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Talia’s right. Paigehaschanged. Her innocence is slowly melting away. She’s fighting to keep it, but each day, a little part of the old Paige disappears in favor of the new Paige. Each day, Paige Barinov kills another part of Paige Reyes.
Because that’s what she believes she needs to do—that there’s only one choice if she wants to remain my wife.
“You corrupt everything good into a twisted version of yourself.” Talia’s voice softens. “What you don’t corrupt, you destroy. Just like your father, Andrushka.”
Turning fast, I aim the gun between her eyes. I take deep breaths as my hand starts to shake.
“You know as little about her as you did about me,” Talia’s eyes narrow as her bitterness rises. “Killing me will end our relationship, but my ghost will haunt you and her until the end of your life. She will always wonder if shooting me was the only way you could end us. End this.”
I lower the gun for the final time. “Get out of here,” I rasp.
Talia stands but doesn’t move. She has kept her head the entire time, and only now does a glimpse of fear appear in her expression. Something is troubling her, and I wonder if I made a fatal mistake.
“I need a favor.” She sits in the folding chair again. Her body slumps against it. “You don’t have to do it, but it would make things easier for us.”
Inhaling, I’m prepared to hear what she has to say. “What is it?”
“I’m pregnant.”
The disclosure sends me back as I balance myself. I think of what I almost did. “How long have you known?” I ask.
“When I saw you at the restaurant.” Talia lifts her gaze and smiles helplessly. “You aren’t going to ask who the daddy is?”
“Should I?”
“It’s obviously not you,” she says, looking away. “I wish it was, but not for the reason you might think.” Talia sighs, and for a moment, it seems as if she’s forgotten I’m there. “If it was your child, I wouldn’t have to worry about losing it.”
“What are you talking about?” I do nothing to conceal my concern.
She smirks. “You were ready to shoot me when you walked in here. I want my child to live, but I can’t do that if everyone wants me dead.”
I put my gun back in the holster and button my jacket closed. I’m not foolish enough to step closer, but Talia realizes she’s safe with me for now.
Is this what Paige has been going through?
Now, I understand, like a flash of lightning illuminating the dark corners of my brain. The arguments, the stupid suggestions, and the hurt in her eyes.
She was protecting the one person who matters more to her than either of us—her baby.
No,I remind myself.Our baby.
Sighing, I stand up straight as if I’m taking a vow.
“I’ll give it up my vendetta against you if you don’t come after my child.”
I stare into her dark eyes, the same as mine, but I see something else in them, something competing with the hate. It’s hope, and it touches me enough to make me gasp aloud. I take a deep breath and look away.
Once upon a time, I hated Talia because she was too much like me. But now, she’s nothing like me. If I want to keep Paige and my baby, then I have one more thing to do.
“I won’t come after you, Talia. As long as you keep your word. And I’ll make one more promise.”
She looks at me with wide eyes, eager for me to say what she hopes to hear. “And what’s that, Andrei Vasilyevich?”
“I will kill Gleb Novikov, for all our sakes.”
Chapter 45
Paige
