Page 91 of Twisted Princess

“Your daughter’s safe,” he assures me. “Silvia and Pyotr are watching her.”

I never doubted that Gleb left her in good hands before coming to get me. I see how good he is with Gabby. How much he cares.

But it doesn’t escape my notice that he still called her mine.

Does that mean he doesn’t want to claim her as his daughter?

The possibility cuts me to the quick.

Turning my gaze toward the windshield, I take a moment to consider how I should proceed. Do I challenge him directly? Insist that we address the matter? I can’t keep living in this horrible state of limbo. It’s slowly killing me to continue waiting and wondering about how he might feel.

I love Gleb.

I love him desperately and without question.

But if he doesn’t want to be Gabby’s father, then I have to face the fact that he’s not the man for me.

And that realization is almost more terrifying than not knowing where he stands.

We drive in silence for so long, it feels as though we’ve spent all the oxygen in the cab.

Finally, I can’t take it any longer.

“We should talk about the letter,” I murmur, my eyes dropping to my hands. They fidget anxiously with the gauzy layers of my too-white dress.

“I agree,” he says evenly, turning the steering wheel a moment later to pull onto a quiet street.

He parks, and my stomach jolts as I realize we’re actually doing this.

No more hiding, no more running, no more secrets. No more lies.

It’s time to put it all on the table. And see if our relationship survives.

“I wasn’t sure if you would come for me this time,” I admit, too nervous to meet his eye. “I… I know I wrote a lot of the same things in this letter as I did… when I told you goodbye the first time.”

Gleb is so silent, so still, it makes my heart flutter, and my palms start to sweat. I wipe them nervously on the gauzy fabric of my dress. And though I’m terrified of what I’ll find when I look at him, I can’t avoid it any longer. Slowly, I turn my head, lifting my chin until I meet his startling green eyes.

Electricity jolts through my core, warming my body instantly, and I try to ignore the butterflies that burst to life in my stomach.

“I couldn’t think of a better way to communicate what had happened,” I whisper, unable to speak louder without giving myself away. “I thought… maybe, if I said the same thing as last time, you would guess that I went back to Boston. I hoped that you might know where I was, at least.”

I take a deep, shuddering breath and rush on before my courage leaves me completely. “I’m so sorry, Gleb. I just… I got worried when you didn’t come home. And then, someone knocked and told me he was one of your men. That you were hurt and had sent him to get me.”

Pressing my palms to my cheeks, I shake my head in disbelief at my own naivete. “I was so stupid. And I know you told me not to answer the door for anybody, but at that moment, I completely lost my head. And by the time I realized my mistake, they were already inside the apartment. They t-tied me up and t-told me that they planned to kill you as soon as you came home. The letter was the only way I could think of to protect you.”

Remorse creases Gleb’s brows as they press together in genuine concern, and he almost starts to reach for me, but then he hesitates. And seems to think better of it.

He lets his hand fall.

And the absence of his touch rips through me like a blade. I want it so desperately, a knot forms in my throat.

“I’m sorry, Mel. You shouldn’t have had to protect me at all. I didn’t keep you safe like I promised. I should have known my brothers could—and would—kill any men I had watching the condo…” He shakes his head, letting it hang as his sentence trails into grief.

Tears flood my vision as my mind turns to Lev and Denka. Two such brave, loyal men. They were there from the start. They helped Gleb save me from Mikhail on multiple occasions. And again, they stepped up when he needed their help protecting me from the Kellys.

They would do anything for Gleb.

And it breaks my heart to know that they died for me.

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