Page 87 of Devil's Vows
“Good. Clearly, I shouldn’t keep you waiting,” he teases ashe stands and holds out a hand for me. “We’re getting married on Friday.”
“Friday?” I repeat, stunned. “But Milana is getting married on Friday.” I can’t get married on Friday. I can’t marry Ivan. “I—I?—”
“It’s arranged,moya ptichka.There’s no point waiting, and the whole family will already be together.”
“A double wedding?” I say, just to say something, so shellshocked I have to place my hand in his. My legs have turned into jelly.
“Yes.”
I’m finally standing, my shirt flapping open as cold descends on me. I was warm mere minutes ago, in his arms. This feels like betrayal.I’mbetrayinghim.
“Cover up somehow. I ruined the shirt.”
“It’s okay, everybody is in bed,” I say, letting go of his hand to fold the shirt across my chest. I just need to get to my room, close my door, and digest this new reality. Figure out how I’m going to escape before Friday, Milana’s help or not.
My brothers?—
No.They can’t know.
And then that decrepit Russian, that man…as a nanny, I can hide in plain sight in the Petrov household, but as Ivan’swife? What if he expects me to entertain, to have his friends over, his business partners? His other Bratva connections? It will only be a matter of time.
Bile turns in my stomach…no, justno.
His hand rests on the small of my back, guiding me out of his office, and I let him, in a haze of denial.
“More men are around,moya ptichka,guarding the house. They stick to the shadows, but I really don’t want them to catch glimpses of what’s mine.”
Mine.
If one word is going to break me, it would be that one.Minutes ago, I would have loved being called his. Now, I’ve trapped Ivan and his daughters in a room they can’t escape, and it’s only a matter of time until the executioner comes.
I suspected men were in the house, guarding us, all along. “I didn’t notice anybody,” I whisper, my panic rising.
But I already know why there are more men and why I don’t notice them.
“They’re there, simply because I need to protect Milana. I can’t let her do something stupid like try and run.”
Or for me to escape my cage.
44
GABI
The next morning, Ivan rushes off to work, and all I get is a sweet kiss on the forehead before he heads out. I’m still in my pajamas but hurry to get ready before the girls wake up. When we walk into the kitchen, Milana is already having coffee, so I pull her aside, away from Yuri’s ever watchful eye and ears.
“It’s a double wedding on Friday. You and Luca…me and Ivan.”
All color drains from her face.
“Gabriella.” She clutches my hand, her grip translating her desperation. “I…I know this wasn’t the plan. I can’t believe he’s duped me like this. Ivan…oh, fuck it. Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it.”
“It’s okay.” I squeeze her hand hard to stop her cursing. Nobody got duped except Ivan and my brothers, or so I’d like to think. It can’t be helped if the tables have turned on me, but somewhere in the past twelve hours, words started niggling at me. Matteo saying, on the day when I walked in on him and Dominic at five in the morning,it’s basically an admission of guilt.
What did my brothers do that Ivan Petrov has a hold on them?
“I don’t see a way out. Literally,” Milana says under her breath. “For either of us.”
I nod. With the new guards in place, Luca is really her only safe way out. “Let’s not fool ourselves. I’m the daughter of a notoriousmafioso. It was never going to be any other way.”
