Page 76 of Sweet Deception

I stepped forward, wanting to wipe them away, but she held up a hand. “Don’t,” she whispered. “Please don’t.”

I clenched my fists. Bold of her to think I would ever let her go.

She thought I was hurting her intentionally. That I was indifferent. That I would actually let this marriage dissolve.

She didn’t know the truth.

Didn’t know that I was merely keeping a long-standing promise, one that would soon come to an end. And once it did, I would claim her fully.

I would make her first kiss unforgettable. I would make her first time remarkable.

Because she was mine. She had always been mine.

I knew it the moment I saw her step out of that limousine, fresh off the plane from Italy. Even though she was in a wheelchair, it didn’t change what I felt.

She was beautiful, in a way that stole breath. Naïve, but not in a way that made her foolish. Clumsy, yes, but that was what I loved most about her.

I didn’t care what disability she had.

She. Was. Mine.

I had to tell myself I hated her, if only because of her parents. Her mother had killed my mother. Her father had slaughtered my family, men, women, children. He even killed a little girl once. Anastasia.

I could never forget.

When Anna first arrived, I lashed out at her. Again and again. But now... I was learning to manage my rage. My hatred. My pain.

And once this was over, I would keep her. Forever.

Because there was one thing I knew for certain.

She would never leave my sight.

And anyone who dared look at her with lust, anyone who dared to touch what was mine, would die screaming.

Yegor and Arseny? They thought they could touch her and walk away?

They have no idea what I have planned.

They won’t get the chance to regret it.

Chapter 16

ANNA

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I stood before the cells where my siblings were being held. Matteo and Salvatore stood close to the iron bars, their faces worn but alert. My heart shattered at the sight of them.

I had pleaded with Gleb to grant me this one last request to see them before I was sent back to Italy in three days.

“Anna... how are you holding up?” Matteo asked, his voice laced with concern.

“Gleb and I are parting ways in three days,” I told them, my throat tightening.

“What?”

I nodded. “We failed to fulfill the purpose of the marriage, so his family decided to dissolve it.”