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“That’s what he told me, too,” I say with a fierce nod. “But maybe that was just what he knew I needed to hear. Let’s face it—he’s not interested in protecting me. He wants my baby.”
“Two things can be true at the same time.”
I frown and pull away from her. “I shouldn’t be talking to you,” I say coldly. “You’re in his pocket. He’s bought you like he buys everyone else.”
Yeah, maybe I’m looking for a fight today. The more I think about things, the more worked up I get.
Unfortunately for the petty voices in my head, though, Sara doesn’t rise to the bait. She takes a deep breath and just keeps looking at me with unadulterated concern. “I can see why you might think that. But I had money before Kolya Uvarov and I’ll have money after. I didn’t take this job for the pay out.”
“Then why did you take it?”
“Because I like Kolya,” she says simply. “And I trust him.”
“That’s easier to do when you’re not a prisoner in his home.”
“You won’t be a prisoner for long, June. This is just a safety precaution. An extreme one, I’ll give you that. But—”
“There are no buts, Sara!” I explode. “I shouldn’t be here! Neither should my sister.”
“Listen to me,” Sara says, grabbing my hand again. Except this time, there’s nothing remotely calm about the strength of her grasp. “I’m not sure how much you know about Ravil and his—”
“I know enough.”
“Good. Then you should know that leaving yourself vulnerable to him would be catastrophic,” she says urgently. “I’ve treated several of the women who’ve lived under his thumb. The stories I’ve heard… They’re gruesome, let’s just leave it at that. And that’s coming from a doctor who’s seen her fair share of corpses splayed open on examining tables.”
She lets her fingers go slack. “No Bratva don can ever be called a hero, June. But Kolya sure comes close. I don’t agree with everything he does, but in this one thing at least, he has my complete and total support. That’s why I like him. That’s why I trust him. That’s why I’m here.” She takes a deep breath and adds, “And that’s why you’re here, too: because it’s the safest place for you to be right now.”
I have to admit, she’s convincing. There’s a part of my soul that wants so badly to believe he’s a good man. That he’ll keep me and my baby safe out of the goodness of his heart and nothing else.
Stay here,it’s begging.Trust him.
But I can’t see a way for me to stay.
Not when staying means falling even harder for Kolya. Not when staying means giving away more years of my life to yet another man who doesn’t love me.
I have a child to think of now.
I avoid her eyes, trying to hide my inner thoughts from her scrutiny. “I have to go,” I tell her. “I just want to be alone right now.”
Sara sighs. “I understand. If you ever need to talk…”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
She gives me a bracing smile that I can barely return. Then I leave the medical wing and whisk back to my bedroom. I don’t quite have a solid plan, but it’s taking shape bit by bit.
I have to leave—that much is obvious. I have to leave precisely because I want to stay so badly. There’s no way I can go through with a fake wedding to a man I have real feelings for, knowing he doesn’t care about me in the same way.
It would be the emotional equivalent of self-flagellation. And I’m done doing that.
It’s no longer enough that I love the man I’m with.
I want him to love me, too.
First comes first, though: I need to talk to my sister. I need to explain things to Geneva. Maybe not everything, and maybe not right away. But she needs to know enough to explain why we need an escape plan out of this monster’s labyrinth.
I get to the landing that leads to our adjoining rooms—when I notice a shadow to my side. I stop short, my eyebrows pulling together.
“June.”
