Page 120 of Immaculate Deception (Romanoff Bratva)

“It’s not your house!” Ernestine says, slamming her hand down on the kitchen table. I lay a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her, but she brushes me away. “Arya was a friend of Rose’s and she is our family now, too. She came to tell us what happened to Rose and she has been kinder to me and June than you ever were.”

Her words touch me deeply, but I’m worried they’ll only put a target on my back with Tommy. When I look up and see the way he’s glaring at me, I know I’m right.

“Arya?” he asks. “Where were you ‘kidnapped’ from, Arya?”

A warning bell goes off in my brain.Lie. Don’t tell him anything.It’s Dima’s voice I hear in my head, coaching me through this situation.

“Florida,” I blurt. “Miami.”

“And where were you and Rose being held?”

Keep lying.

“A house in Kentucky. The guy was a mob boss. I never knew his name. He didn’t want us to know his identity.”

Tommy stands up and moves towards the kitchen slowly, his pockmarked face twisted into concentration. “You have a last name, Arya?”

Fucking lie!

“Arnaud.” I say the first thing that pops into my mind—Brigitte’s last name.

Tommy raises a skeptical brow. “Arya Arnaud from Florida, held by a stranger in Kentucky. I don’t suppose you have any identification on you?”

“I lost it all when I fled,” I lie. “I don’t have anything. That’s why I came here to find Rose’s family. She was my only friend in there and I hoped I would find a place with her family out here.”

Ernestine pats my hand affectionately. She knows I’m lying. I’ve told her everything about where Rose and I were held and who bought us.

But she isn’t giving a thing away. She’s a rock.

“Convenient,” Tommy drawls.

“Not exactly,” I laugh humorlessly. “Have you ever tried buying a bus ticket without a wallet?”

Tommy’s eyes sparkle, the suspicion finally gone from his expression. “A girl like you, I’m sure you can find other ways to pay. I’m sure your captor taught you a thing or two.”

My stomach turns.I hate him, I hate him, I hate him.But he isn’t worth the drama. I just have to stay calm and help Ernestine get this asshole out of her house. I just have to—

“You need to leave, Tommy,” Ernestine says again, “or I’m calling the police!”

“Come on now, Ernie,” he drawls. “Be a little more welcoming, won’t you? I just got out on parole.”

“And your gun is a violation,” she says. “You shouldn’t have a weapon.”

He saunters over to her, looking down his nose at the woman as if he’s touch for standing up to her. “You gonna to turn me in, you old bitch? Because I think we both know what could happen to June if you decide to do that.”

My stomach twists. No father—nogoodfather—would ever use their child as a threat like that. Tommy is a piece of shit from top to bottom.

Ernestine doesn’t say anything.

Feeling she’s been put properly in her place, Tommy turns back to me. He lifts a finger, waving it in the air as he nods along.

“You know, I think you’ve been lying to me, Arya.”

God, I wish Ernestine hadn’t given Tommy my real first name. I would have made one up. I hate how it sounds coming out of his mouth.

“About what?”

He waves his hands in the air like he’s revealing a magic trick. “Everything.”

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