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“He was only supposed to be gone a few days, Danill. This can’t be all you say to me. What are you doing to find him?” I’m not stupid enough to think everything’s okay. I stop pouring my glass of wine and take a sip while I await some sort of response. The hints of cherry and wood float against my tastebuds, and I’d kill for some cheese right now.
“I’m working with his family to find him, Miss Amelia. So far, we only have a few leads.”
“It’s been weeks. You guys have to be close to finding him. Do you even know where he was going or what he was doing when he left?” I down the glass of wine after I finish speaking. I’m too stressed about this. Ruslan needs to come back because it’s what he said he’d do. For some pathetic reason, I think he’s going to follow through with every promise he’s made to me. I’m only giving myself the opportunity to be let down again, but I need to have some sliver of hope that not everyone is awful.
“I can’t discuss this with you, Miss Amelia. I can assure you I’m working as hard as I can, within my limitations, to find Ruslan.”
Limitations? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
“What exactly are these limitations you speak of?” I question, practically barking it at him.
He sucks in a sharp breath, and there’s a moment of silence before he speaks. “I was instructed to stay behind and keep you safe. It’s why I’m still in Atlanta.”
You’ve got to be kidding me. “You don’t need to be here with me. You need to find him!” I snap.
“Believe me, if I could do it while killing two birds with one stone, then I would.”
A bright idea flashes across my mind. “I have it. Take me with you. Then you can keep me safe, and we can try to find Ruslan.”
“That wouldn’t be a good idea,” Danill laughs lowly, making me feel like a child who’s speaking to their father.
“It’s the only option on the table, isn’t it? After all, you’re not really going out and doing anything to help Ruslan the way things look right now.” I don’t care that I’m being a total asshole. I care about Ruslan, and I want to make sure he’s okay. If Danill cares one bit about his boss, he’ll end up giving in, and we’ll both soon be on our way.
“Miss Amelia, you don’t know the stakes at play here. Things aren’t so simple. I cannot act brashly nor allow the fit you’re throwing to influence me in any way,” Danill comments, still in the fatherly tone I’m learning to loathe so much.
“At least I’m suggesting something! I’m not sitting around on my ass, not doing a damn thing!” I yell into the phone and hang up. My nostrils flare, and I pour myself another glass of wine. Just like the last, I take it down quickly. Wine calms me down, but I don’t think it’s helping me calm down today. Then again, maybe this entire situation is making me want to yank my hair out.
I can only keep myself busy so much, and working three nights at Illusion isn’t enough to keep my mind from wandering. All I can think about the rest of the week is what the hell’s going on with Ruslan. I try to keep my mind occupied as much as I can, so I overly clean the apartment I share with my cousin, and when she has tests, I help her study. It preoccupies me for a while, but not nearly long enough.
I leave the glass of wine on the kitchen counter and walk down the hallway leading to my and Emily’s rooms. I go to her bedroom door and knock, needing to talk to someone about this. “Em? Are you awake?” Just as I ask, I realize I didn’t see her car parked out front. Fuck, it’s Saturday night. Of course, she’s not home yet.
Emily’s constantly doing stuff for school, and when she isn’t doing that, she’s working. Her only day off every week is Sunday, so a lot of the time, she’ll go out on Saturday nights. It’s a rarity that I’m home before she is.
In times like this, I wish I could talk to my mother. But we don’t have a great relationship now. We did when I was a little girl, too young to realize what was right and what was wrong. But as an adult, I see her for who she really is: a greedy, manipulative woman.
My father died and listed my mother and me as beneficiaries on his life insurance policy. We both got a good bit of money, and within a year, my mother had blown through hers. She’d call me and beg to borrow some, and when I said no, she’d tell me I was selfish and ungrateful. I wasn’t, but I wouldn’t allow her to put a dent in my life savings. The identity theft issues started shortly after, so I guess the joke’s on me.
I turn and head back down the hallway, only to see Emily opening the front door. Her dark brunette locks complement her entire outfit. She’s in a skin-tight sapphire blue bandeau dress, and her hair’s in a high ponytail. She has a deep charcoal smokey eye, and her lips are painted a peachy color. She looks so beautiful.
“You okay?” Emily questions with her brows furrowed. Her facial expression shows me she knows I’m not okay right now.
“I’m stressed. Stressed out of every orifice I have, honestly.” I sigh and continue into the living room. I plop on the white couch, and Emily kicks off her heels, then proceeds to take a seat next to me.
“You wanna talk about it, or is it the kind of stressed where you just want to be distracted from all your problems?”
I throw my head back on the couch and bluster a sigh. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
I don’t know much right now, but I know Ruslan isn’t like anyone else I’ve ever met. He’s a man of his word. He has to be.
Chapter Two
Ruslan
Lights shine above my head, but they’re so bright I can’t see anything else. The smell of bleach is in the air, and both my nostrils and eyes sting. Fuck, what’s going on? I try to move my neck, but I can’t. I thrash against something and then realize I’m strapped down. Not just my neck, but my arms and legs too.
Then it hits me all at once: the pain.
It spreads across my stomach, up and down my limbs, feeling like I’m on fire. The pain gets worse, and a tugging sensation causes me to scream. It’s in the center of me, and I try to see what’s going on. All I’m met with is the bright lights and the color red. The pain worsens, and people speak in the background with panicked voices, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. The agony is drowning everything else out.
