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Bear his children.
I squeeze the gold necklace resting on my chest, strength burning in my veins as I swear to myself. “But I’llneverlove him…”
Chapter Nine
Liya
“Where thehelldid you go?” Willow asks on the other end of the phone.
My best friend is understandably upset, but she has no idea the emotional roller coaster I’ve experienced in just the past twenty-four hours.
“It’s a long story,” I tell her.
“I’ve texted you like a thousand times.” She sighs. “Are you mad about the whole job offer thing? Is that what this is? Unless.” She pauses, smirk evident in her voice as she says, “You hooked up with that hottie, didn’t you?”
“No, yes—Willow, listen, it’s complicated.”
“How complicated can it be? You see it, you want it, and you got it.”
I groan. “Can you let me finish?”
“Jesus, all right. Sorry. I’m all ears.”
And then everything that happened in the last few hours tumbles out of me like word vomit. Though it’s much worse than word vomit. It’s grimy ear sludge, drama on crack, the plot of a bad Mob movie, a stupid theater script that nobody bothered to try editing.
Whatever the hell you want to call it, it’s the stuff of someone else’s life. Not mine.
I try not to cry as the last of my explanation rips through the phone.God, why does it have to bemylife?
When I’m done updating Willow, the line goes deathly quiet.
Please don’t ditch me too. I can’t do this without you. I can’t do this if nobody is on my side. Please, please...
Relief settles in my muscles when I see the call is still connected.
At least she’s still here. She won’t leave me. She can’t.
Right?
She clears her throat. “So…you have tomarrythis Pavel?”
“Yep.”
“Because of your brother.” She sucks in a breath. “So he can reclaim this Mafia family of yours?”
I close my eyes and bow my head. “Yep.”
The line goes silent again before Willow finally says, “Well, that escalated quickly.”
“No shit?” I shake my head. “This is such a nightmare.”
She scoffs. “You’re not helpless, Liya. What Pavel did iskidnapping. I’m going to the police. Somebody has to tell them about this and—”
“Don’t!” The word tumbles out of my mouth before I even realize it.
“What? Why not?” She shoots back. “Are you serious right now, Liya? Your brother literallysoldyou to the fuckingRussian Mafia!”
The lump from yesterday returns to my throat. I touch the flesh lightly while shaking with fear.
