“I’m sorry to tell you that Vasily got to her,” Maxim says. “Just a couple of years after she took off.”
Gleb hangs his head, and even from where I’m sitting, I can feel the pain radiating from him. It’s obvious that despite what Ciara did, what they had was real, and Gleb has never gotten over it.
“Vasily did this?” he asks, with a haunting finality.
“Yes,” I answer.
He tilts his head up to meet my gaze. “And what does any of this have to do with you? Why would you betray your uncle to come here with this information? You aren’t even inducted. You owe me nothing.”
He’s suspicious of me, and I can’t say that I blame him. But I lay it all out for him.
“I have a few reasons to care,” I say. “The first being that he murdered my mother, and I suspect my father too. The police said he was mugged, but it just seems too coincidental.”
“And the third reason?” Gleb presses.
I look at Maxim, my chest constricting as I make the biggest gamble I’ve ever made in my life. “They are twofold actually. And I hope you can understand why I’m hesitant to tell you. But what you felt for Ciara? I feel that way about her daughter.”
“Daughter?” Gleb’s eyes shoot up, bouncing between Maxim and me. “What... daughter?”
“I suspect that would be your daughter,” Maxim answers. “Or at least, that’s what I concluded when I saw her with the baby after she ran out on you.”
The room falls silent for a long moment, and I know there’s nothing else I can say right now. Gleb is digesting the information, turning it over in his mind, trying to make heads or tails of it. It’s a situation I can relate to well, considering my own circumstances when I found Kat.
“I find it difficult to believe,” he says finally.
“I thought you might.” I remove the fake driver’s license Kat used in Colorado, sliding it across the bar toward him. “But genes don’t lie.”
His finger moves over her face, examining her, and he shakes his head, his voice fracturing when he speaks. “It’s like seeing a ghost.”
“I can bring her to meet you,” I tell him. “If that’s what you want. I think she has a few things she’d like to tell you herself.”
He downs the glass of vodka in front of him and stares at the wall ahead to hide his emotion. “I would like that very much.”
“I need your assurances that she will be safe,” I tell him. “I intend to make her my wife. And I’m not letting her go.”
Gleb glances at me, and the smallest glimpse of respect flashes in his eyes. He’s not used to anyone speaking to him this way. He gives the orders. He tells other people how things will go. But when it comes to Kat, I’m not willing to concede on this.
“She will be safe,” he answers. “And the other part, well time will tell if you are worthy.”
A grin tugs at my lips, and I nod. “There’s just one more thing we need to discuss.”
“Ah, yes.” He reaches for the bottle of vodka in front of him and pours another glass. “Vasily.”
15
Kat
“Can we swim now, Mommy?”
I turn from the window to find Josh has stripped down to his underwear and is clutching Wally. He’s standing by the door with his hand on the doorknob, and I remember Lev had promised to take him swimming today.
I have to smile when I walk toward him and crouch down so we’re at eye level. I brush hair back from his face and think how much like Lev’s it is. How it constantly flops this way or that no matter what I do with it.
“Why are you in your underwear, Josh? Where are your clothes?”
“Daddy said he’ll take me swimming.”
Daddy. How easily he accepts this. It’s a relief.
“Ah,” I say. “I guess in lieu of a swimsuit, you thought your briefs would do. Smart.”
I ruffle his hair and check the time. Late morning. The minutes are crawling by as I wait for Lev to return, fighting back that niggling thought that he might not return.
“I’ll tell you what, let’s get you dressed because you can’t swim in your undies and Mommy certainly can’t either, so we’ll go down to the gift shop and buy new swimsuits. Would you like that?”
He nods enthusiastically, and I go to retrieve his clothes from the floor of his bedroom. Once he’s dressed, I type out a quick text to Lev.
Me: I’m taking Josh swimming. Don’t worry, we’ll be safe.
I wait, hoping for a response or even acknowledgment that he’s read the text, but I get neither.
“Mommy.” Josh tries the door handle, but it won’t open because of the extra lock.
“All right, all right,” I say, dropping our room key into my purse where the gun I used the other day is. I guess Lev put it back when I didn’t know.
My belly feels tense. I hate this. I hate all of this.
Taking Josh’s hand, I open the door and set the Do Not Disturb sign on the outside of it. I smile at the two housekeepers chatting in the hall as we make our way to the elevator. We’re alone as we ride down to the lobby.
The hotel is busy. There are a restaurant and bar, which I’m sure draws in tourists and guests alike. The energy in the air is one of excitement and fun, but I’m on the outside of that.
Scanning the lobby, I don’t see anyone out of the ordinary, and no one even glances up as we walk through to the gift shop.
I must not be moving fast enough because Josh tugs at my hand and points at the little store. We walk in, and Josh goes directly to the area with floats and pool toys. I follow him and find the rack of swimsuits for kids. The price tags give me pause, but it’s this or our underwear, and I don’t really want to get kicked out of the pool, so I hold up two suits in his size.
“Minions or Marvel?”
“Minions!”
“Minions it is.”
“Mommy?” Josh holds up a pair of floaties with—surprise—minions on them and a ball.
“All right. Why not? Come on, Mommy needs a suit too. I can’t swim in my underwear, can I?”
“No. Silly Mommy.”
I buy the least expensive suit I can find, which still gives me sticker shock at eighty dollars. I hate that Lev will have to pay for these things because I have about twenty-five dollars on me, but I charge it all to our room and ask the girl to cut off the tags before we leave.
Josh happily carries his ball, and I take our bag to head to the pool, which is one floor down. I can already smell the chlorine as the elevator descends, and when the doors open, I find a large indoor pool busy with families with children ranging from babies to pre-teens.
Josh is so excited that he puts down his ball and starts to strip right there.
“Whoa, kiddo,” I tell him, and I have to laugh. “Changing rooms are right there.”
“Okay.” He picks up his ball again, and we go into the changing rooms to put on our suits. I decide to keep the rest of our things in a locker, including the gun in my purse, because with all these families around, there’s no way I’d use it.
Grabbing two towels and Josh’s floats, we head to the pool, and I take a seat to blow up the floats. Once they’re secured around Josh’s arms, he runs and fearlessly jumps into the deep end.