I love her.
The thought makes me grin like a lunatic.
The meeting goes well, and I drive back to Andrius’ place excited to share the news with Dasha.
I park the car and walk to the house swinging the keys in my hand. When I step into the kitchen, I realize something is wrong immediately. Dasha is sitting at the table, red-eyed and my laptop is open in front of her. Mrs. Imanovich has a horrible grin stretched across her vile features.
I want to slap it from her.
My stomach sinks at the laptop in front of Dasha. I curse myself for using something as stupidly simple as my birthdate as my passcode to unlock the screen.
“So it seems Jasper had some people come to check the house to see about putting cameras in.” Dasha’s voice is cold and hard.
Oh shit. I know where this is going. I hadn’t taken the cameras out as I’m still checking on Jasper to make sure he’s not planning any nefarious shit against Dasha.
“It seems there are cameras already there, though. Have been for some time. At first, Jasper thought, who could have put cameras in our house? But then he quickly realized it had to have been you.”
I turn to her mother. “Leave us please.”
“No. You’ve turned my daughter’s head and ruined her marriage. I won’t leave.”
I advance on her, and the woman has enough sense to back up. “Fucking leave this room now, or so help me God, I’ll take you and show you that feeding someone to the fishes isn’t merely a euphemism.”
She pales and looks to her daughter, but Dasha shakes her head. “Go, Mother. Give us some privacy.”
She huffs and puffs, but she leaves the room.
I sit at the table and look at Dasha. “Yes, I put cameras in your house. After I saw you at the ballet, I realized something wasn’t right between you and Jasper.”
“You’re worse than him,” she says so quietly I strain to hear it.
Is she fucking insane? I scoff at her. “Oh, yeah, cause I’m the one who leaves you lying in garbage.”
“No, you’re the one who made me love you,” she says with tears sparkling in her beautiful eyes. “I loved you, Bohdan. I never truly loved him, not the way I have you. And for the second time, you betrayed me.”
“I didn’t betray you,” I tell her. “I saved you. I only wanted to save you.”
I turn to the side, raking my hand through my hair in exasperation and see the packed bags. What the fuck? “Where are you going? Back to him?”
“Do you take me for someone so pathetic that’s what I’ll do now? Run back to my abuser?”
I don’t speak. I’ll most likely say the wrong thing. “So where?”
“Russia. With Mother.”
I shake my head and laugh. So that fucking cunt wins again.
“What?” Dasha demands.
“Your mother is poison. Utter poison.”
“What she did to you was unforgiveable, but she’s still my mother, and right now I have nowhere else to go.”
“Dasha, I don’t want you to go.” I shake my head and fuck me, but I think I’m going to cry. I never cry. I stopped crying when my father was killed by my uncle for beating me within an inch of my life. “I’ve been in a meeting all morning. I have suppliers sorted for uniforms for your school. K and Andrius say we can have the land to the back of the property for it. We can build a life here, a good life.”
“A life built on lies.” She wipes at the tears pouring down her cheeks.
“No. Fuck, does it matter? I forgave you when I thought you had me burned and beaten. Can’t you forgive this?”
“Were the threats even real, or did you write those?”
I don’t answer, but I know my face must say it all.
“Bohdan, don’t you see how fucked up it is?”
Maybe it is fucked up, but I saved her, didn’t I? I saved my beautiful jewel from a life where she was forced to lie in the fucking garbage.
There’s a knock at the door, and I go to open it to see K standing there, looking upset and concerned. “You ready?” he asks Dasha. She nods and shouts for her mother.
“What the fuck? You? You’re driving her out of here? Fuck you, you fucking piece of shit. You’re supposed to be my friend.”
“Watch it, Bohdan,” he warns, the bossy bastard.
I laugh. “Erm, you’re not my boss anymore. We’re partners now. So go fuck yourself.”
Dasha storms out of the room, shouting up the stairs for her mother.
“Listen.” K lowers his voice. “She asked me to run them to the airport. She was upset, very fucking upset. It’s all come out, hasn’t it? You need to give her some time. You can’t keep her here as a prisoner. This way, I’ll see them to the airport and find out whereabouts they plan to be. Ilya says he’ll keep an eye on her out there. I already called him for you. I’m trying to help.”
Dasha comes back and pushes past me, Mr. Bojangles in her arms. Her mother gives me an evil smirk, and it takes all my willpower not to bash her head in.
“You kept Cassie against her will.” I push K hard enough he goes back on his heels and wobbles for a moment. He stares at me, the muscles in his jaw working.
Then he turns to walk to the car, and I lose it. I rush him, body slamming him against his Merc. He turns and punches me in the side, quick and controlled. I want more, though. Physical pain is better than this soul-deep ache. I punch him twice in the stomach, and then I hit his face. He stares at me, shock in his gaze.
For a moment, I see it. The second he struggles between the instinct to fight back and his better nature. His better nature wins out, and he shakes his head. “I’m not going to fight you, Bohdan. You’re like a brother to me.”
He was like a father to me. He’s not old enough to be one, but it’s how I viewed him in many ways, and now he’s driving away the only thing I truly love. The only thing I want.
“Fucking coward,” I spit out. Then I hit him again. Dasha screams as K piles into me, his restraint finally snapped.
Good, I think, as he punches me. More.
I get two jabs in, but he hits me in the side and I swear I feel something crack. Fuck, I think he broke a rib. I swipe his legs from under him, and he goes down. He might be big, but I spent years fighting on the streets. I raise my leg to aim a kick at him, but I stop when I see Cassie running toward us, her face horrified.
I look down at K and realize I was about to kick the man I fucking hero-worship as he lay on the ground. Fuck. I’ve lost it. Dasha has made me lose it completely. Maybe she ought to go?
Not able to look at K another minute, and not sure what I can say, I turn and walk into the house, slamming the door behind me. I hear the car a few minutes later, so he must be okay enough to drive.
Shit, it hurts to breathe.
The door bursts open, and Andrius storms in like a tornado. He stares at me. “What the fuck? I’ve got Cassie in hysterics saying you and K have just gone at it.”
“He’s driving Dasha to the airport,” I explain.
“So? She asked him to, said she’d take a cab otherwise. Wouldn’t you rather her go with him?”
“No, I’d rather he didn’t betray me by driving her away from me.”
“Bohdan.” Andrius sits at the table and sighs. “You can’t make her stay or keep her here like some pet if she doesn’t want to be here.”