Page 40 of Betrayal and Vows

Before either of us can speak again, the door opens without warning.

And in walks the devil.

Mikhail.

My fingers twitch toward the gun holstered at my back.

Not because I need it.

Because Iwantit.

I want to kill the fucker. The rage has been the only thing keeping me going the last ten years or so. Now, knowing this is the man that’s going to marry and claim Lena—the urge is nearly beyond my own steely self-control.

Mikhail looks from me to her and then smiles as he leans in to kiss her cheek.

“I see you’ve met your personal security guard,” Mikhail says. “My father says he’s the best. He’s going to make sure no one touches a hair on your pretty little head.”

He slides an arm around her shoulders and pulls her against him. She’s doing her best not to recoil but I can see the fear in her eyes.

I imagine putting a bullet between his eyes.

Mikhail’s hand slips from around her shoulders and brushes the side of her breast before he grabs a handful of her ass.

“You’re going to be a good girl, right, babe?” Mikhail asks with the smile of a predator.

She smiles back. But it’s not real. Her mouth curves, but her eyes go dark. Hollow. She’s trained herself to pretend. To survive.

And I fucking hate it.

He slaps her ass hard enough that she nearly falls off those four-inch heeled boots she’s wearing.

I stand silent, still as a statue.

His arm snakes around her waist again. She flinches. Just barely. But I see it. Hell,heprobably sees it too.

And it excites him.

He wants a woman he canbreak.Something delicate to smash into obedience and parade like a prize.

This is what Orlov men do to the things they claim to love.

“Make sure she doesn’t disappear again,” Mikhail says to me. “My fiancée has a habit of running off when she’s bored.”

She says nothing.

Neither do I.

“What do you think of my bride?” Mikhail asks with his hand sliding up her side again.

Time slows.

He’s testing me.

“She’s beautiful,” I say with no emotion. “Looks like she’ll make a fine wife.”

Mikhail’s smile tightens.

“Well,” he says. “Let’s hope she keeps behaving, then.”