Page 94 of Mistaken
“Oh?” Maksim nods toward his study.
That’s his place of power. “Can we go into the bedroom and talk there?” I ask.
“Of course.” He offers me his hand, helping me off the stool. When we reach the bedroom, I take one of the chairs by the fireplace and he joins me. “What’s on your mind,????????? ?????????”
I’m rubbing my hands over my skirt repeatedly until he reaches out a gentle hand to stop me. “The Sokolov Bratva, Dante, my…” I grit my teeth together for a moment, “my brother. They’re no longer threats to your Bratva, correct?”
His head tilts curiously, he’s trying to read me. “This is true, and thanks to you, if anyone else manages to obtain the formula for the gas, they won’t be able to use it against us. It was brilliant work, by the way.”
I nod nervously.Getting off track here, Ella. Don’t let him be nice to you.
“I’m glad, but-” closing my eyes, I silently ask my parents for strength. “The reasons for marrying me no longer exist,” I plow on. “I want you to let me leave.”
Chapter 24 – Let Me Go
In which Ella prepares for the most depressing Valentine’s Day ever.
Ella…
“The reasons for marrying me no longer exist,” I plow on. “I want you to let me leave.”
“What are you saying, Ella?”
I steel myself and look him in the eye. The dark and dangerous Pakhan of the Morozov Bratva is stunned.
Never thought I’d see that.
“I’m not part of this world,” I plow on, “I’m an outsider. You saw what happened with your housekeeper when you insulted her by promoting an outsider before her. It only reinforces what I know.” I smile, thinking about the twins chattering to him about their music at the funeral, the exhausted mother, and her little girl. “Your people are very strong, they’re stoic to a degree that I can’t imagine. But… they know I don’t belong here.”
“I decide where you belong.” Maksim interrupts me, “I know that the last few days have been terrifying, but it is done. I will keep you safe.”
Staring at him in despair, I know I can’t tell him the truth. I know last night wasn’t real, but for one magical moment, I knew what it was like to feel loved. I know when he told me he loved me, he didn’t mean it. I know Maksim is never going to love me. But now that I know how it feels, I can’t stay here. I can’t live with him day in and day out knowing that I love him and that he will never be capable of returning it.
“I want to leave, Maksim, I want you to let me go,” I said, trying to sound determined instead of dissolving into a weeping mess that’ll agree to anything he says. “I can’t be close to anyone without putting a target on their back-”
“I already have a bodyguard for Tania,” he interrupts, “I intend to buy her an apartment in a high-security building-”
“No. Look, just… I don’t want to be here. I want you to marry some nice Russian girl who your people will accept. She’ll give you…”
This is going to kill me.
“She’ll give you Russian babies that will make your mother so happy. She’ll… she’ll fit. But I can’t do any of those things, and I don’t want to.” I sharpen my tone, praying I can get through it. “I never wanted this life.”
I chanced a quick look at him and he is utterly still, his eyes are glacier blue, pale, and blank.
“Maksim, please. Please give me this. If you care about me at all, please.”
“????????-“
“I can’t be here anymore! God, don’t you hear me? Let me go!” Now I’m sobbing and he’s leaning forward like he’s going to try to comfort me and that cannot happen. I scramble off the chair and back away. “I’m justconvenient,remember?”
“I was angry when I said that, and it was wrong,” he growled, “it wasn’t true. You are-”
“I deserve better,” I said flatly, “let me go. Please.” I can see the mask slip over his face like a cloud over the moon. Maksim rises, looking down at me from his considerable height. And leaves the room.
Maksim…
The next day…
