Deceitful Vows by Brook Wilder
Chapter 54
Paige
The following days are filled with distractions to keep me from asking again. I don’t know if Natasha asked if I could go, but I suspect she did. I don’t see her for the rest of the week. She’s barely around while I’m kept busy with meals and shopping with Sonya, who has reappeared again.
Do they think I’m a fool? Do they think they can just wave something shiny in my face, and I’ll forget what matters in my life? As the days draw closer to the funeral, Andrei and I sleep farther and farther apart.
He eats breakfast with me every morning. A small table with two chairs and fussy place settings has been set up in our bedroom. Fresh flowers are placed on the table and, later, on my vanity. A trolley is pushed in, piled high with fresh fruit and bread that make my mouth water. I rationalize that I should eat as I cover a biscuit in homemade butter and take a huge bite.
But Andrei barely speaks. I watch him—handsome and aloof—as his strong hands gracefully butter a piece of toast. It’s ridiculous how a mundane task makes me stare at him. But it does because I can picture those hands on my body, and it’s enough to make me wet again. I know a surefire way Andrei can distract me, but I won’t beg again.
“This is for you.” He reaches into his suit pocket and pulls out a Tiffany blue box, placing it on the table between us.
I refrain from rolling my eyes. I must seem ungrateful and as spoiled as they all claim. But gold can’t replace my family. I can’t cuddle a diamond. I glare at him as the box just sits there. Andrei picks up his phone and checks the screen, pretending it’s all normal.
“Checking today’s kill list?” I ask sweetly.
His square jaw twitches. Am I getting to him? No, something else must have happened. When has he ever given a shit about my opinion of him?
“I spoke to Eva,” he says, placing his phone facedown.
He pushes the box toward me and stares into my eyes. My shoulders slump as if I can slide out of the chair and run. His sexy looks are pure perfection, as if he were designed from every woman’s wild private fantasy. But his eyes always make me forget why I want to hate him. It’s how he looks at me as if he really cares. Even if it’s only lust.
I clear my throat and poke the fruit salad with my fork. “What did she say?”
He doesn’t tell me. Instead, Andrei places his fingertips on the box and pushes it closer. “Are you okay, Paige?”
I lean forward as if to pounce. “Don’t speak to me like this is all my fault. As if I’m responsible for my own bad luck. I do have a reason to be angry. As if giving a damn about how I’m treated is my screwed-up problem, not yours!”
His hand stills as his eyes narrow, sending a warning chill down my spine. “You were shouting then laughing the other day,” he scoffs. “I’m worried, that’s all.”
Poof. My appetite is gone. I hold the front of my robe closed and disappear into the bathroom to change, leaving the door open. I can make demands with the door open. I can be a bitch when I’m not looking into his eyes.
“You don’t understand, do you?” I shout so he can hear me.
Of course, Andrei walks over and stands in the doorway. He leans against it, watching me dress. I refuse to hide. There’s no point. He’ll only come after me. He’ll toy with me and remind me that he has the upper hand. I lift my chin, hooking my bra as his gaze traces over my body. His lips part as his gaze stays on my breasts. Goose bumps flash across my skin as if he’s touched me.
He has the decency to lift his eyes to my face when he speaks. “I want to make things right. I don’t want you to feel like that again.”
“No, that’s not it. You don’t want to see yourself for who you really are again.” I grab my hairbrush and furiously brush my hair. “I want to see … No, I will see my family.”
He steps into the room. “They can come here, but you can’t go to them. I can’t allow you to go there, not after … it’s too dangerous.”
I stare at him. “For them as well, obviously.”
“They’ll be safer here, Paige.”
The brush clatters against the granite when I toss it into the sink. I cover my eyes with my hands. I can’t think straight while Andrei looks at me like that. He doesn’t care, Paige. There’s something else. There’s always something else. Or someone else.
“I can’t … I don’t want to break my father’s heart more than I already have. I haven’t told anyone I’m married to you.”
His mouth flattens into a line. “Are you sure your cousin Kenney hasn’t told him already?”
I shake my head. “They don’t get along.”
Andre stares at me thoughtfully. His mind turns over what I said—something he’ll use against me later. “You cannot go to the funeral, but you can go to see them after. I’ll stay out of sight like last time.”
Andrei walks over to me, and I can hear my heart thumping wildly in my ears. Am I giving away how he makes me feel? I’m almost out of breath as I sense his body behind me. Looking up into the mirror, I watch him lift his hand. He pulls back my hair with his fingertips, and the tingles scatter across my skin. If only he would kiss me, maybe I wouldn’t feel so lost.
“You don’t mind that I haven’t told my father I’m married to you?”
Before he can answer, my phone chimes in the other room. It’s Emma messaging me, asking where I am. I don’t want to lie to her, so I haven’t replied yet.
Andrei pulls the box out of his pocket and flips it open. A thin gold chain with a cluster of diamonds forming a heart glitters inside. Beautiful but cold, like him. We watch our reflections as he gently fastens it around my neck. My cheeks flush as I watch my chest rise and fall.
“It’s probably better this way,” he says, moving toward the door. “Come downstairs when you’re dressed. Eva and Sonya are taking you out today.”
***
I am forced to sip mimosas with Sonya in Manhattan while my mother is laid to rest. The next day, Andrei and I go to see my family. A caravan of Rovers rumbles down the decrepit street, stopping in front of my old home. M
y excuses are in place, and I head down the walkway, but before I can reach the porch, Emma comes out of the house like a furious angel. Her nostrils flare, and her eyes narrow hatefully on me. She blocks my path, causing me to stumble back in my new Gucci heels.
“Emma.” I hold open my arms, but she stops short, folding her arms over her chest.
“You missed the funeral.” Emma looks me up and down. “Did your invite get lost in the mail?”
Her anger shames me as I shift my weight back and forth. Foolishly, I dressed up today. I should’ve put on a T-shirt and jeans. Obviously, I no longer belong here, and her anger makes me feel even more out of place.
Emma sneers at me like I’m made of trash. “There’s nothing for you here. I’ve been taking care of Dad while you’re off doing whatever the hell it is you’re doing, Paige.”
Tears prick my eyes, not because of her cutting words, but because I can see the hurt in her eyes. I never thought my sister would hate me. “Emma, it’s not like that.”
She holds a finger up to silence me. “Don’t. You could have lied, made a lame excuse, or said goodbye. But you didn’t. You just disappeared. Again.”
“There are things you don’t know because I can’t tell you.”
“I’m not a kid anymore.” Her face reddens as she clenches her fist. “Despite how everyone treats me. I’m the adult now.”
My stance stiffens as my suspicions are aroused. “Have you been missing school?”
“Not your business,” she replies bitterly.
“You don’t know everything, Emma.” Suddenly, we’re acting like sisters again, fighting over the remote control. “Even if you think you do!”
“I know how to treat people right!” she shouts. “Maybe it’s a good thing you’re out of our lives. Do you want an invite for the next funeral, or should I not even bother?”
My head hurts from her cruel rejection, and I shut down. I don’t have a comeback because she might be right.
Suddenly, Emma stares past me and then shakes her head in disgust.
I turn and see Andrei standing behind me.
