My stomach churns and my pulse is sickeningly fast as he takes a seat across from me at the round table, his eyes filled with a darkness I can no longer convince myself stems solely from my imagination. No trace remains of the tender, seductive man I spoke to for so many hours over video, a man who was so open about his feelings for me. In his place is a beautiful, terrifying stranger, his face taut with fury.
The worst part is I have no idea what Iâve done, what happened to upset him so. Was it what Slava said? Or my clumsy suggestion that he praise the boy forâ
âYou lied to me, zaychik,â he says in a lethally soft tone, and my heart plummets to my feet.
I was wrong.
This has nothing to do with Slava.
Itâs infinitely worse.
I gulp in a breath. âNikolai, Iââ
He holds up a hand, then opens a laptop that I just now notice is on the table. âWatch this,â he orders, turning the screen toward me.
I watchâand what I see turns my blood to icy slush.
Itâs me, that day in Boise.
The day they openly shot at me.
Thereâs nothing more damning that Nikolai couldâve come across, no incident that speaks more clearly of the danger I pose to his familyâa danger I havenât let myself think about in any real way, focusing instead on my situation, my survival. Itâs only now, with that grainy video in front of me, that I comprehend just how thoughtless, how selfish I have been.
I have two violent killers after me, and here I am, playing dress-up in the clothes he bought for me, pretending Iâm safe in a compound he built for his son, a bright, sweet child Iâve already grown to adore.
A child whoâs in danger every second Iâm here.
Iâd blocked that out of my mind somehow, along with the crushing terror of that day, but I can do so no longer. Trembling, sick inside, I rise to my feet. âNikolai, Iâm so, so sorry. Iâll leave. Iâll go right nowââ
âSit.â His voice is even softer, a frightening contrast to the savage ferocity in his eyes. âYouâre not going anywhere.â
âButââ
âSit.â
My knees buckle underneath me, obeying his command.
He leans in, his gaze pinning me in place. âI want the truth. The full truth. Understand?â
I nod, even though Iâm crumbling on the inside, all my hopes and dreams crashing around me.
I will tell him.
I will tell him everything.
After all the lies, he deserves the truth.