Page 20 of Deceitful Promises

CHAPTER 10

ANIA

Maybe it was the story Aiden told me about her past, the prostitution and the beating, but I wasn’t expecting Mom to look so glamorous. It makes sense if she’s married to a super-rich guy. She’s lean and tall, with high cheekbones and gorgeous hair curled into an intricate pattern. She wears a long, flowy red dress. She looks like a princess.

“Ah, good, you’ve already met,” Aiden’s dad says, putting his arm over my mother’s shoulder. “I’m Theodore, by the way, but my friends call me Teddy. Molly, this is, well, there’s no use in beating around the bush. This is your daughter, Anna.”

“Ania,” I mutter, but I don’t think he hears.

Aiden is leaning against the wall, off to the side, watching with a tight expression on his face.

“Anna?” Mom says. The tone of her voice immediately tells me that Aiden lied. Helied. She didn’t know I was coming. “My … my … but what about her brothers? What about the Sokolovs?”

“Molly, this is agoodthing.”

When Theodore tries to touch Molly’s arm, she waves her hand, swiping him away as she starts to pant. She looks shocked as she stares at her husband. She doesn’t glance my way again, actively avoiding looking in my direction. Panic starts to hammer in my chest, wrapping around me like a coarse rope. I try to stay calm, but then Molly pushes Theodore away.

“She has to go,” my mother says, sounding like she’s finding it difficult to breathe. “She can’t … You don’t understand. Where are herbrothers?”

“You don’t need to worry about her brothers,” Theodore says. “She’s here to be with you. Your Anna.”

“Her name’s Ania, Dad,” Aiden growls.

For a second, I’m almost grateful, but why should I be? He’s the one who lied to me. He’s the one who made me believe my mom would be happy to see me.

“Her name is Anna,” Theodore says. “Your Anna, Molly. Your baby girl.”

“Sh-she has togo.”

My mother turns and walks away, almostrunning, honestly. I stare at her back. For a moment, I wonder if I’m about to cry, panic, or have a meltdown. It’s like somebody has injected me with a numbing agent. There’s nothing. There’s just emptiness. She slams a door, and then Theodore looks at his son, me, and then back at his son.

“I told you,” Aiden snaps. “It’s too much to spring on a person. She needed a warning.”

“I didn’t think?—”

“That’s the problem, Dad,” Aiden snarls. “You don’tthink.”

Aiden walks toward me, leaving his dad to gape at me. He reaches out as if to touch my arm. I say in a cold voice, “Don’t touch me.”

He takes a step back. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

“She just needs time to calm down,” Theodore says.

“Maybe she does, but what are we supposed to do? Wait here until she’s ready? Ania, it’s time to leave.”

“I don’t care what we do,” I tell him honestly.

We return to the elevator, and I stare at the wall. I feel the panic trying to rise inside me, a small voice screaming, but I can push it down. Aiden is looking at me. His gaze is moving up and down like he’s searching for something and trying to figure out a way to make this better.

“Are you taking me home now?” I ask.

“Molly might just need time. You heard what happened to her. She’s going to be shocked.”

“You said she knew.”

Ding, the golden doors open onto the marble lobby. The sun has come out, and the lobby is flooded with light. It seems depressing somehow, all this light. Aiden walks by my side as I head for the door. I don’t realize how desperately I need fresh air until I’m standing on the street, sucking in big gasps. Then Aiden’s hand is on my shoulder. I try to push him away, but I need him there. Otherwise, it feels like I’ll fall.

“Why did you say that?” I mutter as he leads me down the street toward his car.

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