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I promised I wouldn’t let Mikhail or Ezra kill Katya.
I never promised anything about killing her myself.
Chapter 24
Valentina
When I step out of the steam cloud and wipe away condensation from the mirror, I feel completely refreshed. I hadn’t planned on a shower, but after sitting with a very wet reminder of Andrei between my thighs, it quickly became necessary.
I brush my fingers through my curls and squeeze any remaining water into the sink. It’ll take a while for my hair to dry, but since I have no hair product and no plans, I don’t mind it.
Still, it wouldn’t kill Andrei to have a few more items on his bathroom vanity. I glance at his toothbrush before deciding, nope, gotta get my own.
I’m preoccupied with my thoughts as I exit the bathroom and make a beeline for the boxers I laid out on his dresser for myself.
“It’s good to see you, moya ditya.”
I scream.
My grandmother’s face pinches. “Please, Valentina, lower your voice.”
“How—how are you here?”
Andrei has stated multiple times that they can’t find her, yet here she is, in his bedroom, sitting on his bed. “I don’t understand.”
She waves away my concern with a bony hand. “Do you underestimate your grandmother that much?” She scrutinizes my naked body with shrewd eyes, and I quickly cover up with my towel. I hadn’t expected company. Faintly, I remember Andrei breaking the door lock in our haste to get inside last night.
Oh. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.
Katya’s eyes narrow. “You look like you’ve been beaten, ditya.”
I drown in embarrassment. Oh, God. “It’s not like that.” I hide behind the closet door as I shrug on clothes. Boxer shorts. White turtleneck. The biggest pair of pants I can find.
Maybe the clothes will swallow me whole and help me disappear.
When no such thing happens, I emerge from my hiding place to face my grandmother. I don’t feel very queenly as she purses her lips at the decor in the room, clearly dissatisfied with what she sees.
It’s not her room or her house, so I don’t know why she finds the need to criticize everything.
“What are you doing here, Grandma?” I pull the sleeves of Andrei’s shirt lower and bunch them in my hands. “How did you even get here? We live two states away.”
“Am I not allowed to visit my granddaughter when she goes missing?” She stands from the edge of the bead and walks toward me. “When she doesn’t answer my calls for days and worries me sick?”
Guilt claws at my chest. I should have tried harder to put word out that I was okay. With everything that’s been going on, I hadn’t even thought about it.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think?—”
“You weren’t thinking, ditya. But I’m here now. Everything will be okay.” She takes my hand and leads me toward the door. “Come. Let us sit and talk somewhere more appropriate. This room...stinks.”
My face flushes as more embarrassment pours over me. My grandmother can smell all the sex I had last night. And this morning. She must think I’m a slut.
Not that she has any right to shame me for having a sex life, but the last thing I want is for my grandmother to know about her little girl’s bedroom habits.
I tug the collar of Andrei’s turtleneck a little higher, grateful for the extra coverage. The only thing better would be a hazmat suit or one of those things astronauts wear into space. With the helmet and everything.
Anything to keep my grandmother’s icy gaze from piercing my skin and digging into my heart.
She’s not usually like this, but I can’t imagine it’s easy returning home after five years to find your granddaughter, who you helped save from this place, naked and in bed with the enemy.
