“I know what you were doing out there,” I say, giving her a hard look. If she thinks I’m going to play her games when we’re alone, she’d better think again.
She pats her hair. “What I was doing was looking out for you.”
I chuckle humorlessly. “Is that right?”
“Look,” she says with a sigh. “Alex told me what’s going on when he reached out to me yesterday.”
He went running to her with our problems? I don’t believe that for one second. I study her face in the mirror as I take a tube of lipstick from my bag. “And what might that be?”
“He told me about the shooting in New York. He’s worried.”
“Damn right he’s worried. Someone is trying to kill him.”
She leans her backside against the vanity. “He can take care of himself. He’s worried about you. You’re a weakness.”
I inhale sharply. “I didn’t ask for this to happen.”
“No.” She gives a wry smile. “That much is clear. You’re not here of your own free will. You’re nothing but a prisoner. Sadly, now you’re keeping Alex a prisoner.”
I gape at her. “What?” Has Alex told her he’s all but kidnapped me? Or is she just guessing? And what does she mean by that last bit?
She shrugs. “Alex feels responsible for you. He has to stick around now until he’s certain you’re safe. You’re not doing him any favors by hanging around.”
She is just guessing about my status, I’m almost sure. Either way, I have no reason to hide the truth. “Like you said,” I say, capping the lipstick and dropping it in my bag, “I don’t exactly have a choice.”
“What if you did have a choice?”
I still. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What if you could get away?”
I don’t like the way this conversation is going. “I won’t do that to Alex.”
“Do what? Give him a chance to hunt his attacker without you being a ball and chain? You’re not only hampering his efforts. You’re also significantly reducing his chances of getting out of this alive.”
Clenching my fingers around my bag, I turn to face her. “What are you trying to say, Dania?”
“If Alex were with me, like he’s supposed to be, my father would’ve long since gone after my fiancé’s attacker. By now, the threat to my future husband would be nonexistent.”
My grip tightens. “Bullshit.”
“You don’t realize how powerful my father is.” Her expression is rueful. “It’s safe to say we’re not going to be friends anytime in the future. The one thing we have in common is that we both care about Alex. It’s the only fact we agree on, am I right?”
“Exactly.” I narrow my eyes. “What point are you trying to make?”
“Hanging on to him is a selfish move, Kate. You’re not from our world. I told you that once already, and if you didn’t believe me then, look around you tonight. Look at the people at our table. Do you think you fit in? You can’t even speak our language. If you cared about Alex at all, you’d set him free and let him live the life he’s destined to live, a good and long life. My father can make that happen. Once we announce our engagement, my dad won’t leave a stone unturned to get the man who threatens his future son-in-law and therefore his only daughter’s future.”
“You’re delusional,” I say, making to walk away.
She locks her fingers around my wrist, holding me back. “Is this the kind of life you want? Forever under Alex’s thumb? Doing as he says and only going where he lets you—if he lets you?”
I pull free. “You don’t know anything about Alex and me.”
“And you don’t know how it works in our world, but I think you’re beginning to realize that St. Petersburg isn’t New York. You won’t have a job here and go out to meet friends. Once Alex ties you to him for good, you’ll be like a bratva wife. You won’t have a say. Your opinion won’t matter. You’ll be lucky if you ever see your family again.”
That strikes a nerve, a painful one, but I pull my lips into a mocking smile. “And it will be different for you?”
“It will be, because my father is Mikhail Turgenev, and I’m the sole heir to his business.” Giving me a pitiful look, she asks, “Who is your father?”
The arrow hits me straight in the heart. Not knowing my heritage has never bothered me before, and I hate that this woman has the power to make it matter.
“One more thing you need to know about Alex,” she continues, “is that he doesn’t fall in love. Ever.”
Of everything she’s said, those words hit me the hardest. “You don’t know that.”
My mask must be slipping because her expression turns full of pity. “Why do you think he’s never told you that he loves you?”
Her statement stabs like a knife into my stomach. It takes everything and more not to show her how much it hurts. Lifting my chin, I say in my most confident tone, “You don’t know that either.”
She crosses her arms and cocks a hip. “Oh, but I do darling.” The pity in her regard intensifies. “He told me so himself yesterday.”
If she’d impaled me on a sword, she couldn’t have tortured me more. Not sparing her another glance, I walk out of the bathroom.
Igor and a few guards I don’t know are waiting outside. Dania exits on my heels, smiling as if butter won’t melt in her mouth.
The guards follow us quietly back to the hall. Alex and Mikhail stand when we arrive at our table. Two waiters jump to action, pulling out our chairs. The appetizers have been served. The others wait until Dania and I have been seated before picking up their eating utensils.
“Is everything all right?” Alex whispers in my ear, rubbing a thumb over my shoulder.
A shiver runs down my arm. “Yes.” I force a smile. “Perfectly.”
“I was starting to miss you,” he says in a husky voice.
“Wine?” Mikhail asks.
“Vodka, please,” Dania says.
Feba gives her an approving nod.
Mikhail flicks his fingers, at which a waiter approaches and pours vodka for Dania and wine for me. Mikhail goes on about the sweet wine that’s paired with the starter, but I tune him out. All I can think about is Dania’s cruel words.
There’s a kernel of truth in Dania’s argument. Two, actually.
One: will I forever be Alex’s puppet? He likes being in control. Will he let me have my life back when all of this is over? And two: am I harming Alex by being in his life? Igor implied I was the reason Alex risked our lives by taking me sightseeing. True, Igor believed I’d selfishly asked Alex to take me out, but even though I actually suggested we stay home, Alex still took the risk for my benefit, and that makes me responsible. In an indirect way, my presence is having a negative impact on Alex’s life. What if I am making him weak? What if his obsession with me is making him more of a target?
Throughout the five-course dinner, the questions keep churning in my head. I don’t remember what I eat and drink, or what the women talk about. When it’s time for the keynote speech about nuclear power, Alex considerately translates for me, whispering what is being said in my ear.