I’m trying to remember where I put my phone, but I can’t. Pregnancy brain has fully settled in, and I lose it multiple times a day now.
I make my slow way out of the library, aware of Vasya’s attention following me, burning a hole in the back of my neck. Or maybe I’m imagining all of it. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with Vasya, and Evgeny did send him for me. I don’t have my phone, right? He could have tried to get ahold of me and… I just don’t know.
But I want to call him to make sure.
There’s always a Kucherov man with me, and with my new status I know he’ll help. Except there is no one waiting outside the library.
Another chill runs down my spine. Something isn’t right. The estate is always quiet, but I swear it’stooquiet.
Tiptoeing down the hallway, I search for someone, anyone, but it’s like a bad dream, the next guard isn’t at his usual post, either.
“My phone. Where’s my damn phone…” I mutter, trying to remain calm, but my heart rate is tripping over itself.
I turn the corner leading to the bedroom, and it’s all I can do to muffle my scream as I stumble back against the opposite wall.
The guard who was supposed to be outside the library is dead, a slash so deep and long across his neck that I can seeinside. His eyes are open wide, staring sightlessly at the ceiling, blood pooling beneath him and across the floor.
Shock freezes me in the hallway. Bile crawls up my throat. I retch and force it back down.
“Nasty, isn’t it?”
Vasya stands at the corner of the hallway, hands casually in his pockets, staring down at the dead man. I know he’s seen death. I know he’s dealt death. But his expression tells me what I need to know. It’s impassive and cold, with a light in his eyes that sends prickles of ice over my skin.
I know I have to get away from him, but I can’t make myself move.
“I tried to save you from all of this, Eva.” He raises his eyes to me, and I don’t see any humanity in their blue depths, only a wild look that sends a bolt of fear through me. “Well, first, I tried to get you to fall in love withme.But Ev took that, too. Like always. Staked his claim and warned me away from you.”
His grin has a feral edge, an expression that entirely lacks humor or warmth. It reminds me of a death’s-head grin, and I finally start edging away from him.
Vasya follows, nonchalant, hands still in his pockets.
“Then I tried to drive you away. I really did, so you wouldn’t have to be part of this. But you’re so damn stubborn. You and I would have made a great team, you know that? That fire of yours drives mewild.” His expression flickers to a leer. His gaze falls on my rounded stomach, and he shakes his head. “I really tried. But you’re so damn stubborn I had to kill your brother to finally get you to run.”
My vision tunnels, and my ears buzz. Vasya’s words echo through my head until it’s all I can hear, see, and breathe.
I finally had to kill your brother.
Evgeny isn’t the monster. Vasya is.
Panic squeezes my lungs and stomach. I have to get away. I have to get away now.
“And then you go and get yourself pregnant.” Vasya shakes his head again, like this is all my fault. “And you go back to him. He always gets what he wants, you know. The bastard’s always been like that. Whatever he wants, women, money, power, it just comes to him.”
I’m still trying to back away from Vasya and the barely controlled rage in his voice and his eyes. But he keeps coming toward me like the inexorable consequence of everything I’ve done these past six months.
“Why, Eva? Why did you have to fall for him? And thenmarryhim?” Vasya takes his hands out of his pockets, but only to holdthem in fists so tight his knuckles turn white. “I thought better of you, but you’re just another dumb bitch falling for his fucking charms. Just can’t see past all the money and the green eyes, can you?”
“You’re like a brother to him,” I gasp. “He calls you his brother.”
Vasya rolls his eyes like I’m an imbecile, his jaw clenched so tightly veins stand out in his neck. “We aren’t brothers. The only one Evgeny fucking cares about is himself, a point he’s made loud and clear. Case in point, he didn’t tell you I was the one who killed your brother or hit your car. I did make sure you wouldn’t be too hurt, you know. That was all me. I was trying to scare you away, not kill you. And he’s known it for weeks.”
My stunned silence is all the answer the man needs.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so. See? Evgeny doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. And you fell for it.”
His words stop when his feet do, and Vasya glances up at the heavy curtains on either side of the tall window. The haze on the horizon has swallowed the view of the Pacific, and rain sheets down the glass panes.
As I watch, still creeping backward, Vasya takes his lighter from his pocket, flicks the wheel to light it, and holds it to the curtains. It takes a moment, but the heavy brocade begins to smoke before sparks erupt into flames and race up the fabric. Vasya does the same with the other panel, and soon both are on fire.
