AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No.”
Her shoulders sag as she shrinks back against the wall. “Why not?”
“Because you’re…”
There’s only one, very loud, very tangible reason amassing inside my head:Because you’re mine.
But that’s not what I say.
“Because we need to finish the nursery before you go into labor.”
“It’s finished!” she shrieks. “We have enough diapers for our future grandkids. We don’t need anything else. Just leave me alone.”
I’m shaking my head before she even finishes.We aren’t ready.We aren’t even close to ready.
Before I can say that, she narrows her eyes. “For someone who was in prison, you sure like to lock people up.”
I freeze.
“Yeah,” she says, standing a little taller. “I know about that. So you can stop trying to hide it.”
I shift back, suddenly regretting coming in here at all. “I wasn’t hiding anything. I’ve been to prison. I’m not ashamed of that.”
“Criminals never are,” she mutters under her breath.
“Seventeen-year-olds don’t have much shame, either.”
I watch as something like horror washes over her face. “You were only… You were a kid?”
“And already running missions for the Bratva. That’s the pro and the con of your grandfather beingpakhan—they start you young.”
“What about your parents?”
“Dead and gone,” I say dismissively. “The Bratva is all I had, but I was young and the men running the mission with me didn’t trust me—not that I blame them.” This is the last thing I thought I’d be talking about today, and I have to dig deep to find the words. “The mission was botched. I got caught.”
“But your grandfather was powerful, wasn’t he? He was like you?” She grimaces at the roundabout, unintended compliment. “Couldn’t he have gotten you out?”
“He had as much power as I do now. He used it to make sure I suffered.”
She sags back against the closet door, too caught in the story to be mad at me now. “How?”
“They were going to try me as a minor until Yeremy Adamov stepped in and asked that I be tried as an adult and moved to maximum security.”
Laila presses her palm gently against my chest. “Arsen, I?—”
“So, yes, I like to be prepared. I like to know what’s coming. And I don’t like to depend on anyone for anything.” I swallow the bitter taste in my mouth and retreat out of Laila’s reach. “I always have a way out so I can’t be trapped again.”
It’s more of an explanation than anyone else has ever gotten, and I wait for Laila to say… fuck,something. To pity me or apologize. I don’t need either one, but it’s the only way I see this going.
Then, just like everything else with this infuriating woman, she does something I don’t expect.
She huffs out a bitter laugh.
“Right. You always have an escape plan. Even with me.” She brushes past me, deeper into the room. “You don’t need to take me shopping, Arsen. I understand what is going on here. You can go.”
Shemay understand what is going on, but I have no fucking idea.
“The shopping trip is just a gesture. I was—” I clear my throat, realizing exactly how bad I am at this. “Fucking hell, Laila, I was trying to do something right for a change.”
