I’ve never been so terrified in my life.
“Alexei,” I whisper.
Dimitri goes completely, utterly still. Every muscle in his body frozen. His eyes lock on mine with an intensity that makes me want to disappear.
“What did you say?” His voice is dangerously soft and my self-preservation is screaming for me to run.
“It’s—” My voice breaks. “It’s Alexei’s baby.”
For a long moment, nothing happens. He just stands there, staring at me, and I can see him processing my words.
Then he erupts.
“YOU WERE SLEEPING WITH MY BROTHER?!”
The roar is so loud, so full of rage and pain and betrayal that I actually scream. He lunges forward, and I press myself flat against the headboard, certain he’s going to hurt me.
But he stops inches away, his hands gripping the footboard of the bed so hard the wood creaks.
“Answer me!” Spittle flies from his mouth and his face is red, twisted with fury. “Were you FUCKING my brother?!”
The crude word makes me flinch violently. “Yes,” I sob. “Yes, I was with him, I loved him, I?—”
“You LOVED him?” He laughs, wild and bitter. “You loved my brother. Mydeadbrother. And you never thought to mention this? That you were spreading your legs for a Volkov while our families were at war?”
“I didn’t know there would BE a war!” I’m shouting now too, through my tears. “I didn’t know he would—that they would?—”
“How long?” He releases the footboard and starts pacing like a caged animal. “How long were you with him?”
“Eight months,” I whisper.
He stops dead. “Eight—eight months. EIGHT MONTHS. You were with my brother foreightmonths, and no one knew? Not your family, not mine, no one?”
“We kept it secret. We had to. If anyone found out?—”
“If anyone found out, WHAT?” He spins to face me. “If anyone found out that an Ashford was fucking a Volkov? That you were betraying both our families? That you were—” He stops, his expression shifting to something even worse than rage. Understanding. Horror. “You were with him when he died.”
I nod. “I loved him. I would have done anything for him. We were going to—” The words choke off in another sob and a snarl of rage erupts out of him.
“Going to what? Run away together? Start a life?” His laugh is ugly. “Did he know? About the baby? Did he know he’d knocked up an Ashford before he died?”
“No,” I gasp. “I found out three days before and I never got to tell him. I never—” I can’t finish from the force of my sobs.
“So he’s dead. My brother is dead, and he died not knowing he was going to be a father. And YOU—” He points at me with a shaking hand. “Youknew. You’ve known this entire time. You stood in that courthouse, married me, let me touch you, let me—” His face contorts with disgust. “You let me fuck you while you were carrying my brother’s child.”
The words are like knives, each one cutting deeper.
“I didn’t have a choice!” I scream back. “You think Iwantedthis? You think Iwantedto marry you, to be in this situation? My family sold me to you! They SOLD me like I was property, and I couldn’t say no because if I did, everyone would die! You would have started a war and killed everyone I love!”
“So you just didn’t mention it?” He shouts, his face red with rage. “You just thought, what? You’d hide it? That I’d never fucking notice when you started showing? When you gave birth to a baby that wasn’t mine?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know what I was thinking!” I’m sobbing so hard I can barely breathe. “Alexei was dead, my family gave me away, and I was pregnant and alone and I didn’t know what to do!”
“You should have told me,” he says through gritted teeth. “The first day. The first moment. You should have told me the truth.”
I laugh hysterically but there’s no humor. “Are you serious right now? So you could what? Kill me? Kill the baby? Use it as a weapon against my family?” I wipe at my face with shaking hands. “Why would I trust you with this when you made it clear from day one that I was your enemy and I was only here to be punished?”
I see it on his face the moment he realizes I’m right. I had every reason not to tell him and he’s given me no reason to trust him with this, with anything. But it doesn’t make him less angry. If anything, it makes it worse.
