Page 59 of Captive Vows
With her settling in as my woman—for now—I granted her more freedom within my home. She could go wherever she wanted except for the holding rooms. She had free rein to explore and pursue whatever hobbies she wanted. Like this, she was more of a guest than a captive, but there was always an undercurrent of expectation.
She would be here per my order. She wouldn’t leave without my consent. While she didn’t express any desire to leave, I was suspicious that her freedom was still in the back of her mind.
With how her audition ended abruptly, I almost wondered if she’d push for another one. To try again. But she didn’t. Dancingwas still her routine. Day and night, she’d be in the studio I’d built for her, practicing and staying consistent with her choice of art. Yet, she made no mention of what she would do with her dream, her passion.
“Maybe she’s too scared to go back on the stage,” Allen suggested one day when I was watching her. He’d passed me in the hall and offered his comment about my question of her not auditioning again or mentioning it. A greedy part of me wanted to believe she no longer had as fervent of an interest in her dreams to be on stage because she had changed to seemeas her dream.
He might have had a point, but even in that regard, I saw the changes. She was more confident. She didn’t flinch at mentions of attacks or deaths. There was no way she was hardened enough to handle any form of violence, but she seemed to acclimate.
She had to. Because the longer she stayed in my bed, in my room, and in my life, it was so painfully clear to me how badly I needed her.
She was the light to my darkness.
She was the salvation for my crimes and bitter soul.
And even though she wanted me, she could respect that my world was a cruel one, not all hearts and flowers.
Despite our differences, we grew closer. We became almost inseparable, addicted to being with each other as much as we could. It even came to the point where Ivan and Emil questioned whether I was too distracted by her. News of challenges and threats reached us daily. That was nothing new. So long as the Dubinin Family remained at the top of the food web and as apex predators in the criminal underworld we operated in, someone else would always covet our wealth, our land, and our power.
“I’m just saying…” Ivan shrugged as we walked away from my home office after a meeting. “You seemed very distant whenwe checked in with the supervisors about the Rivera sightings near the docks.”
“I wasn’t distant.” I shook my head. “I was there, hearing the same things you did.”Including that bullshit about the Vipers planning another attack.They had yet to take credit for the shooting and ambush at Gabriella’s audition. No one was stepping up to take credit for those Cartel men, and it infuriated me to lack the direction to strike back appropriately. Justly.
“But you’re so busy with?—”
I held up my hand to cut off Emil. My son and I were close, but in this, he would not win the argument.
“I am not too busy with Gabriella. Trust me, Son.” I stared him down as we walked along the lengthy hallway. “I will never lose my edge. I had once before, and I never will again.”
By being too in love and addicted to enjoying Maria in my life, I’d lowered my guard and had been too slow to prevent her death. I’d been caught off guard then.
And I vowed to never let that happen again.
It couldn’t happen with Gabriella. No love was bonding us.
She was a temptation, a distraction that I’d sorely needed.
But nothing more.
Not anything that would be lasting.
22
GABRIELLA
Nothing was the same anymore.
I no longer had to clean and act like a maid for my dad just to “earn” his paying for dance lessons. That felt like another lifetime ago, a whole existence that ceased to be.
I never had to worry about missing or falling behind with my skills. Being privileged enough to have those tutors solidified my intent to be the best dancer I could right now.
But it was how swiftly my dreams had shifted that stunned me.
My passion to dance was still there. My hopes of being on the stage burned within me, and that fire wouldn’t be extinguished.
Yet, after how violently my audition ended and how intimately my relationship with Luka had advanced, I would be a liar to say thatallI wanted to fight for was getting into Juilliard and being on stage.
Someday, it would be nice.
