So, no pets. Even my parents hated them.
After the basement episode where I tried to build my own shelter, my mother decided it was best for me to invest my time elsewhere. That’s when she got me to volunteer at the local animal shelter. She thought it was a phase I was going through. Much like my veganism. When she realized I wasn’t going to change my mind, she didn’t bother to try and change it for me. She let me run with it.
I wasn’t allowed pets, but at the shelter, I took care of and loved them all. There were no limits. It was the first time my mother had done anything selfless. At the time I didn’t realize it also made her look good to the press. I should have known she wasn’t doing it to help her daughter, it was all for herself.
As I walked with Andrei by my side and saw the animals that had been rescued or given to the shelter, I felt like I finally had a purpose.
During my tour, I’m surprised to see Andrei from time to time going toward the cages and putting his hand inside, stroking the dogs. I thought they would attack him. Some of the shelter dogs have only known abuse, as well as the cats, but none of them attacked. They sniff his hand and he greets them, petting them gently. I’m shocked. There’s no other word for it. I’d never expected him to be so … kind.
He’d admitted to me he killed his own father, and I wasn’t a fool. I knew that meant he took lives on a daily basis. That was who he was-the Bratva man. But right now, as I watched him pet a German shepherd, I had to wonder about him, about the boy he’d told me about.
Andrei wasn’t a bad man. He’d been made into who he was by the people around him. He couldn’t trust anyone. Was that why Ivan had warned me that Andrei didn’t trust easily? The people who should have loved him, taken care of him, nurtured him, had abused him. It didn’t take a genius to understand the kind of pain he experienced as a boy left a mark.
There was so much about Andrei I didn’t know.
Until this moment, I’d not been too interested in finding out, but looking at him now and seeing the dogs react, I had to wonder. They were good at sensing evil, after all, and they didn’t react to Andrei the same way they did to my parents or to Bethany.
The tour came to an end when he got a phone call. From the look on his face, I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened, but his face was a mask-a dark one.
He made his excuses and didn’t allow me to say goodbye to the lady at the desk. I’d not gotten her name. I’d known of this shelter because I’d taken the time before marrying Andrei, to learn about my location. My father had told me I’d be living with Andrei, and I hated going to new places without learning every single detail, so I’d spent hours studying this place.
This was the biggest animal shelter near the city. When I’d been thinking of volunteering here, I had not considered my husband locking me up in his penthouse suite. I was just thankful I’d not made any arrangements ahead of time, as I’d have looked like a fool.
Andrei didn’t let go of my hand until we were at the car, where he helped me into the passenger seat. He surprised me even more, leaning in and fastening my seat belt. I could do it, but with how close his face was to mine, I got a little distracted. The sight of his lips so close. The two kisses I’d now shared with him had completely ruined me. I wanted to hate him, to put him in a neatly organized box of a monster. He wasn’t that.
But a few kisses didn’t make him a good person. He was messing with my head, but I had a feeling he wasn’t doing it on purpose.
He slammed the door closed and rounded the vehicle, climbed behind the wheel, turned over the ignition, and pulled out of the shelter.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He didn’t say a word. His focus was on the main road. I noticed his guards had followed us to the animal shelter. Another hit of harsh reality-that we couldn’t go for a simple visit without someone there to guard us.
Was his life in danger every single moment of every single day? I’d read about the fictional side of the Bratva life in books, but I figured they were overdramatized versions. With how fast he drove, I had to wonder just how true they were.
Gripping the edge of my seat, I was sure he was going to crash into something. I closed my eyes at certain points, not wanting to see the danger ahead. I’d already considered the best way to die, and as far as I could tell, it was to not be conscious for it. Lame, I know, but I hated pain. Physical pain. I’d do anything to avoid it.
“Andrei, what’s going on?” I asked.
He still didn’t talk to me.
I hated this.
Squeezing my eyes closed, I hoped a cop was close by just so he’d stop us or do anything that would slow him down. I didn’t want him arrested. The cop thought was a bad one. Andrei or his men would probably kill him. A cop wasn’t a good idea. It was a very bad one. No cops. Just get us home in time.
The odd thought made me pause. Home. I’d never considered the penthouse suite a home before. It wasn’t my home. It was Andrei’s, but I felt like I was going home. Was this all part of the Stockholm syndrome thing? I wasn’t sure what qualified Andrei as a captor. I nearly burst out laughing when I thought of Andrei as my kidnapper. He was my husband, but he might as well have been the villain in my story.
We arrived back at the penthouse suite’s underground parking lot, alive, in one piece. When I climbed out of the car, I nearly sank to my knees and kissed the cold cement floor, but alas, I didn’t have that luxury.
Andrei acted like a crazy person. He grabbed my arms, snapped his fingers at his men, and marched me toward the elevator doors. His grip was bruising, but he didn’t let me go.
What had I done wrong? What had happened? I’d been a good girl my whole life. All I did was take him to the animal shelter. One by one, I tried to find the reason for his sudden change of behavior, and nothing came to mind. I drew a complete blank.
Did he hate the dogs? Was that his issue?
I hated this.
His guards travelled in the elevator with us. This was a first as far as I knew. He’d kept a lot of the guards away from me. Just the guy on the door, who was a pain in the ass. We got to Andrei’s penthouse suite, and it had become his, seeing as he was now hurting me.
“Andrei, what’s going on? Please talk to me,” I said.
“Shut up and go to your room.”
He spoke to me like I was a child. What happened to the man who wanted me to kiss him in order to earn rewards?
“Why won’t you talk to me?”
“I don’t have time for your childish behavior, get the fuck to your room, now.”
There was something in his eyes and the fact his men were so close, that I knew if I disobeyed him, he’d hurt me. I was not entirely sure if that was accurate, but holding the cell phone I was able to grab from his glove box before he became … this, I walked away and did not give him a second look.
I closed the door quietly and rushed toward the closet where I’d seen several chargers in a drawer. Rifling through them, I tried to find the perfect fit for the phone I had. It took me three attempts to find the right charger. Sliding the cable into the wall, I fired up my cell phone. I was amazed it still worked.
Tears blurred my vision and I batted them away. I wasn’t going to cry. It had gone from a perfectly good day to a shitty one. Story of my life, but I wasn’t going to let it get me down. I’d look at the positives instead. I got to go out, see a bunch of animals I already loved, and I had my cell phone.
I stayed in the closet, and even when one of the guards came to the room to drop off some food, I didn’t leave the sanctuary of this room.
With my cell phone charging, when it had enough battery life, I began to go through my texts, missed calls, and emails. My main contact was Nathan, the only guy who’d not been wowed by Bethany. He’d seen right through her and had not been impressed.