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“It was the first time I was happy since our wedding,” she continues. “To feel my son growing inside me, Finally, someone I could love and who might love me back just as fiercely. My happiness faded after Andrei was born, and Vasily strove to raise my baby boy into a monster just like himself. But one day it changed.”
“What happened?” I whisper, absorbed in her story.
“One day, Vasily beat me so fiercely that I thought I was going to die. But then Andrei came between us. My brave little boy defended me. Vasily turned his anger on our son—a child. I would never let him hurt my boy. I found the energy to scream for Vasily’s brigadiers to save their pakhan’s son. And they finally came to hold Vasily back until he was calm.”
“Why did he beat you?” As soon as I say it, I want to bite my tongue for being insensitive.
“I didn’t want his mistress in my bed,” Eva replies quickly. “After that day, he moved me into my own wing, far from him.” Her voice softens, but her expression is fierce. “I will not stand idly by and allow Andrei to become a monster like his father.”
I take a deep breath and sit up straight.
“It may be too late,” I tell her. “I saw his men drag a screaming woman away. She was screaming for her life, and she had been with your son. I saw them from the window. There’s a room in the attic.”
Eva waves her hand dismissively. “Andrei didn’t lay a hand on her. That room in the attic was my husband’s. It’s been empty since his death. As it should have always been. You must learn to be a good wife. The Bratva has rules that you must learn and adapt to.”
“I don’t want to marry into the Mafia.”
“We are not the Mafia, dear.” Eva frowns at me, expressing her displeasure plainly. “And I would purge that word from your vocabulary.” She reaches out and holds my hands firmly. “It will work. It will be okay. Be brave and you will end up with what you want.” Her grip tightens on my hands. “Sava Khodemchuk said that to me years ago, and now I’m telling you.”
Before I can ask what that means, something has Eva’s attention. I look up, and Andrei is standing in the doorway. My shoulders tighten to my ears, but Eva takes her hand and runs it through my hair.
“You are safe, my dear,” she says.
With trepidation, I look at Andrei, not knowing how he will react.
Wait … Did he send her?
Andrei looks thoughtful as he holds out his arm to his mother. She rests her hand on him as they walk into the hallway. The door shuts immediately, and the lock clicks. It’s the middle of the day, but I crawl into bed, pulling the duvet around me for warmth. My mind is filled with even more questions, each one questioning the others.
Chapter 16
Andrei
Inside my walk-in closet, I tug at the cuffs on my pristine white shirt as I dress for my wedding. Vasily converted the top floor of the west wing into a state-of-the-art penthouse. A series of interconnected rooms form a private suite within the mansion, including a panic room and a secret stairwell. He never used the panic room, but he used the stairwell many times.
“Scowling again, Andrei Vasilyevich?” Dmitri grabs a bottle of Grey Goose off the bar before entering the closet. “You should be celebrating.”
“Celebrating what?” I scowl as I fasten a cufflink. “My wedding day?”Outrageous.
“No, the brilliant way you’re fucking up your life,” he replies, pouring himself a glass. “Word has it the other pakhans have canceled their contracts on you. They’re going to let Talia take you out.”
“She can try.” I push aside a dark wool coat, revealing a gun cabinet concealed behind it. I peruse the selection of handguns as if I’m picking out a tie. The Glock is reliable, and I slip it into my side holster. “Talia has already told me who’s responsible, but Igor isn’t easy to lure out of his hole.”
“He’s the worst wedding crasher.Ublyudok.” Dmitri’s expression tightens as he checks his own Glock. “The man has no decency or respect. They shot the bride, the groom’s family, but not that idiot Gleb.”
Hesitating, I stare at my reflection in the full-length mirror. My expression looks like I’m ready to choke someone, not get married. Rage rises off me like vapor off a hot desert road. No one had better dare shoot my bride. Not only is it an insult to me, but … it would break Eva. In less than a day, my mother has somehow formed a deep attachment to Paige.
Eva insisted on making last-minute changes, criticizing the decorations, the menu, and even Paige’s dress.
“It looks like a bunch of hitmen planned this wedding,” she told me as she sampled a piece of the cake delivered by chartered jet. “You stick to what you do best, Andrei.” She smiled warmly. “I will take care of this.”
I’ve never seen Eva this happy, and all because of my bride.
Nothing better happen to either one of them. And I hope for Paige’s sake that she is as innocent as she acts.
I sigh, letting out a little pent-up tension. “The wedding is bait, Dmitri, and it’s going as planned.”
Dmitri pulls on his own suit jacket. “That’s the problem. A rushed wedding after a shooting? Our people were killed but no payback? It’s too obvious a trap. Igor hasn’t cheated death by being dumb. He’s an oily rat. He doesn’t need to abandon a sinking ship, because he’s already on shore watching it go down.”
