“I won’t push you,” Mom goes on softly.
“Thank you.”
“But if you tried a little something, I wouldn’t be mad.”
I pick up a grape and pop it into my mouth. Mom smiles, then looks over my shoulder at the doorway. “Ah, Henry!”
“My brother?” I say. Suddenly, the events of last night don’t seem so bad.
A nice-looking woman carries the baby through, handing him to Molly. He’s the cutest little bundle ever. Mom leans over. “Ania, this is your baby brother. Henry, this is your big sister. Do you want to hold him?”
“What if I drop him?”
Mom laughs, “You won’t. Anyway, babies are tough. Kidding!”
She makes me laugh, and it feels so good, so easy. “Okay …”
When she hands him to me, I gently cradle him to my chest. His eyes are closed, but then he opens them, and I’m sure he smiles.
“He recognizes you already,” Mom says sweetly.
“Do you think so?”
“Definitely.”
“Can I give him a kiss?”
“I bet he’d love that.”
I lean down and gently kiss him on the forehead. He makes the cutest cooing noise ever.
“See, you’re a natural,” Mom says.
I gently rock him, and then Aiden walks onto the balcony. He’s back to being detached, not even looking at me as he says, “It’s time to go. Your brothers are waiting, Ania.”
“Can’t she finish her breakfast?” Mom asks.
I gently hand Henry back to her without looking at her. “It’s fine.” I don’t look at Aiden either as I walk back inside glumly.
We drive in the middle of many other cars, just like we often do back home when Mikhail or Dimitri have a job to do and need to beef up security. I made a point of sitting in the back as Aiden drives. Maybe it’s petty, but I don’t know how to act after last night.
“How are you feeling?” Aiden asks after a long silence. We’re driving toward the outskirts of the city. It feels like the buildings are getting shorter and shorter.
“I just hope we can all get along.”
“Hmm.”
“What’shmmabout that?”
“It’s naive, Ania,” he says bluntly. “I broke into your compound. I took you. They’re not going to be happy.”
“Don’t worry. They won’t hurt you.”
He sighs tiredly. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
I fold my arms, ignoring the implication in his words. The message is clear.Theyneed to worry abouthimhurting them. The closer we get, the more I think about my mom, Henry, and the kiss. Somehow, in the space of a day and a night, I’ve got a bunch of reasons to want tostaywith my kidnapper.
Finally, we arrive at a waterside bar. Three cars pull up, and several men walk out, all wearing dark suits.