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EMERY
Adrik has had a security team watching Yasha’s house all night, and he still insists we wait in the car for thirty minutes before heading inside.
“In case they try to sneak anyone in or out before the meeting,” he explains gruffly.
“Viktoria wouldn’t be dumb enough to try that.” I can’t say this for sure. I don’t really know Viktoria that well. I just assume that everyone who even looks at Adrik can tell he is not someone to be trifled with.
“You’d be surprised how many people are dumb enough to try and lie to me,” he says, glancing over at me.
He isn’t talking about the baby. He doesn’t know about the baby,I reassure myself. Breathe and stop looking so guilty.
“What are we going to say when we get in there?” I ask, changing the subject.
“This is your plan,” he says. “What are you going to say?”
I take a deep breath. “Well… I guess I’ll start by telling her what Yasha did to me. She needs to know what kind of person he is.”
"Wrong."
I frown. “Wrong? It can't be wrong. This isn't a test."
"Everything is a test."
"It's life!"
He nods. "And some of us have learned how to navigate through it better."
"Okay, maybe you're some big Bratva don, but—"
"There's no maybe about it,” he interrupts.
I sigh. "I just mean that it doesn't matter who you are, I know women. I am one."
He turns towards me. “Pretend I’m someone you already don’t like very much."
"I hardly need to pretend," I snark.
Adrik ignores my brattiness. "Now, pretend I’m telling you that the person you love, the person to whom you have tethered yourself forever, is a rapist pig and a monster.”
Images flash through my mind.
Our wedding, Adrik handsome in a tux, a green wreath resting on his head.
Adrik carrying Isabella through the woods. Sipping on pretend tea during her tea party.
And now, our baby. The tether tying us together. Sealing our midnight oath even more firmly than our vows.
Then I picture it all ripped away. Gone forever.
I wince. Point taken. “Okay, so maybe that’s not a great approach.”
“No one wants to think they’re married to a monster,” he says. “You should know better than anybody.”
“We’ve been through this, Adrik. I don’t think you’re a monster.”
“But what if you realized in one instant that I’m the big bad wolf lurking in the shadows of your nightmares?” he asks. “What if someone came and told you something about me that chilled you to your bone, that made it impossible to ever look at me the same way again?”
I shake my head. “That won’t happen.”
God knows that line of thinking has been tested plenty. He's locked me in a dungeon. He's killed a man in front of me. And I’m still here at his side. So after all that, what else could there be?
“You hope it won’t happen,” Adrik corrects. “Just like Viktoria hopes. And if we take that hope away from her today, she’ll become defensive before you can even finish explaining.”
I’m thankful I’m wearing a long sleeve shirt today. It’s hiding the goosebumps blooming down my arms.
“So what do I say, then?” I whisper.
“It’s more about what you don’t say,” he advises. “Don’t tell her Yasha raped you. Don’t tell her Yasha almost killed Sasha. And don’t tell her that he sent Rurik to the cabin to be murdered.”
I groan. “That’s everything! That is literally exactly what I was going to tell her.”
“Which is why I’m here to keep this plan from blowing up in your face.”
I cross my arms and sink back into the leather passenger seat. “I’m starting to feel like you didn’t really think this was a good plan.”
“It’s a good plan,” he insists. “You just don’t know exactly how to execute it. That’s what I’m here for.”
I take a deep breath. “Fine. So what do I say? ‘Yasha has been really mean.’”
Adrik purses his lips. “We tell her that he is being reckless. You say he is going to get himself and her—and, above all, their baby—killed if he doesn’t call off this war.”
“But you still want to kill him?”
He nods.
“So we’re going to lie to her?”
“It’s not a lie,” Adrik says. “Yasha is going to get himself killed if he doesn’t call off this war. Unfortunately, he’s also going to get himself killed if he rapes my wife and then shows up in her room in the middle of the night to threaten her.”
“He already did that.”
Adrik gives me a humorless smile that makes my skin crawl. “Exactly. He signed his death wish a long time ago. I’m just making sure justice is served.”
Another chill moves down my spine, but I suppress it. "Add that to the list of things I can't tell her."
“Probably for the best.”
I groan. “I don’t know if I can do this. Viktoria seemed nice. I don’t want to lie to her. I thought I could appeal to her as a mother, but now, I have to go in there knowing that she’s going to be raising that baby alone.”
Adrik leans over and curls a finger under my chin, turning me to face him. “I’m not going to punish Viktoria for what my brother did. I told you bloodlines mean something to me. That baby is my niece or nephew. I’ll make sure they are fed and clothed and taken care of.”
“What if Viktoria doesn’t want your help after you kill her husband?” I ask.
“I have ways of making people do what I want,” he says. “Regardless, it’s not your problem. I’ll handle it.”
I don’t doubt for a second that’s true. I glance at the clock and see we only have two minutes until the meeting. Instantly, my heart rate skyrockets.
“Shit. It’s time.” I inhale deeply, but it does nothing to ease the burning in my lungs. “I can’t do this, Adrik. I can’t—”
“Yes, you can.”
“Maybe you should go without me. You know what to say. You know how to act. It will be better if you—”
“Shut up.”
