Page 17 of Deceptive Vows (Bound by Vows #3)

Chapter Sixteen

THEA

The cold hit me first, sharp and biting, seeping into my fingertips and numbing the tip of my nose. My body ached, stiff from a night curled up on a rooftop lounge chair, but a stubborn warmth pressed against my back kept the chill from winning.

Nazar.

His arm draped over my waist, heavy and too comfortable. His breath was constant against my neck. I let myself linger there, wrapped in a peace I hadn’t felt since…

“Andros, we should tell her,” Lisbet said.

I jumped. I’d heard voices and wandered toward the study, and now Ma and Pa were looking at me.

My stomach dropped, fear pooling in the pit of my stomach. The vase. I thought they’d forgiven me…but my mom was like that. Saying one thing and then doing another. Ma and Pa were different, but… what if the vase was too much? For six months, I’d had a home and family. Was it about to end?

Maybe they’d let me stay just long enough to realize they didn’t want me. I was a street rat. Maybe the vase was the sign they’d been waiting for.

I charged into the study. “Please... don’t send me away.” I started strong but choked on the last word.

Lisbet’s lips parted in a gasp as she wrapped her arms around me. “Send you away?” She leaned back, tears brimming her eyes. “What are you talking about, my darling?”

“The vase in the hallway,” I confessed, my voice small.

“Oh, Abigail,” Lisbet cupped my face in her hands. “We told you. You’re worth far more than that silly vase.”

Pa moved from around his desk, drawing closer. “Is that what you thought we wanted to tell you?”

I nodded, unable to meet his eyes.

“Oh no.” She pulled me to her again and squeezed me. "No. "

Pa joined us, squatting next to me. “Our home would feel incomplete without you. No, we want to adopt you,” Pa said softly.

It took a moment for his words to register. What did he say? “Adopt me? Like...”

Lisbet held me out, her eyes meeting mine. “Your last name would change from Stewart to Kalantzis, but it’d be official. You’d be ours. Permanent. Forever. We don’t have to ? —”

I could barely believe what I was hearing. They wanted me? Permanently? Forever? I lunged for her, wrapping my arms around her neck, and nodding. “Yes! Yes, I want that.”

More than anything I’d ever wanted.

In six months, Ma and Pa, Lucas, Dimitris, Ari, Lex, and Gianna had become family to me.

My life with my mom had begun to feel like a different lifetime.

They’d surrounded me with so much kindness and care.

I still loved my mom, but this love, the love Ma and Pa showed me.

It was the kind of love I’d wished for and wanted my whole life.

Andros’s hand found my back. “Then that settles it.”

I pulled away from Lizbet and hugged him. “But I don’t want to be Abigail anymore.”

Lisbet gasped .

Andros took me by my arms. “Abigail, you have a beautiful name.” His hands came to my face as his eyes searched mine. “You don’t need to change it.”

Sniffing, my lips trembled as I replied, “But Lucas, Ari, Alexander, and Gianna have Greek names. I want to be Greek too.”

His smile softened as he looked at me. “They do, but you don’t need to have a Greek name to be part of our family.”

I covered his hands with mine. “But I want to…”

For a long moment, his eyes searched mine. Then his lips broke out into a massive grin. “Thea. My Thea.”

Tilting my head, my eyebrows scrunched together.

“It means ‘gift from God,’ and you are just that. A wonderful, divine gift.”

Before I could catch the tear streaking down my cheek, the rough pad of Nazar’s thumb brushed it away. He didn’t add words to the tender gesture, just pulled me closer, setting his cheek against mine.

It was a comfort that reached so deep into my heart and soul that for a moment, I was paralyzed.

“I should get up,” I said when I finally found my voice.

He pulled back, pressing his lips to my forehead.

“Nazar…”

His fingers found my chin and lifted it until our eyes met. His gaze held mine, steady and open, echoing the careful touch of his thumb against my skin. Briefly, we simply existed in that fragile space between night and morning.

“Were you dreaming?” he asked softly, his voice rough with sleep.

I shook my head slightly. “Remembering.” The word came out before I could catch it. I’d meant to say something flippant, something protective, but my head and heart were in a war that I didn’t know how to win.

His eyes searched mine, patient and undemanding. How could a man with such lethal capabilities also possess such gentleness? He didn’t press for details, just waited, giving me the space to share or keep my memories private.

“The day Ma and Pa told me they wanted to adopt me,” I found myself saying. “I thought they were going to send me away over a broken vase.”

His arm tightened around me, pulling me closer as if to shield me from that long-ago fear. “And instead, they gave you a home. ”

“A family. My name… They gave me everything,” I whispered.

Nazar’s expression softened further, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw. “They saw what I see. Someone worth cherishing.”

The words settled into me like stones dropping into still water, rippling through layers of armor I’d built over the years. He understood the value of a chosen family, of finding belonging after believing it impossible.

But this… thing taking root between me and Nazar was impossible.

It felt too real, too soon, like stepping onto a bridge that couldn’t possibly hold my weight.

The thought thundered in my mind, and just like that, my flight instinct kicked in.

I needed to get out of this. To remember who I was.

I didn’t date. I didn’t fall in love, and I especially didn’t fall in love with a man I’d known for only a few days who could be setting a trap for my family.

“We should go inside.” I pushed against him. “You must be freezing.”

“You make it bearable,” he murmured, but he released without a fight. "But we do need to go inside. Marco called after you fell asleep. He wanted updates on the Opera house and our wedding preparations."

As I stood, the frosty air whipped around me, a bitter rush that helped rebuild the walls I’d let fall."Do you think he suspects anything?"

" Nyet. He seemed especially pleased to learn about the ring Mr. Marcello designed for you."

I turned away from the horizon, already retreating into the safety of routine. “I need some coffee.” I moved toward the door without waiting for a response.

He didn’t argue, just followed me into the penthouse.

The shift from crisp air to warm cedar enveloped us, and I moved deliberately to the kitchen, focusing on the mechanical steps of brewing coffee instead of the weight of his gaze.

Nazar positioned himself at the island, his silence a presence all its own.

With every measured scoop of coffee, the chaos began to settle. The familiar ritual grounded me, letting my mind catch up to my heart.

I needed to push my feelings aside. There were bigger things than my confusion, like the fact that Marco Moretti had just declared war.

“After I get dressed,” I said, “I’m going to Lykos. I need to tell Lucas about the conversation with Marco.”

Nazar didn’t move at first, just watched me with that unreadable expression. Then he crossed his arms over his chest, his voice low and firm. “We’ll go together.”

The coffee maker gurgled, and I reached for two mugs—black for me, a splash of milk for him because of course, I’d noticed that yesterday.

Some details stuck, even when I wished they wouldn’t.

I slid his across the counter, clutching mine like a lifeline against the morning chill that had nothing to do with the weather.

I bristled, my mug meeting marble with a sharp sound.

I needed a minute without him. I’d gone from completely independent to feeling like I was attached at the hip to a man I barely knew.

“He’ll know the call info came from you.

I don’t need a shadow, Nazar.” Even as I said it, the words tasted sour.

Too harsh for a man who’d saved my life just forty-eight hours ago.

When I spoke again, I softened my tone. “I’ve been on my own for a very long time. I’ll be fine.”

“I know.” His voice stayed calm, but there was steel in it. “And I’ve been dodging bullets since I was eighteen. This isn’t about you needing me—it’s about keeping my word to your brother. I promised I’d keep him in the loop.”

He had a point, and that little flicker of happiness at him wanting Lucas’s trust only made me angry.

I set the mug down, crossing my arms. “Fine, but after that, I need to do a few things, and I need to do them on my own. I don’t need anyone watching over me like I can’t handle myself. I don’t need protection.”

He gave me a look that was half-smile, half dare. “You weren't meant to be shielded. You were made to be unleashed, my tyomnyy angel ."

I ducked my head, hiding the stupid grin that nickname dragged out of me. Jerk .

The next hour disappeared in a blur of hot showers and hurried movements, both of us dancing around each other in the penthouse like we were afraid to get too close again.

By the time we hit the road, I’d armored myself in a pantsuit—sleek, sharp, mine—hair yanked back in a ponytail that meant business.

Nazar drove, one hand on the wheel, the other on the gearshift, sleeves rolled up to show off those forearms I refused to stare at.

The city blurred past, gritty streets giving way to the polished restaurant district.

Lykos rose ahead, dark wood and subtle signage screaming home, especially today when it was the only physical structure in my life still standing.

Nazar parked and jogged around to open my door before I could stop him. It wasn’t the gesture that got me, it was the way it felt different with him, like he was claiming something. I hated how much I didn’t hate it.