Page 88 of Betrayal and Vows

My darling.

The fuck if she’s his anything.

No real man would ever allow his woman to be paraded half-naked.

He gloats.

I burn.

I watch Lena. She’s not here with us. Her body is. Her voice, when she speaks, sounds like Lena.

But her soul has retreated somewhere deep. I can’tfeelher.

Her soul is mine, and it’s gone black.

It’s buried under whatever Mikhail did.

The silence of it is killing me.

Dmitri casually kicks my foot.

I don’t look at him.

“Stop,” he hisses.

“Fuck you.”

“You are going to get us both killed.”

“Then get the fuck away from me.”

“You’re looking at him like you’re calculating just how deep you’ll need to plunge your knife to hit his heart.”

Dmitri isn’t wrong.

And I know I have to be smarter.

I cannot give him a reason to remove me from Lena’s detail.

Mikhail lifts his glass and taps his fork against the expensive crystal. The room quiets. Not that there were many people talking. It’s a small dinner. The Rostovas and a few of the people closest to Vadim.

“I have an announcement,” Mikhail says.

An overwhelming feeling of dread washes over me.

I feel Dmitri stiffen beside me.

I have a feeling I’m about to find out what has Lena so distraught.

Mikhail looks at me. It’s a brief look, but it’s full of gloating.

“There’s been a change of plans.”

Elena sits a little straighter.

Does she know what’s coming?

“We marry in three days, not a week. The priest is already arranged. I saw no reason to wait. Lena,printsessa, you’re ready—aren’t you?”