Page 80 of Devious Obsession
“No, it’s not that. I just…”
“You want to be a wife, a mother,” Sienna fills in from the couch. “You want to get married, have a family, and raise them.”
My cheeks heat.
“I’m single-handedly pushing back women a hundred years.” My shoulders drop, and I sigh.
Megan laughs. “Honey, you’re not doing anything like that. Have a career, don’t have a career, it’s up to you. You do what you want to do and not what anyone tells you to do.”
“Exactly!” Vee seconds. “What does Artem say about it?”
“I haven’t said anything to him. We haven’t had time to really talk about anything. But it’s not that I don’t want to contribute, I do.”
“You’ll work it out between the two of you.” Vee fills my glass again and brings it to me. “It’s no one’s business, anyway. He makes you happy, and he’s had a thing for you for years if Ivan’s right.”
I groan. “Ivan knew?”
“Are you kidding me? Who do you think suggested Artem be put in charge of your security? Your brothers see way more than you think they do.”
“They’re just too afraid of me running away to tell me about it.” I gulp down half the wine in my glass.
“Well, there’s been a small history of silence on your end…” Megan lets her voice trail off. “At least from the way Alexander explained it.”
“He’s right. I do run off. First sign of trouble, I’m gone. Better to leave before they kick me out.”
“Who was going to kick you out?” Sienna asks, a protectiveness underlining her question.
“No one.” Megan assures her.
Vee squeezes my hand. “Not the guys. They’d never, but you grew up always worried that your father would cut you out. He’d stop letting you come over.”
Tears burn my eyes. “I was just a pawn to him. A way to piss off his wife. And what better way than to bring over the bastard daughter he had with a mistress?”
Sienna frowns. “Your father and my uncle would have gotten along wonderfully, if they hadn’t constantly been trying to kill each other.”
“Your brothers will never cut you out of their lives, no matter what crazy thing you do. And Artem isn’t going anywhere, either,” Megan says firmly.
They’re right. I know they are, but scars from a lifetime of wounds are thick. I might need a little more time before my soul fully believes the truth.
“Talk to Artem. He’s going to love you no matter what you decide to do. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. If you asked him for the moon, he’d find a way to pluck it from the sky for you.” Megan wraps me in a hug. A second later, she pulls back and says, “Why am I wet?”
“Because you spilled my wine all over us.” I laugh looking down at the red wine seeping into her light pink sweatshirt, then realize my chest is wet, too. I’m covered in it.
“Shit!” She runs off toward the bedroom.
“I better go change, too.” I put the now empty glass on the table.
“She might have something for you here?” Vee suggests.
“No, that’s okay. We’re just down the hall. I’ll be right back.”
I leave the suite, letting the guard standing outside know I’m just going to my room. He can see the door from where he is, but he still moves with me toward it.
“Now, if you’re here with me, who’s there with them?” I try to be a smartass and jerk my thumb in the direction of my sisters-in-law, but when I look, there’s another man already in his place. “How do you guys move so quietly when you’re so damn big?”
He flashes a quick smile but says nothing before taking his position to the side of my door.
Once inside, I strip off the wet shirt and toss it into the trash can. My bra has also soaked up a fair bit of the wine, but it’s my favorite, so I grab a fresh one from the suitcase then go to the bathroom to soak the bra in the sink. Hopefully, it’s salvageable.
