Page 78 of Sinful Betrayal

She nods slightly. “I’ll speak to Emma.”

Something must have happened.

Did she have a falling out with her friends that she doesn’t want to tell me about? Is that why she’s being so vague and quiet?

“I’m going to shower,” she says before I have a chance to ask any more questions.

I step to the side to let her pass, hating how defeated she looks.

I stand at the bottom of the stairs, watching her until she disappears, my heart aching for her.

I hate seeing her so sad, but I don’t know how to cheer her up if she won’t tell me what’s wrong.

Perhaps Yakov overheard something that might give me a clue to Nina’s sudden mood.

I find him in the kitchen, getting a glass of water, his usual scowl plastered on his face.

“Did anything happen at school today? Nina doesn’t seem like herself.”

“No,” Yakov grunts, setting his glass down on the counter.

“You didn’t overhear anything about her classes or friends?”

“She was quiet most of the day.” Yakov shrugs his huge shoulders. “Her friends just talked and talked about nothing of interest.” He looks annoyed by this, but I won’t feel guilty for forcing him to listen to a bunch of twenty-something girls all day, every day. Not when his salary is incredibly generous.

“It might not have been of interest to you, but what of Nina?” I press, growing frustrated.

“They just talked about their night out atEspionageon Friday. Unless you want Emma’s vulgar descriptions of what she did in the toilets, I can assure you, none of it impacted Nina.”

“Something must have happened…” I run my fingers through my hair.

“She went to the bathroom quite a lot,” Yakov grunts. “It’s probably her time of the month.”

I hadn’t thought of that. I’m not used to having a woman around all the time, and I had forgotten such things.

“Yeah, maybe.” I silently curse myself for not stocking the place with the right supplies.

“Do you need me for anything else? Otherwise, Alexei needed me for a job in the city tonight.”

“No, we're all good here.”

Yakov nods before stalking from the kitchen.

Just as he’s walking out, Danika appears carrying a basket of freshly-ironed laundry. She sets the basket down on the table. “Mr. Koslov, can I make you some food?”

“Actually, Danika, would you mind running to the store for me?”

After giving Danika a list of things that Nina might need, including an extortionate amount of chocolate, I start work on dinner. I decide to make chicken parmesan, a recipe that never fails to make me feel better.

My mother always used to make this for me whenever I was feeling down and while I’m aware that food isn’t always the answer, I want to show Nina that I’m thinking about her. Sometimes, it’s enough to know that someone cares, to know that you don’t have to suffer alone.

Danika knows it’s one of my favorites and keeps the ingredients on hand most of the time.

I pull out some chicken breasts from the fridge before heading into the walk-in pantry to find the other ingredients. As I’m butterflying the chicken, a thought hits me out of nowhere, and I almost slice the knife right through my hand as I realize my mistake.

“You idiot, Anton,” I mutter under my breath as our conversation last night comes flooding back to me.

All the things I told her about Igor Ivanov, aboutme…

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