Nobela ni Roxanna Armstrong

NikolaiThere was no way Vera walked into Truth without knowing I'd be alerted that second. I barely restrain myself from rushing out after Pavel's call. All he said was, “Vera is here with friends.”“With friends.”That part lingers longer than it should. Those five words were delivered in the same flat tone he used for everything, as if he hadn’t just dropped something a bomb in my lap. Pavel was only ever at Truth this late. I should have prohibited her from going to that club, locked her in her room and thrown away the key.Not that its occurrence was off the table. I could have worked perfectly well without knowing that bit of information. The made up guest room was all the information I had needed. Something had prompted Vera to move out of my room and something could just as easily bring her back. There’s no reason for me to give a fuck where she was. It was a fact that she was my wife, roommate or not, that wasn't going to change. But “with friends" rang over in my hea

VeraTo the untrained outside eye, my plan was as simple as they come, survive another day. It had never required much thought before.Just obedience.But nothing had ever been easy about surviving a power struggle in the bratva.I eyed the pile of clothes laying around in my new closet, unimpressed.To carry out dangerous acts of rebellion, clothes were the most important armour.For what I needed tonight, blending in wasn’t enough.I needed to be seen.I reach for a black dress, hold it up briefly, then toss it aside.Too simple.Another.Too loud.A third.I pause, fingers tightening slightly around the fabric. The pink dress was very short and very backless. I could do glittery makeup with gold heels. It would do. Truth wasn’t the kind of place you walked into unprepared. Not if you wanted something out of it.And I had a beast of a request.Before I overthink and talk myself out of it, I dial Nadia and Katya into a conference call.“Girls,” I chirp.Nadia groans immediately. “W

Vera A few years later Life had been wonderful for a while. Full of ups and downs, but life is like that sometimes. But generally, it was wonderful, most times. I had met my mother the day after Nikolai proposed to me. She explained how she left her marriage with my father because she could not handle being in the bratva. I understand now. It was hard to keep hoping that I would never hear that one day my husband had been shot dead. She also knew that if she took me with her the entire bratva would have been after her, not that they did not chase her for a while. I ended up forgiving her and so did my father. They became friends and even then refused to finalise their divorce. She was still trying to be a mother to me but she was a very wonderful friend to Irena and a terrific grandmother to my son. When I gave birth to Vlamdir, I breathed a sigh of relief. Nikolai somehow managed to be so infuriatingly caring from the moment I started showing. I thought giving birth would mak

Nikolai I have had very wild thoughts over the course of my life. Carrying out these wild thoughts that I have had were responsible for the way people viewed me, especially Dimitri since he had seen me carry most of them out. Granted that most of them involved ending lives, death threats and creative ways of delivering dead bodies that did not involve a body bag, I have established a reputation for having the wildest thoughts. I lived to see just how much I could shock people. So, I am very immensely pleased when Dimitri asks me to repeat myself. “I intend to propose to Vera.” I say with a smile on my face. Dimitri waves his hand in front of his face, pulls out one of the chairs in my office and settles in it. “That is not what I am talking about and you know that. Where do you want to propose to her?” He questions like I did not tell him my answer like five seconds ago. “In the dark room.” It was not always as dark as it sounds, it could look nice if I wanted it to. “And y

Vera I could live happily without seeing certain things. I would have lived very happily without ever having to know that Katya had been hurt or watching my father slowly die or without witnessing the end of the world, not that I am about to. But it is becoming increasingly harder to tell if by some wild coincidence I could walk into my house one day and witness what it was like for the world to end. That is not what happens right now though. I simply just walk in on Konstantin kissing Irena. They are so deep into the kiss I am five seconds from tapping on their shoulders to politely ask them to use the guest room if they did not have the patience to wait till they got to Irena’s apartment. But I think I would prefer if the world would end so I did not have to do that to my mother-in-law. While the end of the world would have shocked me and caused me to die tragically, this scene just made me smile. It was about damn time. “Oh for the love of God, Konstantin remove your tongue fr

Nikolai “Vera called to say that she would stay in her father’s house for a while.” Irena says the second I walk into the door. “I knew you’d wonder where she was and I didn’t want you to worry.” I clench my fist. Vera would never leave me. I should know that much. I have already claimed her as mine. But it did not mean that she understood that fact. “Did she say why?” “No, but…” Irena shakes her head and does not proceed. “But?” I question her further. What was going on that no one was telling me about? “Vera should be the one to tell you.” I stand there slightly confused. “Hurry up, she’s probably waiting for you.” I am out the door and walking into the threshold of her father’s house in record time. I would have taken less time if it was not for the guards that stopped me at the gate. It had not taken long for them to recognize me, given the mask I still wore. I reach new levels of anger as soon as I find Vera. I find her sitting on the floor, with tears in her eyes. “Kto