Page 2 of Desperate Measures

But I was a fool. Now, I just felt so hollow and empty now.

It was the kind of emptiness that filled you up with the quiet roar of your own mind.

Every thought echoed louder than the last.

Every word uttered reminded me how far apart we really were.

Even though we shared the same space, the same air, lived together for months, I really didn’t know him. Not at all.

I couldn’t even look at him now, because the weight of everything I hadn’t said, everything I couldn’t say, pressed too hard against my chest.

How could you do this to me?

I just felt so stupid.

No, I didn’t wait to hear what he said next. It didn’t matter.

I was already moving, already retreating into the cold comfort of the routine I knew.

I handed my briefcase to one of his guards, a silent gesture that felt automatic, as if I’d done it a thousand times before.

I didn’t need to look at the guard to know that he would take it without question, that he would follow his orders without hesitation.

These men, all of them, were extensions of my husband, and, cheater or not, he wouldn’t ever put me in harm’s way. It was the unspoken order of things.

I was Adrik Volkov’s daughter. And Liam O’Doyle had married me for that reason alone.

I nodded for the guard to lead the way to the car, my steps measured but distant.

The clack of my heels on the icy stretch of sidewalk felt muffled somehow—like I was already walking away from everything.

I sniffed delicately, halting the emotion I refused to allow myself to feel.

I didn’t trust myself to speak anymore, not without the words coming out wrong.

Not without him seeing the cracks in my mask.

I knew he was still watching me. His glittering eyes, so intense, would be fixed on my back. But I couldn’t let that matter right now.

I couldn’t let him see that I was unraveling, thread by thread, under the weight of everything we couldn’t say to each other.

It didn’t matter, anyway. Nothing mattered. Not now. Not while the emptiness inside me was the only thing that felt real.

As the guard closed the door to the SUV after me, I allowed my mind to wander back to when everything I ever cared about was so much simpler.

In that moment, I wondered just how desperate I’d become to allow this all to happen.

And I hated myself for that weakness.

Prologue 2-Michaela

Ten years ago.

“But Dad, I don’t want to babysit tonight! I want to go with you and Mom tonight!” I whined and slumped down harder than I meant to on the cold marble floor.

“Dochen’ka, do not sit so hard,” Dad scolded, his voice stern but also showing compassion.

“Sorry, Dad,” I muttered, knowing how he hated for any of us to hurt ourselves.