Page 60 of Wicked Arrangement

“Please tell them how much I love them, how sorry I am.” She reaches down into her purse, “Here, please give David this phone, I know he wants to talk and that Yaroslav has beenpreventing it. He can call me anytime, my number is in there,” she urges, handing me a cell phone.

“I will, I promise. I will do my best to put you in touch with both of your brothers and help you to mend the broken connection between you. I’m confident that with David it will be easier, he’s already keen to get to know his sister,” I say with a smile.

I don’t add that it’s Yaroslav I’m worried about. What he says goes, if he doesn’t want to let Marta in, or me, it’s going to be difficult to convince him otherwise.

I decide to keep the possible pregnancy to myself for now. I need to know if I want myself and my child to be a part of this family first, and if I do Yaroslav should be the first person to find out.

***

When I return, Yaroslav’s house is quiet and practically empty, only a few maids are milling around the place. Yaroslav and his men must be out working. I don’t want to dwell on what that work might involve, nor do I want to find out if they’re in the hidden room. The less I think about that right now the better. My shoes echo on the newly polished floors as I enter, amazed to find myself back here. If you’d asked me this morning, I’d have told you there was no way I’d run back to the wolf’s den so soon.

My initial resolve to speak with Yaroslav is dampened as I realize I have no idea how long he’ll be out. I was going to wait until after I spoke with him to take the pregnancy test, but now I can’t wait any longer. I need to know.

I hurry upstairs to an unoccupied bathroom, one I know is seldom used, and take the test. I made sure to buy one of the ones that can tell even in the very early stages if you’re pregnant or not. Time seems to stretch out forever as I agonizingly wait for the results. I pick up the test and look at it.

My heart skips a beat when I see the result and all of a sudden, I don’t know how to feel, or what to think. Should I be happy? Sad? Afraid?

Before I can take it in, I hear the front door open and the sounds of people entering. I recognize Yaroslav’s voice.

“Where is she?” he demands.

I don’t hear the response, but I do hear the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs to find me. Quickly, I stuff the test in the wastepaper basket covering it in toilet paper to hide it.

It’s time to face the wolf and find out if I’m a lamb for slaughter.

Chapter 30

Yaroslav

My day has been filled with frustration. I missed Kim at her grandmother’s care home and got caught up there longer than I cared to. I hoped Kim might head straight back home as she claimed she would. but having done some digging with the rideshare company she used, I found out she went back to her old apartment instead. I spoke to Emma before leaving, just in case she was coherent enough to tell me what Kim had talked to her about. I hoped she hadn’t found out David started the fire and that’s not why she went there. Unfortunately, the conversation was a dead end. Emma thought I was someone else, no doubt someone long dead.

When I arrived at Kim’s old apartment, I was too late. Her neighbor Abigail insisted on inviting me in for coffee, again taking up precious time, only to tell me Kim had left a short while ago, heading to the pharmacy for her.

The pharmacy was another dead end. The suspicious prick behind the counter wouldn’t tell me a thing, but if Kim had been there. She wasn’t anymore. After that, I couldn’t find her. I walked around looking for any sign of her, I even went to both of her workplaces in case she’d gone to visit, but no luck. I knew she wasn’t home either since my men were on strict orders to call me the second she arrived. So that left me scouring the city wondering, where the hell she was and why she ran off?

After hours of fruitless searching, I gave up and headed home, planning to enlist more help to widen my search. On thedrive back, my phone rang with the news that Kim had finally returned home. “Good, make sure she doesn’t go anywhere,” I ordered, stepping on the gas.

***

Racing up the driveway, not bothering to shut the car door behind me, I tear into the house. “Where is she?” I demand to the terrified-looking twenty-something manning the door.

Too frightened to speak, he simply points up the stairs. I race up them two at a time and almost collide with Kim as she scuttles out of the seldom-used bathroom. Her eyes widen in surprise and fear when she sees my thunderous expression, she shuts the door behind her and flattens her back against it, trying to create as much space as she can between us. I try to calm myself down, I don’t want to frighten her. I was just so worried about her. Being fearful for someone’s safety is a new experience for me and I don’t like it one bit.

“Where the hell have you been?” I growl.

Kim looks flustered and genuinely scared, more so than I would have expected her to be. She’s seen me like this before and usually, she fearlessly calls me out and doesn’t take any shit. Her eyes well up with tears and I feel like the world’s biggest asshole.

“Did something happen? Are you okay?” I ask, softening my voice.

Big, fat tears burst forth as she breaks down sobbing. I reach out to comfort her and she flinches from my touch. “What’s wrong? Whatever happened we can figure it out together, you’re safe now,” I soothe, fearing that the worst has happened.

“Am I?” she asks, looking up at me with those big, beautiful eyes that melt my ice-cold heart.

“Of course, I would never let anything happen to you, I would never hurt you,” I swear, willing her to believe me.

“But you’ve hurt other people,” she states confidently.

Shit, why is she saying this? How much does she know?

---