even handle being a pakhan’s wife?” Talia scoffs. “Look at her. Cowering behind you and ready to run.”

 

My gaze stays on Talia, but I sense Paige’s fear without looking in her direction. Fear gives off a signal, almost a scent. Like a trigger, it makes me crueler. I want to smash fear into the ground under my heel. I can practically hear Vasily’s ghost whispering in my ear: weakness deserves no sympathy.

 

But at the same time, I want to pull Paige into my arms and tell her I’ll never be so careless with her life again. I want to feel her soft hair against my chin and her breasts pressing into my chest. I want to stop playing games, even if I still have questions about her father.

 

No woman has ever made me feel like this.

 

“You must care about her, don’t you?” Talia asks, breaking the silence.

 

“I don’t have to answer your prying questions,” I reply as I scan the table for anything Talia might use as a weapon. “We never belonged together, and nothing will convince me otherwise.”

 

The harshness of Talia’s laughter makes my skin crawl, tightening the back of my neck. Talia has lost it, and it was foolish to think she wouldn’t have gone mad with rage after I rejected her. I should call for the guard, but it will show weakness.

 

I have to defend Paige alone. I must.

 

“Does she know about all the fucked-up shit you’re caught up in? Does she know where your money comes from? The things that you’ve done?” Talia glances behind my shoulder and sneers in triumph. “Nothing is sacred to the Barinovs. And they have a price for everything. I wonder what your price is, whore.”

 

“Paige has nothing to do with the business.”

 

“Did you lie to her and talk about love?” Talia folds her arms. “No, you wouldn’t have. Because you have no idea what love is. You’d have to have a heart to feel love.”

 

My hands shake, but I refuse to strike Talia. She wants to goad me into action. She wants to prove to Paige that I’m a heartless monster who doesn’t give a shit about hurting people.

 

“You set her up with this farce of a wedding, didn’t you?” Talia’s voice lifts. “You didn’t expect her to survive, so you didn’t have to feel guilty when she’s dead!”

 

Talia throws back her head in triumph when I don’t respond. “You’ll dump her too, like me, when she’s no longer useful. So why wait, Andrushka?”

 

Talia flings her body toward me. I grab her wrists and lift her hands high above her head. She doesn’t have a weapon, so I let her go. But she doesn’t give up and grabs for me again, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as her lips struggle to meet mine.

 

I turn my head away.

 

Talia takes a shuddering breath as she clings to me. “I would’ve burned the world until it was nothing but ash for you! Even if you never loved me! You were more than a business deal. You were my everything. You are my everything. Tell me I’m still yours, Andrushka. Please!”

 

Firmly, I grab her wrists and push her off me. Her eyes shine as she gasps from my rejection. Her eyes search mine, trying to find something in them that I know is not there. Holding onto Talia’s wrists, I look behind me.

 

Paige stands pressed against the door. Her face is pale and distorted with shock. The fear is gone and has been replaced with something worse. Her hand grips the doorknob, but she doesn’t leave.

 

Instead, her mouth gapes open as she stares at us. Her expression shows what she feels for me now—revulsion. No matter how many times she said she hated me, there was always a need in her body that she couldn’t hide. That need is gone now. Her eyes sweep over us, and a flash of pity is hidden by a look of disgust.

 

After tonight, there will be no begging from her.

 

I turn and face Talia again. My hold tightens on her wrists as I lose control. She winces as the rage builds in me. She came in here to hurt Paige, and she’s done worse than hurt her. She has made her hate me.

 

Talia crumples against the table and takes one deep breath after another. Each breath is replaced with one slightly calmer. By the time Talia stands, her face masks all her feelings.

 

Has what she felt for me finally been extinguished? Is what she thought was love gone?

 

“Do you love her?” Talia asks.

 

Once again, I refuse to answer, but Talia sees it. We were taught to read body language, especially the most subtle. She sees my answer. The slight twitch of my cheek that shows my concern for Paige. The way I stand between the two of them, ready to act.

 

I’d rather spend my life fighting with Paige than spend a single minute loving Talia.

 

The marriage started as a sham, but something has changed, and it isn’t until now that I realize what it is.

 

Talia’s eyes flare with hatred as her heart closes again. Now, only hatred stares back at me.

 

“That moment told me everything I needed to know, Andrei Vasilyevich,” she says. “She means something to you, which means hurting her will hurt you even more.”

 

She smooths down her dress with terrifying calmness. “My father and Igor will hear about this.”

 

Anger rushes into me as I step toward her, but Talia stands her ground. She knows the truth that Paige can’t see. She knows that I have boundaries that I will never cross.

 

Not even against her.

 

“Go near my wife,” I snarl, “and there is nothing you or anyone else can do to stop me from bringing hellfire down upon all of them. She is a Barinov.”

 

Talia smirks darkly. “Your father was a Barinov too.”

 

I head for the door, grabbing Paige by the arm. Paige stumbles out of the way, but my firm grasp keeps her from falling. She moves awkwardly, as if trying to get away from me instead of leaving with me.

 

Talia laughs as she sits down at the empty table. “There was a time when I wanted to hear you call me your wife, and you have no idea how it hurt me to hear you say that about another woman.”

 

“But that time has passed.” She crosses her legs as if she were on a throne, her voice silky and dangerous. “So enjoy your pretty little wife, Andrei Vasilyevich, and pray that I don’t see her again.”