Does he mean me? Am I safe with anyone?
He hangs up and punches the wall, making me gasp. He is so caught up in his own head, though, he doesn’t seem to hear me and turns to race down the stairs. I follow, knowing something major is up. He hits the landing and storms into the living room, me on his heels.
Mother looks up in shock as Bohdan rushes to her and hauls her up by her arms roughly.
“Bohdan,” I exclaim.
“Why did you fucking do it?” he demands.
My mother shakes her head, her eyes wide.
“Do you know you could have gotten me killed?”
What the hell is he talking about?
Mother shakes her head again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know, you fucking bitch,” he says.
That’s enough. I cross the room to him and shove him hard. “Let go of her.”
“She’s the one who did it.”
“I haven’t done anything,” Mother says, and I know. Whatever this is about, she’s lying.
“Don’t fucking lie!” Bohdan shouts. “I just found out for sure that you told Igor what my Uncle Roman and I were doing.”
He takes his trousers down, and I have no idea what he’s doing. He takes hold of Mother’s chin and forces her to look at his thighs. “Take a good look at your handiwork. I hope you’re damn proud of yourself.”
She pulls her chin out of his grasp and storms out of the room. A moment later I hear her on the phone. “Jasper, come now. The man you hired isn’t who you think he is; he knows Dasha, from before.”
She hangs up and storms into the room with a triumphant smile.
“You don’t know what you’ve just done,” I say, shaking so hard my teeth chatter. “Mother, seriously, Jasper will send Bohdan away, and then he’s going to kill me.”
“Don’t be dramatic.”
“I’m not! I’ve got to get out of here.”
I head to the door, heart pounding, as I think what I’ll need for a few nights in a hotel. Bohdan says he can get me a lawyer; well, I need him right now. Before I exit the room, I pause and look back at my mother. “How could you?”
She purses her lips and clenches her small hands into fists. “He broke your heart and would have dragged you down into the gutter with him. I did it for you.”
“No, you didn’t. No matter what Bohdan did to me, I’d never have wished that on him.”
Bohdan has fastened his trousers, and he’s staring at my mother with pure hatred. I know, though. Deep down in this moment, I know he won’t harm her despite her evil act. It seems there are people I trust after all, to a degree at least.
“You’re lucky the woman I’ve always loved is your daughter,” is all he says as he brushes past my mother. At the door he adds, “In my world we kill for less.”
I hear him slamming about in the room next to mine. I don’t knock; I just walk in. “What are you doing?” I ask.
“Packing,” he says. “I suggest you do the same. And fast.”
My heart sinks. Although I keep telling myself that I need to be away from Bohdan, the way he’s simply decided to fuck off and leave me hurts. I can’t lie.
“Will you see if you can speed things up with that lawyer?” I ask. “I might need new protection.”
He stops, turns to me, and shakes his head. “You’re coming with me, Dasha.”
What?
“You’re not safe otherwise. Not remotely. I won’t leave you alone to your husband’s tender mercies.”
“Coming with you where?”
“To Corfu. Where my friends are, and where I can keep you safe. And because I’m soft as shit, your Mother can come too. She might think the sun shines out of Jasper’s fucking ass, but we both know he’s going to take it out on her if you’re gone.”
“I don’t think she’ll come,” I tell him.
“Then that’s her choice, isn’t it?”
I can’t simply go to Corfu with him, can I? As the alternative hits me, either staying here for the beating of my life, or hiding in a hotel, terrified every day that this will be the day Jasper will find me, I decide I can. I will.
“Okay, I’ll pack, but we have minutes. He’ll be here any moment.”
“I know,” he says. Bohdan doesn’t seem scared or worried about that, but I am.
As it happens, I’m only halfway packed when heavy footsteps pound up the stairs. Jasper bursts into my room. “What the hell are you doing?” he asks. His face is red, and his breathing is hard.
“Packing. What does it look like?”
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“She’s coming to Corfu. With me.” Bohdan appears in the doorway, and Jasper barks out a surprised laugh.
“I take it you are the mysterious Bohdan from the diaries and not Daniil?”
Bohdan simply shrugs.
“Answer me! You fucking work for me,” Jasper spits.
“Not anymore.” Bohdan smirks.
“Oh, you think she’ll pay you? Guess what? She has no fucking money; it’s all mine.”
Bohdan walks into the room, his steps menacing as he nears Jasper who shrinks back. “I don’t want her money.”
“What do you want then?” Jasper looks between us, and I see the moment it hits him; the understanding of what’s been going on. “Oh. I see.” He laughs. “Well, if you want her dried up, infertile, useless body, you’re welcome to it,” he sneers at Bohdan and then turns hate-filled eyes on me. “Don’t think for one moment you’re getting away with this, you witch. I made you what you are. You’ll have nothing. You’ll be a dried-up old has been, nothing but an empty husk.”
On the word husk, Bohdan ploughs his fist straight into Jasper’s gut. My husband bends over, gasping for air, and I find I don’t care. I don’t give a shit. Even his vile words don’t really hurt me anymore.
Bohdan picks him up and throws him across the room, and Jasper smashes into an antique desk I’ve always hated and splinters the legs.
Jasper explodes! He grabs one of the legs and jabs at Bohdan with it as if he’s trying to stab him. Wow, it took his precious desk breaking to make him fight back. Not me, or me leaving, but his stupid antique fucking desk.
Bohdan laughs and dodges out of the way as Jasper parries, trying to stab him with the pointy end of the broken leg.
“You want to joust? Or is it fence? I don’t know what these posh games are you foppish types play, but I’m down for a bout.” Bohdan dodges again and grabs the other leg, ripping it from the desk like it is made of paper. He puts one hand behind his back and waves the leg in front of him with a flourish. “En guard.”
Jasper falters. He can clearly see that Bohdan doesn’t give two shits about being hurt or hurting Jasper in return, and fear creeps across his face. Something primal within me stirs, and I smile at seeing him like this.
He jabs at Bohdan again, and Bohdan grabs the leg, pulling it out of Jasper’s hand easily. He waves the legs in front of Jasper’s face. “Now what? Do I kill you or is that impolite, what with you not having a weapon now?”