Page 75 of Unleashed

Grandfather is the first to get to his feet, his hand gripping his cane, serious eyes on Rafail. Uncle Eduard stares at him, but when he opens his mouth to ask questions, Rafail shakes his head. “Not now. You and your wife are free to do what you please, but since your sons have vowed themselves to me, they’ll go where I tell them.”

Gleb and Matvei follow wordlessly. It is a seamless execution, as no one questions Rafail’s instructions. Semyon, his cold, calculating eyes laser-focused on making sure we evacuate promptly, is shoulder to shoulder with Rodion, who looks as ifhe’s ready to toss a hand grenade or launch himself headfirst into an oncoming cavalcade.

Rafail doesn’t leave my side. Zoya, however, has gone white as a sheet.

“Where are we going, Raf?” she asks, her wide eyes troubled. She grips the back of the chair as though it’s grounding her in place. It isn’t the first time she’s faced fear like this, I know.

It isn’t the first timeIhave.

But when Rafail leans close to her, he drapes his arm around her and holds her. “You have to trust me, Zoya. I won’t let anyone hurt you—not ever. As long as I’m here, I’ll make sure you’re safe.” He pushes a stray lock of hair behind her ear, gentling his voice while the rest leave quickly, wordlessly. He’s taken a moment in the midst of chaos to soothe his sister’s fears. God, I love him for that. “Can you do that for me?”

She nods. “Of course I can, yes,” she says.

I reach for her hand. “Stay with me. You’ll be alright, sweetheart. I have it on good authority your brother bought me a new pressie, and for some reason, I have a feeling I’m anexcellentshot.”

She smiles at me, even as her lower lip trembles. Rafail pays the waitstaff with a flourish of bills, then leads the evacuation. At the exit, a team of sleek, gunmetal gray cars purr at the curb, uniformed men waiting for us. Zoya and I look to Rafail at the same time.

“Go,” he says quietly. “Trust me.”

If I have to trust him, then why doesn’t he meet my eyes?

Is he hiding something? It feels as if I have more questions than answers, and I don’t like it. He wants us to trust him blindly when I’ve never felt more confused.

“This way,” Rafail says, leading me to a car. Zoya gets into a car with her sister and brothers. I hardly see the others as everyone’s quickly leaving. “We’ll see them in a bit.”

Blindfolds rest ominously on the car seats, vivid reminders of our need to trust without question. “We’re going to the Popov safe house,” Rafail explains, his voice calm and controlled as always. “Even I don’t know where it is. We’re all blindfolded, no exceptions.”

My heart beats faster when he places the blindfold around my eyes. “I could have a lot of fun with this, Mrs. Kopolov,” he whispers in my ear, trying to keep things light.

I only swallow and shrug. Something tells me we’re on the cusp of a shift in our relationship. Something’s coming, and it will be big. Maybe even… catastrophic.

“What did he tell you, Rafail?”

Voices sound near us. “Wait. They’re checking to see if our blindfolds are in place. We’ll be recorded on the way in so no one peeks.”

I nod. My mouth is dry.

“And no, Anissa. I can’t tell you what he said, not yet. Please, just trust me.”

I want to trust him. But now, I have no choice. “Alright. Can you give me a hint?”

I hear the depth of his sigh in the silence before his hand reaches for me. Our fingers entwine. “All I can tell you is that we’re in grave danger… all of us. I have questions that need answers before I give you any more details.” The wheels of the car purr beneath us. I can’t see out the window, but I know we’re driving at a breakneck speed. My back is pressed to the seat, my feet glued to the floor.

I nod. “Okay.”

“Tell me this, Anissa.” I feel the reassuring warmth and weight of his hand on my thigh before he continues. “What can you remember? Tell me everything.”

My pulse races. I swallow hard. “Everything?” I ask him.

But what if what I tell him threatens… us? I don’t want it to.

What if I’m…happybeing Anissa Kopolov?

And then he’s drawing me to him. In the dark, both of us blindfolded, we find each other’s hands. “Trust me. Please,” he whispers. “What you know could impact your safety, baby. Please, just trust me.”

Tears wet my blindfold as we careen toward whatever hideout we’ll be in next.

“I know my name’s not Anissa,” I begin in a whisper. “It’s Polina. I know it is. I can hear it loud and clear, and it isn’t just a dream anymore, Rafail. I had…have…brothers. Lots of them. And they were so good to me.” I blink and sniffle. His hand caressing my shoulder slows. “They were protective, yes, like you are with your sisters, but they loved me. I don’t know how I ended up here, and I can’t remember much more about my past. And I… I don’t know who Anissa is.” I shake my head. “But I’m not her.”

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