Page 21 of Deceptive Vows (Bound by Vows #3)

Chapter Eighteen

THEA

The penthouse door clicked shut behind us, sealing out the night’s chaos, but the silence inside pressed heavily on me. My boots thudded against the hardwood, each step reverberating up my spine to stoke the headache pulsing behind my eyes.

“I don’t know what to think.” I turned to meet Nazar. “Marco plotting a coup?”

He shrugged. “I know what I heard.”

“And I believe you. I just don’t—” Suddenly, it clicked. I caught his gaze. “I would bet money Gabriele is hoping we heard all that and will run right to him. He wants us to think he’s not involved in this and that he’s on our side.”

Nazar shook his head. “It’s a brilliant idea. The Morettis take you and your family out and give your territory to the Gray Wolves. I suspect Marco and Gabriele have offered tactical support in New York in exchange. Sergei wouldn’t offer his help if there weren’t more in it for him.”

“You think the Gray Wolves are helping the Morettis here so they’ll back them in New York?”

Nazar nodded. “Sergei’s a master negotiator. And his group? Stronger than the Morettis.” He paused, jaw tightening. “If Marco hands him your territory, Sergei will be plotting to take his before the ink dries.”

“I wonder if Marco and Gabriele know that.”

He shrugged. “I suspect they do, but there seems to be a desperation on Marco’s part. He may be overlooking that aspect at the moment to achieve a short-term solution, thinking he can deal with Sergei later.”

“Those men saw us there. If they tell anyone, they’ll know we’re working together.”

Nazar ran his hand down his beard. “Maybe not. It was dark, and we were far enough away that they wouldn’t have been able to get a good look at either of us. Marco may suspect you, but you have four brothers. It could have been one of them with you.”

“True, but we can’t be certain of that.” I groaned. “And now they’ll move locations. We’re no closer to finding those women than we were to begin with.”

He stepped closer. “You’re right, but we have confirmation that the Gray Wolves are working with Marco and Gabriele. We also know that the Morettis are working the angle that Gabriele is split from his brother. We can use all of this information to our advantage.”

“I just hate that we didn’t find the women.” It made me sick to my stomach to think about what they might be going through, wherever they were. “I don’t think we can go back tonight either. They’ll have an army now.”

“Sergei will have a crew out there cleaning up any evidence they were ever there. By tomorrow morning, it will seem as though they vanished.”

Frustration and failure mixed together. I crossed the room and stopped in front of the window, staring out at the city.

I loved this city. The lights, the crowds, the sounds, the smells, all of it.

It was etched in my essence, but right then, I couldn’t have hated it more.

Past leaders had allowed a stain to continue to spread, and I felt helpless to stop it.

The air swirled as Nazar took up a position next to me. “We’ll find them. I know that doesn’t ease your rage now, but justice will be dealt.”

I turned to him, arms crossing tight over my chest. “Yes, we will. But every day we don’t, it’s another day they have to survive. Another day they have to carry, to relive. Some of them may never recover. Like my mo–”

I stopped short. I’d never had this conversation with anyone, including Ma and Pa, and I wasn’t discussing it with him either. Talking about it couldn’t and wouldn’t change anything.

His head tilted. “Telling me won’t change anything, and I understand that. But I would like to shoulder it with you. Make it lighter to carry.”

I almost laughed. He was being kind and compassionate, but…

“After my mother died, my father became cold. Angry. Cruel in ways I hadn’t expected.

” His fingers curled into a fist against his thigh.

“I looked just like her, and he was angry because she’d disobeyed him by leaving the house without protection.

In a way, I think he blamed me for her death because I’d begged to go with him that morning. Had I stayed…”

My arms dropped to my sides. “You were a little boy.”

“And you were a little girl.” He gave a soft smile. “We share loss. Can we not also share healing?”

His words coiled around my heart, a slow, tightening grip that stole my breath. “There is no healing for me, Nazar, and talking about it only?—”

He wrapped his arms around me, crushing me to him. “There is, my tyomnyy angel , there is.”

As hard as I tried to break loose, his hold on me only grew tighter. “Nazar… Let me go.”

“Stop fighting me, and listen.”

With a sigh, I surrendered, and he loosened his grip, leaning back so our eyes met. “Healing doesn’t always mean whole. Sometimes it just means the wounds stop breaking open. You’ve been a balm to me. Allow me to be the same for you.”

“We’ve only known each other a few days… Ho w is that possible?” It was ridiculous even to consider.

“My mother was unable to protect herself or my brother. I never thought I’d find a woman who belonged in my world… who didn't need saving. I can protect my Pakhan… and still care about you without feeling like it'll destroy me.”

What was he saying? “Fall in love? This is all…” I echoed the words, but couldn’t finish the thought.

My mouth refused to form words, my usual eloquence deserting me.

His ice-blue eyes bored into mine, and I wanted to drown in them.

For a split second, my gaze flicked to his lips, the most tempting pair I’d ever encountered.

A flicker of satisfaction tipped the corner of his mouth upward. His head dipped closer, slow enough to make me hyper-aware of every inch between us. My pulse kicked up, and my breath tangled in my throat.

His lips barely grazed mine, a whisper of contact that sent a slow, delicious tremor through me. My breath hitched. Instinct took over—I rose onto my toes, desperate to transform this ghost of a kiss into something tangible. I had never craved a kiss the way I craved his.

I circled my arms around his neck, fingers threading into his hair as his hands slid down to my waist. His nearness, his strength—everything about him was pulling me under.

Then—a sharp, shrill alarm blared from his phone.

Nazar tensed, his hold tightening for a fraction of a second before he exhaled sharply and pulled back. He dragged a hand down his face as he reached into his pocket, checking the screen. Whatever he saw made his expression darken.

A second later, the phone vibrated in his hand.

I barely had time to process before he swiped to silence the alarm and answered the call. “Marco, what happened?”

Our eyes connected. I stepped back, pulse still erratic, my breath tangled from the kiss that had slipped through my fingers.

“Attacked? Which one?”

Nazar’s jaw flexed as he listened. “I see. Did you happen to catch one of them?” A pause. “ Da , I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He ended the call and turned to me, the heat from before replaced with a sharp focus. “Marco says someone attacked one of his warehouses. He wants me to see the scene. He claims the damage was significant and wants my take on whether it's part of a larger threat."

My stomach tightened. “You think he suspects us?”

“I think he wants us to wonder if he does.”

I opened and closed my mouth a few times, not sure what to say. I knew he had to go, but the thought of Marco hurting him chilled me.

A muscle in his jaw twitched like he wanted to say something else. Instead, he let out a low breath and turned for the door, already dialing another number.

I exhaled sharply, staring after him, the ghost of his touch still lingering on my skin.

The moment was gone.

At first, the disappointment was nearly overwhelming.

But reality was sharper than fantasy, and logic rushed in like cold water.

I’d almost let myself believe that maybe he was right—that there could be something real between us.

Even if I set aside all the reasons it couldn’t, my family was here, and I wasn’t leaving them for the romanticized idea that I could build something with Nazar in New York.

That thought alone planted my feet on the ground, and whatever clouds I’d been floating on moments before were floating away. Even as the words good riddance trotted through my mind, my heart ached with the solemn truth.

I’d always been on my own. And nothing—not Nazar, not a fleeting kiss, not the foolish hope I’d let slip in—was going to change that.

Not even the part of me still reaching for the moment he’d already walked away from.