Deceitful Vows by Brook Wilder
Chapter 48
Andrei
The next day
“My mother’s funeral is next Wednesday,” Paige says across from my desk. The mansion is uncharacteristically quiet today. There’s a palpable tension hanging in the air.
“I’m sorry,” I reply stiffly, knowing what will come next.
“I want to go.” She confirms my suspicions.
My fist balls up, and I shake my head. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
“I have to go.” Her voice rises as she sits forward. “You can’t keep me here. You can’t make me miss her funeral!”
“It’s not safe.” I steeple my fingers and sigh. “I won’t let you end up like her.”
“That’s all you have to say?” Her face is red with anger as she faces me. “It’s not safe? Are you afraid? Is that why you hide in your mansion like a coward, Andrei?”
I breathe deeply, wrestling with my anger. Paige has finally pushed the one button that gets me to react.
“Call me what you like,” I tell her coldly. “But you are my wife, and I will protect you. If I say it is too dangerous, then you will not go. That’s final, Paige.”
Paige stares at me, her cool blue gaze illuminated by the sunlight flooding into the office. She sits motionless, staring straight ahead. I can see her mind silently debating what to do next. She cannot run, and she knows it.
I narrow my eyes. “And if you try to run again ...”
“You’ll bring me back. I know that.” She finishes my sentence, curling her lips. A strand of hair tumbles over one eye, and the strap of her sundress slips slightly from her shoulder as she breathes, exposing the swell of her breasts. She’s unaware of how much her defiance makes me want her.
“One day, I may not be able to,” I whisper, eyeing her chest as it rises and falls.
She stares at me. Her eyes questioning, a flash of insecurity flashes across her face before it disappears. A thought she keeps to herself reignites the fire in her eyes.
“You don’t want me to go to my mother’s funeral because you’re responsible,” she says slowly. “That’s the awful truth, isn’t it, Andrei? The Barinov Bratva is the reason why my mother is dead.”
“No, it’s not,” I lie as I pull off my jacket and toss it to the floor.
“Then let me go,” she replies. “If it was a random act of violence, then I have nothing to worry about. Your enemies won’t show up at my mother’s funeral. She’s a nobody, just like me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” My teeth clench. “You’re not a nobody. Not anymore.”
“Because you’re my husband?” She wraps her arms around herself. “Why me, Andrei? Why did you bring me here?” Her voice gathers strength, convincing herself that she’s the only victim. “And why did you marry me against my will? You’re not the type of person to do something based on emotions. Spontaneity doesn’t describe you. And we both know love is not why I’m here.”
“I told you already,” I reply coldly. “You’re here to help me find a killer.”
“Then what’s taking so long? When are you going to do it? Because so far, all you’ve done is ruin my life. Will you ever stop inflicting endless pain and misery on me?” She looks as if she wants to leap on top of me and attack. “There are moments I forget what you are, and then I’m reminded again in the worst way. You’re using me. You’ve always used me.”
Paige sinks down, placing her hand over her face. When she looks up again, I expect to see tears, but there aren’t any.
Instead, she looks at me with a familiar hatred—one that I’ve only ever seen in another woman’s eyes.
