Page 37 of The Crimson Lily
“Seriously?” she jerks in a very cynical tone. Then she rolls her eyes at me when she sees me blush.
Maksim turns around and marches toward the bathroom, but not before exchanging glares with Béatrice. “I hope for your sake that you weren’t followed.”
Béatrice shrugs and turns to face me again. She wants to speak, but I start first.
“How did you find me here? And what happened yesterday after…the fight?” I ask her, curious to hear about her encounter with the Parisian Bratva.
“Your phone, remember?” she probes. “You’re sharing your location with me.”
Duh. Of course! Oops.
She takes a deep breath. “They made us swear we wouldn’t talk. They went through our phones, our social media accounts, everything. We’ll probably be tracked twenty-four-seven from now on.”
“Were you scared?” I ask, hesitant, fiddling with my own sleeves. “I’m really sorry, Béatrice.”
She motions for me to stop talking and puts a gentle hand on my arm. “Stop it. I joined you at my own will. And so what if the Bratva watches my every move! I don’t have to see them again.”
“How’s Alejandro?” I check.
She chuckles—the kind of nervous chuckle that comes out when someone’s scared or worried. “He’s shaken…but he’s answering my calls at least!”
I smile. I’m glad Alejandro at least survived the experience. I wait for Maksim to be done in the bathroom to get myself clean.
After I shower, I dry my hair and jump into jeans and a comfy pink crop top with bunny tie. I check my eye again, which doesn’t look as bad as it could. The mark around my neck looks worse, but I can’t find my scarf, so I let my hair loose to cover as much of it as possible. I find Béatrice downstairs, in the living room, sitting on the Renaissance sofa. Maksim is busy in what appears to be a kitchen at the edge of the hallway.
“I have a theory about yesterday,” Béatrice announces as I sit on the chair in front of her. “I think they didn’t expect to find you in the room.”
“How so?” I wonder.
“They asked for yourBratva dog,” she explains. “Plus, the note in the safe said Liliana, not anything about the Bratva.”
That’s a very good point. Béatrice is right. I start to think that William expected me to go for the dagger and sent his wolves to neutralize Maksim.
“If that’s the case, then William doesn’t really see me as a threat,” I add. “Think about it. He sends two of his men to kill Maksim, but he leaves his apartment barely guarded.”
William tried to kill me in the past. The memory of my accident flashes before my eyes again. I haven’t confirm that fact out loud before, even if it’s darn obvious. I haven’t found the energy yet to reminisce about it, but it’s something that, eventually, I’ll need to face and process.
Maksim walks into the room and hands me a plate with a shiny croissant and a cup of coffee. I raise my eyes to him, a little surprised, and thank him with a smile. He’s back in his dark-gray suit, with a white shirt this time. I think I’m going to melt if I look any longer, but he starts speaking to me. Béatrice definitely notices that I’m almost drooling.
“I made sure I went in when security was low,” Maksim declares.
“You did leave everything the way it was, right?” Béatrice checks. “So William won’t suspectyouwere in his apartment?”
Maksim doesn’t answer. I know what that means—Béatrice asked a stupid question.
“What if it was a trap?” I pose, then lay my eyes on Maksim. “What if William lowered his security so I’d go in and he could get rid of you?”
Béatrice gives me an ample nod. “That makes sense, but it didn’t work out the way he’d planned.”
“I’m just wondering why he’d think I’d go in,” I say distantly. “I mean…I’m not Bratva! I barely know how to throw a fist.” I chuckle a little, recalling my failure of a punch yesterday.
We all remain silent for a minute, brainstorming about what’s exactly going on here. I still find it very strange William expected me to go for the dagger. And I feel a little scared. What does that say about me? Does it imply something I did in my previous life? I’m getting a little worried. Not only for my own safety, but also because William and his people are now after Maksim too. How does William even get people in the first place? For a second, that question hits me. How does a professor at the University of Columbia have security guards and hitmen at his command?
Béatrice’s phone rings. She hesitates to answer when she sees Alejandro’s name on her screen.
“Allô?” She eventually picks up and puts it on speaker.
“Yeah…it’s Alejandro. Listen, just so we’re clear, I don’t want anything to do with this anymore. But I just saw William talking to Robert Mercier, my project supervisor.”
