Page 118 of Vendetta Vows

"You have a remarkably good grasp on the situation." A ghost of a smile appears over Liliya's lips for a second. "For an outsider."

"I listen," I say simply. "And I pay attention to what Ruslan tells me."

She walks past me and circles the desk slowly, her fingertips trailing along the polished wood. "And do you believe hiding both them and yourself in this mansion is protection?"

"I—"

"Because it's not." Her voice cuts through my hesitation. "All this place offers is an illusion of safety, nothing more. These walls will do nothing to stop those who wish to do you or my granddaughters harm."

Her words hit me like ice water.

"I know what happens to people like me in this world," I say, fighting to keep my voice steady. "I know what happened to Leslie."

Liliya's eyes shiver with emotions for just a brief second. "Do you?"

"Ruslan told me. About how she was murdered while he watched." I squeeze my hands together to stop them from trembling. "About how she was brought to Vitaly by Tamara."

Liliya shakes her head slowly, sorrow aging her face. "You don't know the full story,devushka."

She steps closer, her hand reaching out to rest on my shoulder. Her touch is gentle and soft. But somehow it feels like she's pressing down with impossible heaviness. So much so that I can't stand up even if I want to.

"That girl was murdered in the very chair you're sitting in right now."

A cold wave washes through me.

"Ruslan was tied to that other chair," she continues, pointing to the twin seat beside me. "Forced to watch every moment. Reduced to screaming helplessly as he begged his father not to do it."

My stomach churns violently. I glance down at the upholstery beneath me, imagining bloodstains that have long since been scrubbed away.

"There is no safety in this world, Aurora. Not for outsiders. Not for anyone." Her eyes fix on mine. "And that's before we even get to the dangersyoumight have already brought to our doorstep."

My heart stops. "What do you mean?"

What does she know?

"Are you aware that others are looking into you?" she asks, voice deceptively gentle. "And most curiously, not a single one of them was able to find anything about you beyond seven years ago?"

The room starts to spin around me.

"That makes you very intriguing." She leans closer. "And being intriguing in the bratva world is the easiest way to get killed. Often slowly and painfully."

I struggle to breathe as panic claws at my throat. I'm sitting in the same chair where Leslie died while Ruslan watched helplessly. And now Liliya knows, or at least suspects, that I'm not who I claim to be.

"If you truly care for my son, and if you are truly after protection," Liliya says, her voice soft yet penetrating, "then you will leave. You will run far away and never look back."

My heart crashes against my ribs. "What?"

"I can see it in his eyes already." She finally looks away from me towards the curtains thick with dust. "He cares for you. Perhaps more than he should."

"I—"

"When Ruslan loves, he loves completely." Her eyes turn back to me with painful clarity. "It consumes him. After Leslie, I believed he would never allow himself to be so vulnerable again. But I see how he looks at you."

I swallow hard. "That doesn't mean…" I stop myself before I say the words.

That doesn't mean he loves me.

Because I'm afraid of what it might mean if Idosay them out loud.

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