Page 101 of Wicked Vows (Suvorov Bratva 2)

“No.” She shakes her head. “You’re not.”

“I am,” I reply. “But just because things could have been different, that doesn’t mean they would have been better.”

“I disagree.”

I sigh. “You don’t have to agree for it to be true.”

She shudders. “Jonas would be alive.”

“And was that better?”

She turns her head as she pulls away slightly. Her arms are limp. She never even returned the hug. And now she’s staring up at me with a vivid realization glowing in her eyes. “No. But…”

Her lips twist into a grimace and then relax. She looks down at her hands, horror creeping into her features.

“If you were just a hot hookup that I never saw again, I would have lived the rest of my life never knowing what it’s like to be responsible for the deaths of…” She chokes. “God,who knowshow many people. Jonas included.”

I frown.

She meets my gaze. “Justonedecision. That’s all it took to rob people of their lives. So many people, Pavel.”

“You made your choices, Liya. You can’t regret them.”

“I don’t need to regret them to realize you’re the one that put all that blood on my hands.”

I step back as indignation boils inside me. “That’s unfair.”

“Is it? Are you sure?”

“We made those decisionstogether. It’s so convenient for you to forget, isn’t it?”

Her features darken. “Don’t fucking patronize me. I didn’t forget a goddamn thing. HowcouldI forget?”

“Our hands are equally stained with blood,rodnaya.”

She grits her teeth. “I never had a choice!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Liya. You had plenty of choices. I made sure of it.”

Her lips purse into a line, and anger blooms to life in her eyes. “Wow, really?”

She slides from the desk and advances. Her breasts swell whenever she takes a gulping breath, ample cleavage exposed by the low-riding tank top Zoya so graciously gave her. Pregnancy has made Liya curvier, fuller, with rounder tits and poutier lips.

It’s distracting. And I can’t help checking out every new curve.

Her finger stabs at my face like a knife. “I never had a choice to be your wife.”

She takes another step and crosses her arms over her chest.

Classic Liya. She’s trying to look tough while protecting herself. But I know her too damn well to let her get away with it.

“You didn’t oppose,” I retort.

“How dare you! I came home and wastoldthat I was going to be yours. No one asked if Iwantedto do it. No one cared!”

I glower at her even though she’s speaking the truth.

“You had your men strip me. You held me down on my dining table.” She’s shaking from anger. “Andfuckedme right in front of my brother. And at no point did you ever give a shit about what I thought. Never once ever asked if that’s what I wanted.”

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