Page 46 of Plaintive Vow

Blair

“Do you still have that blue dress?” Andrei’s voice is right behind me, startling me as I drop the puzzle piece in my hand, jumping half out of my skin and knocking my knee against the coffee table. “The one you wore when Riot opened?”

I look at him with wild eyes while I try to rub away the sting, but if he notices, he doesn’t let on.

We got married on Tuesday, and this is the most he’s said to me in the four days since then. He’s always around the house, but he hasn’t acted like he wants to be anything other than a distant roommate who happens to get along with my son.

Niko hasn’t wanted anything to do with me since the funeral, and the way he trails after Andrei, asking him every question that pops into his head, is both adorable and isolating. Andrei’s patience is heartwarming, but I feel like an outsider in my own home.

“No,” I answer after my heart rate settles. “I threw it out when I got home that night.”

He nods, running a hand through his hair. “Do you have anything like it?”

“What, something to wear to a club?”

He nods again.

“Why?” I ask slowly, a tendril of unease unfurling in my belly.

He watches me like one would a wild animal, walking around the couch and picking up the puzzle pieces that fell to the floor.

“We need to let everyone know that we got married.” Protests claw at the tip of my tongue, and I bite my lip to keep them back. “Alexei’s new club is opening tonight. Everyone will be there.” He shrugs. “It’s the perfect opportunity.”

I wipe my sweaty palms on my thighs, heart in my throat.

The night Daniil took me to Riot was the first time he brought me to a nightclub, and after the humiliation I felt, it was the last time, too. That night felt like he was throwing me to the wolves and telling them I was fair game. They don’t need another chance to take a bite of me.

“Blair, I know you don’t want to, but we’re not going to get a better opportunity than this. Alexei’s hired more security than he’ll know what to do with. Things with The Outfit are stable. And I’m not going to leave your side.”

That makes me pause.

“You won’t?”

“No. Not unless you ask me to.” He takes the piece from my hand, gently prying it away and laying on the table with the rest of the puzzle. “And Nadya will be there, so you don’t have to stick with me if you don’t want to.”

“She actually asked me to go with her tonight,” I confess.

One corner of his lips quirks up, a ghost of a smile.

“We only have to be there for an hour, tops. And you can spend most of the time with her.”

An hour,I think, blowing out a slow breath. I can manage an hour, right? I’ve done worse things for longer.

“I’ll go look through my closet. I probably have something.”

Reluctantly, I pull my hand away from his, and his relief is stark in the way his shoulders sag.

***

The mass of writhing bodies moves with the pulsing beat of the music as I lean against an exposed brick wall, counting my breaths and forcing myself to focus on Andrei’s presence beside me.

I can’t relax. I’m constantly looking around, keeping my eyes peeled for threats.

I thought I saw Pavel when we walked in, and it doesn’t matter how much I want to loosen up, I’m not willing to risk running into him with a trip to the bar.

It’s been twenty minutes, and true to his word, Andrei’s been stuck to me like glue, using his menacing glare to keep anyone from approaching us.

This probably isn’t the way he expected us to debut as a couple. In fact, I’m starting to think we shouldn’t have bothered coming at all. If Andrei wanted to make a splash, he would’ve been better off sending a mass text.