Page 11 of Bluff

Ever since Mikhail kissed me four days ago, he’s been avoiding me. Even on Christmas, he barely acknowledged my presence. I sat on our patio, staring at the water in the pool, and sulked. I know he’s punishing me for escaping, but he doesn’t have to.

“Would you like to go to your sister’s today?” Mikhail’s gruff voice comes from behind me as I dress for the day. I turn and look at him already dressed in a suit. “I’m going to the office.”

“Lyric?” I want to see Lennon too, but I haven’t gotten to see Lyric yet.

“Yes. She got married last night,” he says as he walks away.

I stand there in shock. I knew it was going to happen, but she didn’t even invite me. Is she mad at me too?

I finish dressing and wait until I hear him leave before heading downstairs. I grab a quick bite to eat and do some more research on the laptop Mikhail gave me.

“I’m ready,” I tell Damir, who’s waiting by the front door.

He walks me up the road to Belyaev’s house. It’s larger than Mikhail’s and faces Vegas in the distance. I walk up to the door and ring the bell.

I’m about to press the button again when she opens the door. I take her in and can’t hold back the bitterness and hurt from my voice.

“You married him.” I push past her into the house.

“I had to in order to protect myself,” she says softly, and it pisses me off more. There is hurt in her voice but no remorse. No sign she even considered I might have wanted to be there.

“You got married to protect yourself.” I scoff. “You, the hopeless romantic. You love him, don’t you?” I get right in her face and grab her shoulders, giving them a shake.

“I had to.”

I watch as tears roll down her face, and I can’t stay angry any longer. I pull her into my arms and let her get it out. I know why she’s so upset. Her being a hopeless romantic and him just marrying her for her safety hurts. She wanted bells, doves, flowers—the whole works.

“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.” I give her the truth, then pull back to look her in the eyes.

If it hadn’t been for my hunger to go after the underworld bosses, punishing them for the careless way they produced and neglected their children, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Lyric could have had her fairytale ending.

“I read the short article today about Jimmy. Our father is now listed as dead instead of missing.”

“He was bad. He killed people.” My sister doesn’t miss a beat.

“But did he deserve to die?” I ask.

“You don’t know?” She raises an eyebrow.

I’m confused. She knows something, and I want in the loop too. Mikhail doesn’t tell me very much, if anything at all.

“Know what?” I move past her to look around her home.

“Mikhail told you he killed him?”

I stop and turn to look at her. “He did. He said Dmitri didn’t do it, but he did.” That’s all he’s shared. He hasn’t told me why he did it.

“And that’s all?”

“What else is there?” I move back to where she’s standing.

“Come with me,” she says.

She leads me upstairs to an office. One wall is lined with monitors displaying the inner security and main management floor of the Lucky Dice Casino. Aleksei is walking around, working.

“Maybe he loves you too,” I offer.

“Does Mikhail love you?” she asks.

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