Page 29 of Sweet Deception (Savage Vow #2)
ANNA
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The heat between us was electric, charged with something too intense to ignore. My heart pounded as it dawned on me, I was seconds away from giving myself to Gleb. And I wanted this. I wanted him. He was my husband. He could have me.
Then, a hard knock at the door.
Gleb tensed above me, his body going rigid. I saw it in his eyes, pure, murderous fury.
For a moment, neither of us moved. His chest rose and fell with restrained rage before he tore himself away and stalked toward the door, flinging it open. His entire body stiffened.
A strange chill crept over me. Something was wrong.
I hurried to the doorway, and there she was, Valentina.
Her gaze burned with fury.
“Both of you. Downstairs. Now.” Her voice was ice. Then she turned and walked away.
I swallowed hard, glancing up at Gleb. His jaw ticked.
“Don’t be scared. I’m here.” His voice was low, firm.
““I’m not scared.” It wasn’t entirely true, I wasn’t scared of Valentina, but I was afraid of what she might force Gleb to do.
I was anxious.
Gleb ruffled my hair in an oddly affectionate motion before we descended the stairs together.
But one thought gnawed at me, how did Valentina get in?
Gleb had ordered his guards not to let any family member inside.Valentina shouldn’t have been able to enter.
Had she bribed them? Or did they simply fear her more than they feared him?
Soon, we were seated opposite her in the grand hall, tension thickening the air.
Valentina’s glare didn’t waver. “What in the world did you do, Gleb?”
His expression was unreadable. “I did it for my wife.” Not a hint of remorse.
Valentina let out a bitter chuckle. “You used up our last card for your wife?” Her voice dripped with disdain. “Did you even weigh the repercussions before you acted?”
“They were assaulting my wife,” Gleb snapped. “What was I supposed to do? Stand by and watch?”
“Isn’t the purpose of this marriage to end the war between our cartels?” Valentina’s eyes narrowed. “Now you’ve destroyed it.”
Gleb scoffed. “There was never going to be peace. The Italians and us? We’re parallel lines. We will never meet.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “Half of your mother’s properties are in Italy, locked behind legal agreements we barely have a foothold in. With what you’ve done, they’ll never grant us access.”
At that, Gleb’s expression shifted.
I sat straighter. His mother’s properties?
Valentina turned her glare on me. “And you...” She shook her head, her voice a low murmur. “I underestimated you. You deceived me.”
I met her gaze without flinching. “I did what I had to do.”
Her lips curled. “I see.” A pause. “Tell me, are you two in love?”
I turned to Gleb, my stomach knotting.
His answer came swift. “No.”
The word struck like a knife.
I didn’t know if he was saying it because Valentina was here... or because he truly meant it.
Valentina arched a brow. “Your actions say otherwise.”
Gleb’s voice was steady. “I’m just ensuring my wife’s safety.”
“And you won’t be divorcing her?”
“I understand the marriage was supposed to end after an heir was born. But I see no reason why we can’t continue as husband and wife.”
Valentina inhaled sharply. “The Italians will retaliate. And they will strike hard.”
Gleb didn’t blink. “We’ll be ready.”
Valentina let out a sharp, frustrated breath, then turned back to me with eyes like splinters.
“You want the truth?” she said, her voice low, bitter. “This marriage was never about peace.” She paused, just long enough for the silence to sting.
“I orchestrated it to gain control. Over someone. Anyone. Someone I could bend, break, make suffer.”
Her lips twisted into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Your father took everything from me. And for years, I couldn’t touch him. But you? You were the perfect opening. This marriage gave me that.
My stomach twisted.
Gleb leaned forward, voice deadly. “Then you should be happy. You got me a perfect victim.”
Silence.
“Can this be fixed?” Gleb finally asked.
Valentina let out a slow breath. “Only if we return both Italian daughters.”
Gleb’s entire body stiffened. “You mean my wife and that other woman?”
“The other woman has a name. Maria,” Valentina corrected. “Funny how you hate her but adore her sister.”
“That woman is arrogant and insufferable.” He refused to say her name.
A strange satisfaction curled inside me.
Valentina sighed. “Regardless, it’s our only option.”
“I’m not sending my wife back,” Gleb said coldly.
Valentina’s eyes hardened. “Then you leave me no choice but to declare war on you.”
My breath hitched.
“It will be said that you single-handedly tore this family apart for an Italian woman.”
Gleb’s jaw clenched. “There has to be another way.”
“There isn’t.”
A long pause. Then Valentina muttered, “Unless.”
Gleb’s eyes flickered. “What?”
“If your wife was pregnant, I could renegotiate.” She gave me a pointed look. “But she isn’t. Which makes this option... useless.”
I froze.
Gleb’s response was immediate. “They don’t know she isn’t pregnant.”
Valentina’s head snapped toward him. “You expect me to lie to them?”
“You’ve lied before.”
“And when they demand the child in nine months?”
Gleb’s voice was steel. “We will have our baby within the year.”
Valentina scoffed. “I don’t believe you. I gave you one month and nothing happened.”
“Grandma. You won’t declare war on your favorite grandson.”
Valentina drummed her fingers on the armrest, considering. Then she shook her head. “No.”
“I can buy us time, but not much. If I tell them Anna is pregnant, they’ll demand proof. Ultrasounds, doctor reports... they’ll want to control the pregnancy just like we do.”
“We’ll always find a way around it.”
She exhaled, “You paralyzed my son and I felt nothing. Don’t test how far that numbness goes. Push me again, and I will end you. And I still won’t feel a damn thing. Do something.”
Then she walked out.
The moment she was gone, Gleb remained frozen. Unmoving. His hands clenched into fists, his eyes far away.
He was thinking. Strategizing.
Gleb remained seated for several minutes, his expression unreadable. He looked lost, overwhelmed.
I shifted uneasily before breaking the silence. “Did I force you to choose between me and your family?”
His jaw clenched. “Yes. You caused it all. You should have never gone to Italy without my consent. You’ve complicated everything.”
“So it’s all my fault?”
“Of course it is.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “I went there to save your sister. And I succeeded.”
His fingers twitched into fists at his sides. “And now we could all die for it. I broke a decades-old agreement between our cartels. No matter how much we hate each other, we have always respected certain boundaries. That’s gone now.”
He exhaled sharply. “The only way to take down your family is to lure them out of Italy, ambush them, just like they did to us in Mexico years ago.”
“Is there something I can do?” I hesitated. “I can talk to my father.”
He scoffed. “You don’t even know who your father truly is. He doesn’t respect you. He might entertain a conversation with your sister, but you? Hell no.”
I swallowed hard. “Then I’ll speak to Maria.”
He gestured for me to join him.
“No, I’m fine.” I stayed where I was, arms crossed, guilt pressing down on me. I had messed everything up. And now, his grandmother was declaring war on him, on us.
His voice was quiet but firm. “If Grandma declares war, even if I win, I lose everything I’ve built.”
“I’ll talk to Maria,” I said, more determined this time. “Will you try speaking to your grandmother again? Maybe she’ll change her mind.”
He shook his head. “No. She’ll do what’s best for the family. But yes, you should speak to your people.”
I nodded, then frowned when I noticed him studying me. “What?”
“Why are you still standing?”
“I don’t feel like sitting.”
Without warning, he stood and lifted me effortlessly, settling me on his lap. I gasped, stiffening against him, but he didn’t let me go. His face was close, his expression raw.
“Are you angry?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes.”
“At me?”
He hesitated. “Yes. But I don’t want you to leave me again, so I can’t express it.”
My chest tightened. “You’re afraid I’ll leave?”
His grip on my waist tightened slightly. “I won’t be able to stand it this time. No matter what, do not leave me. Okay?”
Tears burned my eyes. “I won’t make you choose between me and your family.”
His gaze darkened. “Who says I’ll choose?” He cupped my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Just promise you won’t leave.”
A tear slipped down my cheek. Could I promise him that?
“I can’t.”
His expression hardened. “Then I’ll be forced to do what I should have done from the start.”
A shiver ran through me. “What’s that?”
His voice was quiet, dangerous. “Keep you in this house. No more freedom.”
I stiffened. “That’s kidnapping.”
His lips curved in a cruel smirk. “I know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “If I let you leave, I’ll lose you. And I can’t risk that.”
My pulse pounded in my ears. “You wouldn’t do that. I’m just your nominal wife.”
“Then promise me.”
“No.” I pushed against his chest. “I’ll leave whenever I want. I won’t make empty promises when I don’t even know how you truly feel about me.”
His gaze turned to ice. “You won’t have a choice.”
A chill crawled down my spine. “What are you saying?”
His voice was eerily calm. “That if you won’t promise me, you won’t leave this house.”
I clenched my fists. “If you do this, I swear, I’ll never forgive you.”
He hesitated, eyes flickering with something unreadable. Then, without another word, he turned and walked away.
Tears blurred my vision as his footsteps faded. How long would he keep me here? Days? Weeks? Months?
**
Five Days Later
For the first two days, I held on to hope.
I sat by the window, watching the gates, expecting a sign that Gleb had come to his senses. That any moment, one of his guards would knock on my door and tell me I was free to leave.