Page 91 of Secret Heir

“I said enough.” He’s in my face now and I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s furious and unforgiving. “You want to know what happens now? Security is doubled. You don’t leave this house without me. You don’t go anywhere near Daniel without supervision.” He leans in and he’s so close, his breath is on my cheeks. “And if you try to run again—if you so much as look like you’re planning to run—I will have you committed to a psychiatric facility until this baby is born.”

I gasp, the wind knocked out of me. “You can’t,” I wheeze.

“Watch me.” He turns and walks toward the stairs. “Go to bed, Aria. We’ll discuss your lies in the morning.”

He’s gone, leaving me alone in the foyer, shaking and crying and more terrified than I’ve ever been.

Because Alexander will know I tried to run.

Which means he knows I’m not staying quiet.

Which means my children are in danger.

And Maksim doesn’t believe me.

I’m completely, utterly alone.

13

MAKSIM

She tried to take my son.

In the middle of the night, while I was sleeping, she tried to steal Daniel and run. Again.

After everything that’s happened over the last few weeks. Of her sleeping in my bed, sweet mornings watching sunrises and family dinners and moments where I thought—I actually fucking thought—we were becoming real.

She showed me photos of Daniel’s childhood and cried in my arms and admitted she never stopped caring about me.

After all of that, she tried to run.

I make it to my office before the fury boils over. I grab the first thing I can reach and hurl it against the wall. The crystal tumbler shatters, glass exploding across the hardwood, and the sound is satisfying but not nearly enough.

Daniel’s face flashes in my mind. He was sobbing and clinging to me, asking why Mama was scared. My son who was fucking happy here and was finally growing into the strong boy he’s destined to be.

And Aria was going to drag him back into a life of poverty and fear. Because of what? Her paranoid delusions about Alexander?

I pour myself another drink and down it in one swallow. It burns, but not enough to drown the rage. She told me Alexander threatened her and our children. She said he knows she was at some warehouse eight years ago, that he’s going to kill her if she talks.

It’s bullshit. It has to be bullshit.

Alexander has been nothing but dedicated and trustworthy and Aria expects me to believe he’s threatening to murder our children? I shake my head in disbelief. She’ll say anything to justify what she did.

I pour another drink.

I don’t go near her door on day one of her confinement. Instead, I spend the day with Daniel, who’s still shaken from last night. We go riding on the beach, and I let him ask questions.

“Why did Mama want to leave?” He’s small on the horse in front of me, my arms around him keeping him secure.

“I don’t know, solnyshko. I’m trying to understand.”

Daniel curls into himself even smaller. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” I pull him closer. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Neither did I. Your mama is just…scared of something. And I need to figure out what so I can make it better.”

“Is she coming back?”

The question breaks my heart. “She’s not gone, buddy,” I say, trying to soothe my son while irritation courses through me. Dammit, Aria. “She’s just in her room for a little while.”