Page 93 of The Brutal Arrangement

I wish you could meet your grandchild…

Wistful and sad about the fact that she likely wouldn’t, I felt tempted to check the feed in her room again. I did often, comforted by the sight of her being happy and treated well. But whenever the therapist talked to her, she gave no sign of remembering me. Her own daughter. I was a stranger to her now, and with a heavy heart, I knew it was better that I didn’t visit. It would only confuse her. It could even anger her or scare her, and I didn’t want that.

I’d never be able to bring her grandchild to meet her except as a total stranger. She was that far off with the disease. While she still had many years to live, notthatold yet, she was an older woman when she’d had me. Same as dad. Being the single child of older parents was just… sad when it ended like this.

But I’m not alone.

I’d always have Damon.

“And you,” I whispered, setting my hand over my stomach.

In a flash, my peaceful moment was shattered. The door to the short hall of the elevator space was flung open. Damon preferred that I keep it closed when he wasn’t home or in the building. He’d left this morning for something with his brothers, so I knew it couldn’t have been him pushing the door open like that.

I gasped, sitting upright as a couple of Ivanov guards came into the room.

They strode in, their faces stern and unfriendly. They meant business, bursting in here like that.

“What is going on?” I demanded.

I held no power here. Even as Damon’s wife, I had no say over this army of loyal soldiers. They listened to the boss, not a Mafia wife. I had no control on my own.

Standing up quickly, I refused to be caught in an inferior position with them storming in like warriors on the hunt.

“Get her,” another man said.

I hadn’t had many chances to hear Grigory speak. He was often secluded in his room. The one day he’d wandered from his floor, he mistook me for Katerina herself.

Now, as he walked in confidently, he moved smoother and without the assistance of a cane or walker. His eyes were sharp and cruel, representing the gaze of a man on a mission.

“Get hernow,” he ordered the pair of soldiers.

“What? No.” I backed up, holding my hands up as fear claimed me. Being stalked and cornered was never a good feeling, but combining that sensation with this confusion twisted my stomach.

Fight-or-flight took over. I panicked, debating whether I could run and hide as the three of them marched into the place I was supposed to call home. Fighting these two men was out of the question. They were huge, trained soldiers, taller and strongerthan me. I couldn’t risk engaging in combat when it could hurt my baby.

“What are you doing? Stop, please.” I held my hands up as if that gesture alone could ward them back.

“Get the fucking spy now.” Grigory didn’t look confused. He spoke clearly, loudly, and with command that these soldiers obeyed.

“I’m not—” One tried to grab hold of my arm, so I dodged and backed up toward the other end of the sofa. “No. I’m not a spy. You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Don’t lie to me, you filthy fucking whore.” He lifted his arm to backhand me, but someone reached up from behind him and stopped him. The fingers on his arm showed the gemstones of rings. Wrinkly skin ended with manicured nails. A woman had stopped him from striking me as I cowered back.

“Grigory, what is going on?” she asked as she stepped to his side.

Anastasia tore her frantic gaze from him to me, then back again. She shook her head, clearly confused and alarmed.

“I heard all this commotion and I tried to find you upstairs and…” She furrowed her brow, haughty as she faced me. “What is going on?”

I had no clue. No answer would be coming fromme. I was minding my own business, at peace and sitting in my husband’s home, when they burst in. Yet she turned her attention to me as if I could explain this unexpected chaos.

“I don’t know!”

“Sure, play innocent and stupid, whore.” Grigory snarled, looking at me with pure disdain. “She’s working for Anton.”

Anastasia volleyed her gaze again, seeming flabbergasted and unsure of whom to focus on.

“I heard the calls just now. The security team was tracking her phone. That motherfucking back-stabbing Kozlov left her a message and said she works for him.”

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