Page 81 of Married to My Sis’s Bratva Fiancé

I'd hated his control. And still, the second my memories tightened around his arms, my body remembered what it felt like to be completely caged in. Shame heated my chest. I dragged the tip of my brush through wet paint hard enough to scrape.

A heavy slash of blue split the shadow. I reached to wipe it out.

"That color." Yegor stopped me. "You don't have to cover it. Leave it. It makes it feel real."

"Some mistakes ruin the whole painting."

"Some mistakes make you finally see what you are supposed to paint."

Our eyes met for a beat. The admiration in his was clear—and restrained. I understood it. I had no intention of feeding it.

"I appreciate you taking me in," I said carefully. "But I don't want you getting the wrong idea."

"I don't."

"You don't even know what I am going to say."

"You want a place fast. You don't want to owe me. And you don't want anyone thinking you've moved from one man's house to another man's house."

I went quiet. He'd hit every nerve.

Yegor set a folder beside his chair. "I had a few apartments pulled. Look when you feel like it. But my advice is: don't move yet."

I frowned.

"Not because I want to keep you here." His voice stayed even. "You are weak. There is a doctor here, security, room for you to work. That is better for you and the baby."

"I can take care of myself."

"I believe you."

He didn't steal the choice with a simple you can't.

"But you should know what Kiryan is like," Yegor went on. "If he finds out about the baby, he won't send a lawyer to negotiate. He'll come himself. He'll take you back."

My stomach knotted tight. "He has Isabella's baby."

"That doesn't change his possessiveness."

"You don't know what happened between us."

"But I know him." Yegor's eyes cooled. "He can fail to value something and still refuse to let anyone take it from his hand."

Cruel. Accurate.

That night at the birthday banquet, Kiryan could abandon me to chase Isabella—and still couldn't stand Yegor standing beside me. He'd grabbed my waist and announced in front of everyone that I was his wife.

I'd mistaken possession for love.

"I'm not a thing."

"Of course you aren't." Yegor didn't hesitate. "That is why the decision should be yours."

He stood. "The apartment list stays here. If you want to move today, I'll have someone take you. If you decide to stay, nobody will bother you in the guest wing. And as for Kiryan—until you are ready to see him, this house won't open its door to him."

"You'll piss him off for me?"

Yegor paused. "I am backing your decision."