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“Sit the fuck down, Braveheart,” Yakov barks. I bite back a laugh and he turns his scowl in my direction. “Don’t encourage her.”
“She doesn’t need my help to be excitable.”
Mariya drops down into her seat, dark hair windblown. “You should try it, Luna! The fresh air feels nice.”
“You were in a hospital, not a prison,” Yakov grumbles.
Yakov is right, but so is Mariya. After days spent under fluorescents breathing in antiseptic, the fresh air and sunshine feels amazing. Not stick-my-head-out-the-window-like-a-dog amazing. But amazing, nonetheless.
“Maybe later,” I say with a smile. “I’m feeling a little nauseous right now.”
Yakov’s hands tighten on the wheel. “Did you take your vitamins this morning? Dr. Jenkins said you should keep up the B6 supplements throughout the rest of your pregnancy. If you’re hungry, I can stop and buy something. Do you want a breakfast sandwich?”
“Yes!” Mariya chimes from the backseat. “Sausage and egg with a hashbrown. And an iced vanilla latte.”
Yakov ignores her, flicking his gaze back and forth from the road to me. His green eyes bore into mine.
“I took all the vitamins Dr. Jenkins left for me and I’m not hungry.” I smile. “It’s just normal pregnancy nausea. Really. I feel great.”
He exhales irritably just as Mariya leans forward. “So are we still getting breakfast sandwiches or…?”
Yakov shakes his head. “We’re going home.”
Home. When Yakov first brought me to the mansion, all I could think about was when I would leave. I was constantly preparing myself to get back to the “real world.”
Now, living in the mansion with Yakov is the real world. It’s where I want to be.
But even then, it isn’t home. Because when Yakov was avoiding me and I didn’t see him for days, the mansion felt cold and empty. I’d never felt more alone.
No, home isn’t a place. It’s a person.
It’s Yakov.
Yakov pulls through the front gates of the mansion, a line of black SUVs rolling in behind us. As soon as I see the wide expanse of grass and the curve of the driveway leading to the front doors, I clench. My chest tightens until it’s hard to breathe. I grip the door handle and try to keep a neutral expression pasted on my face even as a movie plays behind my eyes.
I can see the line of dark-clad men walking across the grass towards the mansion like it’s happening all over again.
I hear the distant gunshots taking out Yakov’s men one by one.
My heart races like I’m back in that night, even though the sun is high in the sky and Yakov is right next to me.
When the car stops, Mariya jumps out and jogs up the steps. “I am going to take a nap in my bed so freaking hard.”
“Go ahead,” Yakov calls after her. “We’ll catch up.” He walks around the car and kneels just outside of the open passenger door. “Are you okay?”
“Peachy,” I mumble between clenched teeth. I drop my face in my hands. “I take it I wasn’t hiding my feelings as well as I hoped.”
“You’re easy to read.”
I groan. “This is so stupid. I’m being ridiculous.”
“You’re not.”
“I am,” I insist. “I know I’m safe. I know Akim is dead and no one is coming for me. So why doesn’t my body know that?”
His hand spreads out across my thigh. “You’ve been through a lot, Luna. It’s normal to need time to recover from that.”
“Mariya didn’t need time to recover.” I gesture to where she already disappeared through the front door.
