Page 56 of About Love and Revenge

“I don't think she'll listen to me.”

“Put her on the phone.”

“I will try . . .”

“Give her the fucking phone, Grigori.”

It seems like an eternity before I finally hear her voice. “Odin?” I can feel her insecurity in that one word.

“Elina, I need you to listen to me. You cannot stay there. I want you to go with Grigori to my apartment. I'll be there in no more than two hours.”

“I don't want to leave here. I don't know if I can trust this man.”

“You have my word that you can trust him. Now do what I'm asking. I will see you soon.”

She takes a while to answer but finally says, “I'll wait for you.”

“I'll enjoy having you waiting for me. Now tell me if you're hurt.”

“No . . . I don't think so. Except that my face is burning.”

“Pack a bag and go to my apartment. I'll meet you in a little while.”

“Okay.”

“Can you hand the phone back to Grigori?”

She doesn't say goodbye, which shows me how shaken she is. Despite her temper, Elina always behaves like a lady.

“Make sure she arrives safely at my house. Have them check it first. Then place men not only at the entrance of the building but also at the door of my private elevator and stairs. Put fucking Spider-Man guarding the windows if you have to, but no one shall approach her again.”

Elina

CHAPTER TWENTY

I've been driftingbetween dozing off and waking up for hours now.

It's a much more psychological tiredness than a physical one. Apart from the scratches on my face, nothing hurts. It's inside my head that I'm freaking out.

In silence, I hide all my dread.

From the moment I realized that there was someone in my house, until the moment the other security guards arrived, I felt very scared, because it was the first time that someone had pointed a gun at me.

I grew up watching my father shoot. He's always loved guns, and I know how deadly they can be. All that man had to do was unlock his gun and my life would have come to an end. And I still haven't experienced anything.

Despite being terrified, I fought.

One of our island bodyguards once told me, when I was still a teenager, that no matter what, I should never let the kidnapper take me, because if he did, my chances of surviving would be zero.

That's why I started struggling with all my might. It happened very fast, but at the same time, it felt like the scene was unfolding in slow motion. One second they were trying to take me away, the next, severalof Odin's men entered the apartment. I think I was in shock when the man who introduced himself as Grigori arrived.

I don't know what we talked about. The last thing I really remember is Odin telling me to come here, to his house.

Only, now my adrenaline has dropped and the fear has returned with everything else.

I'm all alone.

Not the freeing kind of alone. I have no one.

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