Page 6 of Nikolai Petrov

The pink of her lower lip trembles. “You said you would keep us safe.” Her hands rest on my wrist gripping her neck, but she makes no move to pull my arm away.

I can feel my eyes tighten as I stare at her. The last time I saw her, I didn’t look too closely. Now, I take in the copper ringlet falling over her brow, the soft peak of her lips as she chews nervously on them. Flushed cheeks bely the heat that burns into my palm.

If she wasn’t the daughter of my closest friend, I would call her beautiful.

But, tonight, I call her intruder.

“You didn’t answer my question. Explain why I shouldn’t just throw your decapitated corpse in the river for sneaking into my car?” The adrenaline of the surprise is turning into anger at her deception.

“Mr. Petrov. Please. I’m begging you to keep me safe!” I can feel the trembling of her jaw against my thumb.

“Safe from what? That is your father’s job. It is not mine.” Pulling my hand from her, I try to wipe the warmth of her skin across my chest before sliding the knife back into its sheath.

She is no threat. A petite girl with fear in her eyes hiding within a dark hooded sweatshirt.

“From the Koskovich’s!” she yells after I turn away.

That gives me pause. Even with the truce, it is still their family that caused so much of my own pain and suffering.

I raise my hand, still facing away from her. Beckoning with a single finger for her to follow.

“Tell me more.”

The car door slams and her light footsteps follow me from the garage through the foyer to the main kitchen. “Svetlana has been keeping me drugged since she married my father.” The heaviness of the soft lilt of her words still my feet.

Tension flares my shoulders as I look at her. “She what?” Four years they’ve been married. She’s been on drugs this entire time?

The timid arch of her neck and the narrow sweep of her brows scream the truthfulness of her claim. “Since I was eighteen and I rebelled. She wished to keep me quiet and complacent. Please, Mr. Petrov. You are the only one I know that is more powerful than her. Is it true what you said? That you would keep me safe?”

Her pale fingers touch my wrist that feels like a silent plea. The tip of her thumb skiffs the bare skin above my own with a scalding brush.

Fuck.

With a groan I pull my arm away and try to wipe the frustration from my face.

A decanter of bourbon sits on the large island with a glass. My chef always keeps one in the same spot for me. Tonight, I’m especially grateful.

The liquor burns a comfortable path to blend with the vodka in my stomach. A warm knot forms as I contemplate my words.

“You have fled your gilded cage into the lion’s den, little bird. I will gladly kill the enemies of our families, but your father is like a brother to me. Have you tried to talk to him?” Spreading my hands over the cool granite of the counter, the thought of pressing my forehead against it flickers through me.

Her lithe form slips into one of the bar stools as she drops her bag and she crosses the heavy sleeves of the sweatshirt in front of her. “My father has been fed the lie that I struck Svetlana and that I’m a petulant brat.”

A smile tugs the corner of my lips. “Did you?” Perhaps she’s feistier than she appears.

Her lips flatten into her teeth. “I tried. But, I missed. So, she called her goons to hold me down and knocked me out. It’s been that way ever since. If I don’t swallow her pills, they hold me down.” Her shiver creaks the chair.

Holy shit, Ivanov. What have you been dealing with?

Looking around the darkened room, I see a spill of moonlight breaking through one of the far windows. It’s too late to deal with this tonight.

“Fine. You may stay here tonight. But I’m not lying to your father if he calls looking for you.” I fill my glass to the brim and start walking towards the west hall.

Her footsteps are overshadowed by mine echoing from the slate floors.

“You can stay in one of the guest rooms. Here.” I stop in front of an ornate gilded door. The dark wood looks nearly black in the dim light of the sconces.

“Thank you, Mr. Petrov.” Her lips purse delicately as they form my name.

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