Page 104 of Crowned

I blink more tears from my eyes, waiting for his recriminations, but all he does is rock me in his arms, murmuring his thanks that he found me. He helps me over to a bench and I sit down.

A few minutes later, I hear more running feet, so fast that it seems as though the person is running for his life.

When Kirill appears and skids to a halt, there is terror in his face. White flesh and wide, black eyes. His fear makes me sick at myself.

The world lurches beneath me.

I took his baby away from him.

Did I not think that these men would feel as I would feel if they tried to run with her?

Kirill kneels down next to me, his gaze intent on the sleeping child. His eyes are so dilated that there are almost no irises, and he’s breathing so fast.

Tears spill down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Kirill,” I whisper. It’s all I can say, over and over. “I’m so sorry.”

He touches Viktoria’s cheek, and then mine. “You are all right. You and the baby. You’re safe.”

“You’re not angry with me?”

He shakes his head dazedly and struggles to get his breathing under control. “Just tell me if you want to run. We will go anywhere,detka. All of us. We will run with you.”

I nod rapidly, my throat locked up tight. “I will. I promise.”

Konstantin comes running in, and the moment he sees me between Elyah and Kirill, his footsteps slow and he passes a hand over his face. It’s not fury in his eyes when he finally meets my gaze.

It’s relief. Or is it disappointment?

He stands there for a long time, drinking in the sight of me and the baby as if he’s afraid we’ll evaporate into thin air.

When he draws closer, he asks the question that I don’t want to answer. “Why,malyshka?”

I take a shuddering breath. “I was so afraid that I’d made a mistake in trusting you all. I didn’t think what losing her would mean to you all.”

“No. Not why did you run. Why did you stay? Why didn’t you get on a train?”

I blink up at him. “What?”

Konstantin reaches for my hands and squeezes them. “I want to believe it’s because this time, at last, you couldn’t leave us. Am I right?”

I gaze down at Viktoria. “I don’t know. I told you, I don’t know if we deserve our happy ending.”

Konstantin hunkers down before me. “I have been hiding something from you,malyshka. We all have. I thought you wouldn’t have to know, but…” He thinks hard and then looks at the other two. They both nod. “Tomorrow you will be going somewhere.”

I frown at him. “You’re sending me away?”

“Yes. You’re going on a trip.”

I hold Viktoria tighter against my chest, fear flashing through me that we might be separated. “I’m not going anywhere without my baby.”

“The baby will never leave your side. She is always yours.” Konstantin helps me to my feet. “But that is tomorrow. For now, you need to go to bed and rest. You and Viktoria.”

* * *

At just afternine in the morning, the baby and I are being driven along a narrow, country road through rolling hills. The driver of the Mercedes-Benz has left the city far behind us, and I have no idea where we are. Quaint village names appear on signs and vanish behind us.

My driver is a British woman, and she chatters away to me with a smile on her face, telling me how adorable Viktoria is and that she can’t wait to have children of her own. Her name is Juliet, and I love her laugh, though it’s hard for me to relax and chat with her when I have no idea what’s going to happen today.

Konstantin, Elyah, and Kirill all sent me on my way with such somber expressions, but Elyah assured me that we would all see each other again very soon.

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