Page 151 of Blood Mosaic

It wasn’t that he was afraid of Zara, but he was afraid for Tatyana. He had no idea how she’d react to her sire’s presence, and he didn’t want to take a chance.

The gold was here. Zara didn’t really have any interest in Tatyana from what little he’d gathered on the phone the night before.

Perhaps heshouldload Tatyana on the plane and fly her to the citadel.

“Put a weeks-old newborn in a metal tube flying through the sky, piloted by humans,” Oleg muttered. “A brilliant idea.”

Tatyana would stay with him. For as long as it took to take care of Zara, Tatyana would stay with him. It was a strategic decision. Simply strategic.

Chapter Forty-One

“Sevastopol?” Tatyana felt her heart freeze. “My mother?—”

“Is safe. Vera is glued to her, and I’ve sent guards to check on her; she’ll be under surveillance until I deal with Zara.” Oleg was sitting behind his desk, looking every bit like the dictator that he was. “And you will stay inside the house until I find her.”

She blinked. “You’re locking me inside?”

“For your own good.” His tone was condescending, and it made her want to scream. “Zara doesn’t have a large fighting force. She’ll look to pick off isolated vampires when she attacks the house, and you’re the most vulnerable right now.”

“Are you sure it wouldn’t be better to—” Tatyana clamped her mouth shut.

Oleg narrowed his eyes. “What were you going to say?”

“I was going to say that the gold is hers and you should just give it to her, but then I remembered what Elene’s body looked like tied to that chair and I want to kill Zara again.”

Oleg smirked, and it did nothing to tamp down Tatyana’s fury. She just wanted to slap him when he looked like that.

“Good,” he said. “I like this attitude. I told you from the beginning, I like to see your teeth.”

“But I’m not staying in the house.”

“I will lock you in your quarters if I have to.”

“Fuck you!” Tatyana jumped to her feet and started to pace. “Is this because you don’t trust me?”

He raised his eyebrows. “You said yourself that you love her.”

“I don’tloveher,” Tatyana snarled. “I love—” She bit her tongue to silence herself.

Oleg cocked his head, watching her with narrowed eyes, but he said nothing.

“I don’t love Zara.” She let out a slow breath. “And I want to call my mother. I want to talk to her. Right now.”

“Ah.” Oleg nodded as if he understood.

He understood nothing.

“Mika said he was getting me a phone and a computer that I could use,” she said. “Where is he?”

“On his way back from Moscow right now, and I imagine he’ll have your devices with him.”

“Good.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she paced.

Oleg was sitting calmly behind a vast dark wood desk that shone in the gold lamplight. His office was lined with bookshelves, but his desk was immaculate with a single black rotary phone on the corner and a leather portfolio to his right.

She wanted to throw the phone across the room, tear the portfolio with her teeth, and then fuck him on the top of that clean, shiny, civilized desk.

His voice was smoke and whispers. “What are you thinking of right now?”

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