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Whenever Talia pats his arm, she looks like she’s whispering to a lover, but the topic is always how to get revenge.
“You’ve been such an excellent guest, so I’m taking you on my getaway,” she says.
A lump secures itself in my throat.
Talia chuckles. “We’re not going too far. And try not to vomit in the car.”
Valeri echoes Talia’s laughter, and she grabs the moment to talk about me in the third person. “If it wasn’t for her husband’s last name, you wouldn’t know she was linked to a pakhan. Some men don’t want a strong woman. They want someone who will make them feel big in comparison.”
“Those are weak men,” Valeri interjects. “I prefer a woman that can save my ass if I need it.”
“Is that so, Valeri?” purrs Talia. “I can’t think of any time that you need saving.”
The thought of them being romantically involved enters my mind, but I quickly push it away. I don’t want to be queasy. I’m relieved when the car enters the highway. The smoother ride is a dead giveaway that we’re on the Thruway.
“Nor can I imagine that of you,” replies Valeri. “No one would dare mess with a true Bratva princess.”
Talia laughs as if that’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to her. My fear is shortly forgotten as I roll my eyes underneath the blindfold and try to tune out their thinly veiled insults. The people surrounding Talia stroke her massive ego, but would any of them take a bullet for her? Andrei took a bullet for me, and instantly I miss him again.
I shouldn’t miss Andrei, but my thoughts keep returning to him. Would he be different if he knew I was pregnant? It’s ridiculous to think so. Of course he wouldn’t. But can I accept all this?
The constant danger he puts me in just to be together doesn’t seem to register with him. I have to force myself not to want Andrei, and I’d think Talia would be enough, but it won’t be. I can’t stop wanting him, even though it puts me in constant danger. I know Andrei will do something to get me back, but I dread the thought, knowing that someone will lose a life to bring me back to him.
The limo stops, doors open and shut, but I don’t move. The blindfold is slipped off my head, and I look around. We’re parked in front of a small colonial-style inn that is part of a larger resort. I guess they don’t want the staff to see the blindfold.
Valeri flashes me a beaming smile as if he hasn’t been talking shit about me the entire ride. His eyes sparkle as he pumps up his sleazy charm. He holds out his arm, and I have no choice but to take it unless I want to be dragged into the inn.
Without even looking, I know exactly where I am. We’re somewhere in the Poconos.
Though the building in front of us is unfamiliar, I’m familiar with the landscape and the fantastic view of the mountains in the distance.
Dad used to take us here on summer vacations when we were little, but I haven’t been back since.
Talia and I are escorted to a day spa while her guards check us in. I count five of them at the desk and wonder why she brought so many. The staff buzzes around them in the elegant lobby filled with antiques, and I can tell the staff are normal people.
It chills me to think I can now spot a criminal in disguise. I shouldn’t be able to do that.
A few moments later, Talia lies wrapped in a towel on a masseuse’s table, and I do the same on a table beside hers. Less than a few days ago, I was held captive in a cold, dank basement, forced to watch brutality I could’ve never imagined. Now, I’m forced to play best friends with my husband’s crazy ex as we receive a couples massage at a boutique resort.
My eyelids grow heavy, and every so often, I doze off. Sleeping here is safe, and I take advantage of it, but Talia’s voice rouses me again. I’m a little surprised she speaks candidly in front of the staff. She’s rambling on about what Andrei needs in a wife and what I apparently lack.
“He needs a woman who’s not afraid of being strong and someone who is not weak and soft-hearted like you,” she says. “Someone who will back him up and stand tall when it matters. Not someone who will shame him for doing what is necessary.”
Talia doesn’t need to make me feel inept. I can do that on my own. This is far from being the marriage I had envisioned for myself, but I thought I could do well at anything, even this.
I patched Andrei’s bullet wound, for crying out loud, but I can’t stomach this. I can’t stomach the constant violence that threatens us daily. The uncertainty of whether someone will live or die. Especially when that someone might be Andrei.
I must be crazy for wanting him, knowing his life will destroy mine. It already has. But I still want him. The only thing that keeps me going is the thought of his arms around me, his dark eyes gazing into mine as if he really does care about me.
But I have to survive Talia first by going along with her twisted game.
“Maybe I would leave him if I could get away,” I mumble wearily. “It’s a fake marriage, after all.”
Talia’s nagging stops, and she looks at me like I’ve become her new best friend and not her hated rival. Suddenly, she has gone from despising me to loving me in an instant. I’ve become her last hope, and I don’t care. I just want her to shut up so I can rest.
But Talia isn’t done with me yet. I can tell from the smirk on her face that she’s about to lash into me again. “That’s good, since he only married you for the money.”
“I don’t have any money,” I reply.
