Page 31 of Sweet Deception (Savage Vow #2)

ANNA

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What else did he expect from me? He had locked me in his house, made it impossible for me to leave, yet I was supposed to be calm about it all. Still, after what happened this afternoon with Nate in the room, I had expected him to come to me tonight.

It was hard to sleep without him.

I climbed out of bed and walked quietly through the house.

My first stop was the room where he slept last night, but he wasn’t there.

I moved on to his study, but it was empty too.

That’s when I started to feel a weight in my chest. Had he left?

It would hurt to think that he might have gone without a word, especially when he had promised never to leave without telling me.

Just as that thought began to settle in, I heard noise coming from the kitchen. Zoya? Was she cooking in the middle of the night?

I walked toward the sound, hoping to ask her if she knew where Gleb had gone. When I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I froze.

Gleb was standing by the counter, making coffee.

“Hey,” I called softly.

“Hi.” His voice was flat, not bothering to look up at me as he continued his task.

“Erm... you didn’t come to the room tonight?” I ventured.

“I thought you’d make a mess again,” he said, his tone almost teasing but edged with something I couldn’t quite place.

As Gleb poured the water, his hands shook slightly, and the water splashed onto the counter. He cursed under his breath.

I stepped forward. “Let me help you...”

“No.” His voice was sharp, then he softened, realizing his outburst. He met my gaze, eyes filled with frustration. “I can’t even make a damn cup of coffee without fucking it up.”

I stayed quiet.

Gleb stared at the cup in his hands, his jaw clenching. “This is me, Anna. I try, but I can’t get anything right. It’s never enough.”

“You’re imprisoning me.”

He turned to me sharply, his eyes dark. “I’m protecting you.”

“You don’t protect people by locking them up,” I shot back. “Especially not your wife.”

A faint smirk tugged at his lips, but it quickly faded. “I don’t know what Grandma is doing. She’s gotten rid of all the spies in the family, so now I’m flying blind. The only way I can be sure you’re safe is to keep you here.”

“That wasn’t why you locked me up. You did it because you thought I’d leave.”

“Won’t you?”

I blinked, a wave of frustration rising in me. “I will,” I said defiantly. “You’re hurting me, Gleb.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes drifting to the coffee he hadn’t touched.

“Sorry doesn’t fix it. You have to free me.”

“No,” he said, his voice firm, unyielding.

“So I’m stuck here for the rest of my life, huh?” My words were sharp, a mix of anger and helplessness.

He exhaled, a slow breath. “Just give me time to handle my family, okay?”

“Fuck you,” I spat before I could stop myself.

“What?”

“You heard me.” I stepped forward, fury coursing through me. “Keep me here while you deal with your family, huh? You annoy me so much. I wish I never met you.”

“My sister’s locked up by my family too, just so you know,” he said, his voice cold but not without a trace of something like regret.

I faltered, the anger in my chest cooling. “You don’t mean it.”

“Oh, I do.” He shrugged, the indifference in his voice cutting. “But she’ll be fine with Grandma. It’s better for her to be there than with your parents.”

Gleb’s gaze hardened as he spoke, his voice low.

“Anna, I know you don’t understand, but you don’t know my family like I do. Grandma... She’s not like the others. She’s ruthless when she needs to be, but she would never let anything happen to her own flesh and blood.”

I frowned, skeptical.

“You sound so sure of her.”

“Because I’ve seen it,” he said, his tone softened but still firm. “She took care of me when I was a child. After my father’s death, she was the one who kept us together, made sure we survived. No one crosses her, but she’s loyal. She’ll protect my sister, just like she protected me.”

I folded my arms, thinking it over. “Drink your coffee.”

“I’d have finished it already if you weren’t here.”

“So I ruined your appetite?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Not really.” He leaned against the counter, his expression unreadable.

I turned away, my anger still simmering beneath the surface. “Maybe I should just leave then.”

“What were you two talking about earlier? With Nate?” he asked suddenly, his voice tense. “You both seemed pretty caught up in conversation.”

“He’s just an avid reader, like me. We were talking about a book I’ve been reading,” I said, keeping my tone casual.

“If you ever need someone to talk about books with, I’m here,” he offered.

“Oh really?” I snorted. “You’re barely ever around. You’re always traveling, talking to investors, other cartel leaders, making deals. I can’t imagine spending my life with you, Gleb. You’re always busy.”

His expression darkened. “I’m not going to abandon my work just because I’m married.”

“I’m not saying you should abandon it.” I crossed my arms tightly. “But can’t you see? You’re never here, and it feels like I’m just... existing next to you. I’m not the kind of woman who can just accept being alone all the time.”

He pushed his coffee cup away with a sharp movement, sending it crashing to the floor.

He stormed up to me, lifting me off the counter and setting me down roughly. “Can you stop talking about leaving me?”

My mind raced. “You don’t get it, Gleb. I’m suffocating here. You keep me locked up, and I’m just supposed to accept it because you think it’s ‘protecting’ me?” My voice cracked.

“I feel trapped. You don’t trust me, you don’t even communicate with me, and you think locking me in this house is going to keep me safe? I don’t even know who I am anymore.”

Gleb’s face twisted with guilt, but he stayed silent, his hands clenching.

I shook my head, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t know if I can do this anymore, Gleb.”

His voice was rough as he spoke. “My father... I watched him drown in his own blood because of an overdose. My mother... She died in that fire. I couldn’t even save her. I was just a kid, Anna. I couldn’t protect them, and it destroyed me.”

“I’m not some cold-hearted monster. I protect the people I love.”

My heart ached. I wanted to reach out, but he stepped back, his gaze dark. “I’ve lost too much. I can’t lose you too.”

My eyes filled with tears. “You won’t lose me, Gleb. But you have to let me in. You have to trust me with all of you, every part of you, no matter how broken.”

“I’m sorry, Anna. I know I’ve hurt you. I’ve been so focused on protecting you, on trying to control everything, that I forgot what you really need from me.”

His words broke me. The man who had been so cold, so distant, was now unraveling in front of me.

His apology felt hollow, and for a second, I thought I might pull away, but something in the way he said it broke me. He wasn’t just sorry, he was scared. And that terrified me more than anything.”

“Gleb...” I whispered, my heart aching for him. “I’m not going anywhere. I won’t leave you.”

“Every time I pull you closer, I just feel like I’m pushing you further away. You deserve someone whole, someone who’s not trapped in his own fucking mess.”

“I don’t deserve you,” he choked out.

“Yes, you do,” I said, my voice strong despite the tears in my eyes. “You just need time. We need time.”

I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my body close, feeling his warmth seep into me. His body tensed at first, but then he slowly pulled me closer, his arms enveloping me in the tightest embrace.

He carried me back to the bedroom, and we lay there in silence. His breathing steadied, but neither of us spoke. I could feel the weight of the unspoken words between us, the unsaid promises. We were two broken souls, trying to find a way to heal each other.

I hated myself for loving him this way, especially when every part of me screamed to run. But the truth was, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. It was terrifying and selfish, but I needed him as much as he needed me.

“I’ve been having nightmares because I have not been sleeping in the same room with you.”

My chest tightened. “You abandoned me.”

“No. I was just too scared to face you after locking you up.”

He caressed my back gently, his touch soothing but laced with an undeniable sadness.

So, he has nightmares every night he doesn’t sleep with me? “When you travel, do you have the same experience? Bad sleep because of nightmares?”

“Yeah,” he murmured, his voice low, distant. “It’s not something I want to remember. It always... always brings back the death of my mother and my ex-lover.”

I stayed pressed against him, my heart heavy with the weight of his words. I thought back to the first day I had seen him. The memory felt distant, but vivid. From the moment I was picked up at the airport, I’d felt a strange, uneasy tension.

At first, I thought the older man who welcomed me at the airport was my soon-to-be husband. I was horrified. But as he drove in silence, I forced myself to ask if he was the one I was supposed to marry. He’d laughed softly and answered with a brief, “No.”

When we finally arrived, I saw him, a man so strikingly handsome, his presence so overwhelming, I knew immediately that he was the one. The mafia king, the Merchant of Death, they called him. His gaze had been predatory, as if he would devour me on the spot.

To me, I was just marrying a stranger. A powerful one, yes, but a stranger.

When he ignored me, I felt nothing but a cold, resigned acceptance.

I was led straight to the room where I’d bathe and change into my wedding dress.

Everything had been happening too fast, too unreal.

I couldn’t believe I was getting married on the same day I arrived in his country.