Page 71 of Twisted Prince
And that almost terrifies me more than the dark silence of the abandoned Boston streets.
When I reach the front steps of Kieri’s boarding house, the reality of my situation truly starts to set in.
Gleb’s absence tears me to shreds.
He’s gone. Really gone.
And I hate the way I left things with him.
I could see the look of betrayal on his face, the curl of defeat in his shoulders, and I know he won’t forgive me. Not after everything I’ve put him through.
How many times did I push him away? How many times did I tell him I didn’t need him?
But the truth is so far from that.
I’ve never been more terrified in my life.
Now, I’m trapped in an engagement that turns my blood to ice. I know my life will become nothing more than a gilded cage if I actually marry Vincent Kelly. The man who’s broken through the shallow veneer of safety in my Boston life. The false belief that I could be happy and live my life without a man is gone.
But I couldn’t watch Gleb die. It would have broken me. Destroyed me completely.
Because as much as I would like to think I’m strong enough to live alone, the truth is I have one man I can’t seem to move beyond. To live without. No matter how far I run, I can’t escape my feelings for him.
I would have given just about anything to save Gleb’s life at that moment.
And I’ll thank my lucky stars until the day I die that Vinny believed me.
It’s the least I could do for all the times Gleb has come to my rescue.
I only wish it hadn’t come at such a high price.
I was so close to touching the stars, so close to believing I could actually chase my dreams, fall in love, and provide for my daughter at the same time. But it wasn’t meant to be. Girls like me don’t get that kind of happy ending. We suffer and struggle, claw our way through life. And after all our penance is paid, we hope that our daughters can find a happier fate.
Taking a deep, fortifying breath, I steady my nerves before I insert my key into the front door. Then I slip inside as quietly as I can.
“I took Gabby upstairs tonight.”
“Oh!” Palm pressed to my heart, I grip the handle of the front door as my body completely overreacts to Kieri’s voice behind me. And I turn slowly to face her.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you,” she says, her face shifting from calm to concerned in the dimly lit entry. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. It’s been a…” I swallow hard. “Rough night. You carried Gabby upstairs?”
“Yeah.” Kieri shrugs. “She was pretty anxious and kept waking up with bad dreams, startling the other kiddos. I gave her a glass of warm milk and carried her upstairs around ten. Been checking on her every twenty minutes or so since then, but she seems to have calmed down.”
The hair raises on the back of my neck as I wonder when exactly everything went sideways at Pearl’s tonight. Before midnight. That’s all I know for sure. “Thank you for doing that. I’m sorry she gave you extra trouble.”
Kieri waves off my apology and steps closer to take my hand. “Are you sure you’re alright? You look like someone could knock you over with a feather.”
I nod, forcing a smile, but the tears clog my throat, making it too hard to speak.
“Oh, honey.” Kieri wraps an arm around my waist, steering me toward the kitchen. “I’ll make you a warm cup of tea. And you’re going to tell me what the hell is going on.”
Depositing me into a chair, Kieri puts the kettle on the stove and settles down beside me. “Does this have something to do with the rather dangerous-looking young man who stopped by earlier today?”
“What?” I ask, confusion furrowing my brows. “Someone stopped by the house today?”
“Well, yes. Gleb, I think he said his name was. He said he was a friend of yours and asked if you were around. But I told him you’d already left for work.”
