I opened my mouth to retort but realized she was right. Gavril was keeping those girls safe.
“This life you find yourself in,” Inessa said after a moment. “It’s reality. It’s not a fantasy where you will be kept away from the horrors of what your husband deals with. You will need to face it head on, Naomi. And find the strength to get through it.”
What Inessa didn’t realize was that I had already seen some of the horrors of Gavril’s work, and there was no way I could ever push that from my mind.
The other woman reached over and patted my hand, sympathy in her depths. “And with you being pregnant, the game has changed. I just hope it’s for the best.”
Surprise filtered through my expression. “How did you know?”
“A mother always knows.” She winked. “One day, you will know as well.”
“It was unexpected,” I told her, though deep down I knew it had always been Gavril’s plan. I didn’t want her to think of me as the brood mare that I felt like I was to the man I had somehow lost my heart to.
“They always are,” Inessa said with a knowing smile. “Prepare yourself, Naomi. You will have some harsh days ahead.”
I drew in a breath, unsure if I even wanted to continue at this point. My life with Gavril was on some precarious edge before toppling over a cliff and into the abyss below. Whatever feelings we had found for each other had been lost the day I had witnessed his cruelty on the docks, but that didn’t stop the fact that I was pregnant.
One day I would have his heir, be the mother of his child.
Was he already making plans to get rid of me when that happened? I hoped not. How I was going to survive the rest of my life with him, I didn’t know, nor did I know if he wanted me around, truly. He had brought me here, yes, and showed me a side of him that I didn’t know existed, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
Inessa’s words and her thoughts were a harsh reminder that I was still walking a thin line with Gavril. Whether he had brought me here to show me what my future might be or to worry about the futures of these precious girls, I wasn’t sure.
But he had a reason.
He always did.
“Remember what you are fighting for,” Inessa said as she picked up her mug. “You are fighting for that child inside you, and if I am reading you correctly, the love you have found for the pakhan. You might be the reality that changes him for good, Naomi. Don’t forget that.”
Her words died as the girls came into the kitchen and I met Gavril’s gaze. He looked relaxed, his hands in his pockets and his eyes watching my every move. Would he care that Inessa knew who I was? I wasn’t about to tell him or say anything about this conversation.
“Are you ready?” he asked, pushing away from the doorframe. “We need to get back.”
Inessa stood when I did, her hands on her daughters’ shoulders. “Thank you, pakhan. Girls, tell him thank you.”
“Thank you, Gavril,” they both murmured, inclining their heads toward him as a show of respect.
He held out his hand to me and I took it, feeling the warmth of his skin against mine. “Thank you for taking care of my beautiful wife, Inessa,” he stated, tucking my hand into the crook of his arm. “I hope that you will bring the girls for a visit. I know Sveta grows weary of my company.”
“Never,” I murmured, giving him a look of total adoration for the girls’ benefit. I wanted to tell them that they should go for the person that made them happy and find a man that couldn’t live without them.
But knowing what Inessa said, how their futures weren’t quite their own, her words echoed in my head.
A thousand years of suffering flow in our veins, and every generation must know its due.
Gavril’s eyes widened just a hair at my reaction, his hand coming up to cover my own, and for a moment, I was lost in his touch. Why couldn’t it be different between us?
Because it couldn’t be. Gavril was not the man I wanted for myself. He wasn’t the man I had imagined in my girlish fantasies, the one that would adore me for the rest of my life.
My dreams were crushed. Inessa was right. I needed to face my reality and find the strength to get through it.