Page 157 of Crave

Mikhail

I don’t know the details. I have to go get him. There’s a contact there who gave me the info and date.

Me

He’s being released?

Mikhail

Not exactly…

My heart racesin my ears reading his texts. I have so much to do to get ready for him to come home!

There’s tons of housework, and I should buy a new dress to show him.

Running to the bathroom, I make myself lose my breakfast that Sofia made me eat into the toilet.

Catching a look at my reflection, I look the tiniest I have been in a long time, it’s a shame I am so pale.

I need to clean in here too.

Weak and shaking, I look around at the mess I made.

Sheila and Bruce are taken care of, I’ve made a deal with the neighbor to help watch them when I’m too tired to check.

My phone vibrates with another message, but this time it’s Sofia asking if I’m home and hungry.

Not anymore.

Alexei is coming back. I’ll get back on his meal plan once he’s here.

But for now, I have too many things to do than to have her babysit me to eat.

I know she means well, yet it’s hard not to feel embarrassed sometimes that she’s treating me like a child.

Well, not really.

That’s probably just my perception.

I just hate being told I’m doing something wrong. What I eat is the only thing I know how to control.

Alexei is alive. I have to tamp down on my calories and get busy.

CHAPTER 78

ALEXEI

Song, Gasoline, I Prevail

Usingthe trick that the Butcher taught me, I wedge the lock with a pebble, then crawl into my cot to wait.

I hate it. I’d rather be doing something, anything, than nothing.

But after counting my breaths, and losing track, I know that the time has come.

Silently, I push my barred cell open and pull it shut behind me. Keeping mostly against the rail, I’m out of direct line of sight for most of the prisoners in their beds.

When I step around the corner, I hear a sound behind me.

---