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“There was a gang war, and we were at the epicenter of it all. One terrible night in the dead of winter, gunshots broke out in a street fight. She came out to look for me. She was supposed to be at a friend’s house.” He looks away, his voice distant. “She was shot. She died right there on the freezing pavement while I held her and screamed for help, tried to save her. But you can't stop someone from bleeding out when their carotid artery is hit.”
I suddenly feel sick.
He's hinted at a loss like this, but I didn't know. How could I?
I give him a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry."
He goes on as if I haven’t spoken at all. “After that, I knew that eventually I was going to be married for my family’s sake, not for mine. Not for love. I knew that wouldn’t ever be an option."
He's staring into his drink, but finally, he looks up at me. The look in his eyes breaks my heart. My hands begin to shake, and all the reminders in the world don't help me to stop.
What happened tonight?
"And then I met you. And I thought you were someone completely different from who you actually are. I thought you were spoiled, selfish. I believed the lies that I was told. And I hated that I believed them, even for a minute."
I nod. I know this.
"But I got to know who you really are,” he says on a sigh. My heart’s beating too fast. I’m cold and hot and shaking, as I listen to him speak.
“You’re someone who's endlessly devoted to your child. Selfless, even when it broke your heart. You did what you did because it was what was best for her. You did it because you had no choice.”
He shakes his head. "To see you with her, anyone would know that you're not the person I thought you were.” He swallows hard. "I believe you to be selfless, confident. Brilliant and talented.” His voice drops. "And sexy as fuck."
I stare at him, confused. Bewildered. I don't know where this is –
"I went to your family’s home tonight. I was going to exact justice. They have to answer for a lot of things, Harper. Your brother, especially."
I look at him sharply, this time more assessing.
There's not a trace of blood on him, nothing. And I don't think brutal violence is the only way he would deal with a situation, but I'm not sure I want to know either.
He pulls out something out of his pocket. My heart leaps into my throat.
The little box with a lock of hair, a folded picture, and a tiny charm.
“You found it,” I whisper.
"I did. Is this why you were so adamant about going back and finding your possessions?"
I nod. "There was nothing else I cared about. Thank you." I clutch it to me, even though I don't need this as badly as I thought I did now that I have Ivy.
Aleks’s voice hardens. “That wasallthat I found, Harper."
I look up at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"They're gone. Every trace of them. Not a stitch of clothing, not so much as a tissue out of place. They vacated your home, Harper,” he says, his voice hardening, a thread of mockery underlying his words.
"What?" What does this mean? Where did they go?
He stands, that same hardness in his eyes. Ice-cold blue pin me. "Don't lie to me. Tell me you didn't know that the home was a rental."
I’m confused. What does he think I had to do with this?
"Of course I knew that home was a rental. I knew my family’s circumstances, Aleksandr."
"So you knew that they played me."
I stare, not sure how to respond.
