Page 54 of Obsession of the Bratva

“Will you be honest with me about something, Vera?”

“Anything.”

“It has been almost two months since your absence, and you know Mr. Stavros well enough to know that he has been losing his mind about this thing. You know that what Nico did was wrong, and you two have been fighting as well. Despite all of this, have you tried escaping the safehouse even once?”

I was quiet for several seconds, not knowing how to respond to that.

“Ava…” I trailed off.

“Don’t worry. I know the answer to that already. On the day of the wedding, when he came to kidnap you, did you resist? Did you shout? Did you call for help?” she asked, once again throwing me down the same pit.

“I didn’t,” I sighed deeply. “I remember being rather relieved when I saw him, as if all my prayers had been answered.”

“Vera, tell me, do you even want to leave?”

I blinked. “What?”

“Do you want to leave, Vera?”

The question caught me completely off guard. My mouth opened and then closed again. I had spent weeks focusing on surviving each day. On managing Nico. On worrying about my father. On navigating the disaster my life had become. I had never actually asked myself that question.

Did I want to leave?

The answer should have been obvious. I was being held against my will. My life had been destroyed. My future had vanished. Any sane person would run the first chance they got. Yet something uncomfortable settled inside my chest. Because the truth was, I hadn’t tried. Not really.

I could blame the circumstances, the security, or even the logistics, but deep down, I knew better. I had never truly attempted escape. Not once. Not because I couldn’t, but because I simply didn’t want to. The realization hit like a physical blow, and Ava must have sensed it.

“Oh.” I slowly sat down, sinking into the couch. “Oh.”

The word escaped me as I stared at the floor, and suddenly everything felt different. Not because circumstances had changed, but because I finally understood my own choices.

“I don’t want to leave him.”

The confession sounded terrifying. Ava didn’t react immediately, but when she finally spoke, her voice was soft.

“I know.”

I laughed weakly. “Apparently, I didn’t.”

“You love him, Vera. No one can blame you for not wanting to leave him. You never wanted to marry Adrian in the first place. It has always been Nico.”

“That doesn’t excuse anything he has done.”

“No,” she agreed. “It doesn’t.”

I rubbed my forehead. “He’s angry with me.”

“He has his reasons.”

“So do I.”

“Then stop acting like only one of you gets to be hurt.”

That made me pause. “Excuse me?”

Ava sighed. “Vera, you’ve spent this entire conversation talking about his pain.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”