Wait. What?
Lia asked Rai to help her escape Adrian? When the hell was that?
But I can’t ask those questions, because that will give me away as a fraud.
I clear my throat. “I couldn’t escape him.”
“But you were so hell-bent on it.”
“Jeremy,” I blurt. “I can’t leave Jeremy.”
“I understand, but you could’ve at least called or left me a hint.” Her voice lowers some more. “Adrian has been after my neck. He suspects I have something to do with your attempted escape. I told you I don’t want him as an enemy, Lia. That I was helping you because you were on the verge of a breakdown.”
Lia was on the verge of a breakdown when she wanted to leave Adrian. Rai helped her, but she…what? Did she die?
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“Just tell me if Adrian saw Ruslan that day.”
Ruslan is her senior guard. He’s the one who’s standing at the entrance of the balcony to ward off anyone, I assume. It’s the first time I’ve seen his face, aside from his picture in the document.
He must have helped Lia escape on Rai’s behalf, but I have no damn clue if Adrian saw him.
“I don’t remember clearly,” I say vaguely.
Rai grabs me by the shoulder. “Think, Lia. When Adrian was chasing after you that night, you escaped Ruslan. But did Adrian see him?”
“No, I don’t think so.” I’m speaking out of logic alone here, because if Ruslan helped Lia escape and Adrian had seen him, he would be dead by now.
Adrian may be calm, but he’s lethal. He wouldn’t forgive anyone who tries to take his damn precious Lia. Even Rai will be in jeopardy if he finds out about her involvement.
“That’s good.” She releases a breath.
“I’m sorry I got you involved in this,” I shouldn’t be apologizing on behalf of Lia, but she was a selfish woman. Not only did she leave her son behind, but she also got other people involved, knowing full well that Adrian would eradicate them.
I wonder why she tried to escape him. It couldn’t be because she was feeling invisible like me.
For some reason, the knowledge that their marriage wasn’t as solid as I thought relaxes me a little.
I’m such a horrible person.
But even that small relaxation doesn’t last. It doesn’t matter that she tried to escape. Adrian still cares about her. He still dotes on me because he thinks I’m her.
“Let’s go back inside.” Rai smiles at me. “Sergei will call us for dinner any minute now.”
“All right.”
I’m about to leave when I feel eyes watching me. I pause at the balcony and peer down. There are a few guards stationed outside. One of them is Adrian’s driver, who’s smoking a cigarette and talking animatedly with another guard, probably in Russian. They all speak in Russian at the house. Even Adrian addresses them in Russian, unless I’m around. That’s when he switches to English. Jeremy knows a few expressions, too, but I think he still has trouble with mixing both languages together.
I’m about to chalk the sensation I just felt up to paranoia, but my skin prickles again. The feeling is so strong, I visibly shudder.
I search the men standing downstairs for a few more seconds, then my eyes roam over the vehicles parked in the distance. That’s when I see it. A shadow stalking silently between the cars. Only his back is visible as he disappears in the midst of the parking area.
Just like the shadow from my recent nightmare.
My legs shake and my breathing deepens until I’m aware of every inhale and exhale.
It’s paranoia. Only paranoia.
The nightmare was just that. A nightmare. There’s no way a shadow from my subconscious would jump into real life. That must’ve been one of the guards doing his rounds.
My phone vibrates in my small purse and I jump, my nerves getting the better of me.
Only Adrian ever texts me on this phone. Unless it’s Ogla? I told her to call me if something happens to Jeremy.
I retrieve the phone so fast, I nearly drop it.
It’s not Ogla.
A text from an unknown number lights the screen. I click on it, the sense of dread from a few seconds ago gripping me by the throat.
My purse hits the ground as I read the text.
Unknown Number: You have one mission. Pull the fucking trigger.
24
Adrian
Lia hasn’t been herself since we sat down for dinner.
Her body is rigid, and every now and then, a shudder grips her and she drops her fork. Then she picks it up again to drag it through her food. Her hands are moving, but she rarely brings anything to her mouth. Since she came from the streets, meals have been sacred for her.
Not this one.
I knew bringing her here wouldn’t go completely without problems. When I saw her talking with Damien and Kirill earlier, I fantasized about the million ways I wanted to cut both those fuckers’ throats, but I settled with tapping my fingers against my thigh to not show disrespect to Sergei. Or worse, give him an incentive to attack.
He’s been focused on me more than usual tonight, and the last thing I want is to confirm whatever is going on through his head.
Vladimir, who’s now sitting across from me, hasn’t addressed me the entire night. He’s huge, bulky, and has a beard that gives him a scary appearance to the outside world. The only time he speaks more than needed is when Rai is in sight. He pledged to protect her and the Sokolov last name from a young age. That’s basically his driving force, which means he doesn’t concern himself about other matters.
While I haven’t figured out his angle about me, I know his loyalty runs deep for Sergei because of his last name. If the Pakhan gives an order to eliminate me, Vladimir will be the first to make it happen.
At the dining table, there’s an easy chatter in which he doesn’t participate and just nods when Rai whispers something to him. Kyle quickly steals her attention because he doesn’t like her talking to anyone but him.
A small sigh leaves Lia, and even though I make it my mission not to look at her in public, I’m tempted to sneak a peek. It’d be a break in my pattern, something that Vladimir, Rai, and especially that fucker Kirill would notice.
My high alertness about this night is turning me into a paranoid dick, like Mikhail.
In the six years I’ve been married to Lia, I’ve treated her like a stranger in public. Everyone in the brotherhood thinks she means nothing to me, and that the only reason I have a sickly doll-faced woman by my side is because of an unplanned pregnancy.
Sergei didn’t shy away from suggesting that I should leave her—even to her face. That’s why I made use of every chance I had to not bring her here. Sergei and the other elders, Igor and Mikhail, never approved of her unknown origins or her ‘nobody’ status. They preferred I marry Igor’s daughter and procreate to produce a ‘pure’ Russian bloodline.
Their aggression toward her is tangible, that’s why I didn’t want to give them more tangible reasons to act against her. She’s not to draw their attention to herself. At all.
Lia releases a second sigh and I lean in, pretending to grab a piece of bread as I whisper, “What is wrong with you?”