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Prologue
Tavia
Shyly tucking my long, thick hair back behind my ear, I glanced at Theo out of the corner of my eye. The sun had just set, but twilight hadn’t turned the sky completely black, casting his profile in shadow as he drove through the busy New York City traffic.
When his mother had offered me a ride, I’d readily accepted, thankful for a way home that didn’t include public transportation. I was already so tired from not only my own classes earlier in the day, but two other tutoring jobs before I arrived at the Volkov home to tutor Sofia.
Mrs. Volkov always offered me a ride to my next tutoring client’s house or back home, but normally it was one of her security guards who drove me. When I walked down the front steps of their mansion to find Theo leaning against the side of his sleek car, I’d nearly stumbled down to the driveway.
“Careful,” he’d called. Moving forward with the speed and grace of a panther, he’d offered me his hand to steady myself. The moment his fingers touched my wrist, I felt an electrical zap to my heart, and it started pounding against my rib cage.
Instead of releasing me, he kept his hand wrapped firmly around mine and walked me to the front passenger side of his car. Opening the door, he assisted me in and bent down. Taking the seat belt in hand, he leaned across me, snapping it into place.
The scent of his cologne hit my senses, and I had to bite my lip to keep from whimpering at how good he smelled. Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply, wanting to hold a part of him inside me for a moment.
Theo had to know I had the biggest crush on him. Only, it was more than that for me. So, so much more. As soon as I met him, I’d been attracted. There was something about him that drew me to him. Not just his looks but him.
He’d been kind to me over the years, even taking the time to stop and have conversations with me, making me think I mattered to him for a moment. During those occasions, we would laugh together, even flirt, and it made me think he felt something too. The way he would look at me, like he was starving and desperate to memorize every feature on my face…
Yet he never once made a move, which confused the hell out of me. He would teach me a new word in Russian every time, sometimes an entire phrase. His dark eyes would light up with pride and something I couldn’t put a name to when I got it correct right away.
He pulled back from fastening my seat belt, his hand grazing my lower stomach, setting my entire body aflame. I couldn’t hide a shiver as he winked down at me before straightening and closing the door.
Now, as he drove through the city, I saw him glance my way. I felt my cheeks heat with a mixture of embarrassment at being caught checking him out and need so intense, it gnawed low in my belly. At the next red light, Theo stopped and, reaching over, took my left hand in his right.
Lifting it, he kissed my knuckles, his thumb stroking my flesh and making me shiver yet again. “So beautiful,” he murmured, his voice thick with the same hunger I was feeling. “Let’s get you home, krasotka.”
Fifteen minutes later, he parked outside my dorm. Before I could get my seat belt off, he was out and around the car, opening the door for me. When he offered his hand, I readily placed mine in his and stepped out.
“Are you allowed visitors?” he asked, keeping my hand tightly ensnared in his.
“It’s not a convent, Theo,” I told him with a laugh. “Of course I’m allowed to bring people to my dorm.”
He pulled his brows together, his entire face turning to stone. “And do you have guests often, krasotka?” he gritted out between clenched teeth. For a moment, I actually wondered if he was jealous.
“So far, I’ve only had Sofia visit me. And once, your father came up.”
His brow instantly smoothed out, and he lifted my hand to his mouth. “Show me your dorm room, Tavia.”
Chapter 1
Tavia
Gathering my books, I placed them neatly into my backpack and grinned at the girl who was quite possibly my best friend—as well as my favorite tutoring client. “Great job on that test last week. I knew you would blow that Trig exam right out of the water.”
Sofia Volkov gave me a smug grin, amusement shining out of her clear blue eyes. She was two years younger than me and my complete opposite in most ways, but we did share a few things in common. Like the fact that we were both orphans. Only, Sofia had been adopted by one of the most powerful families in New York from the orphanage back in Russia where she had lived for the first few months of her life.
Me, on the other hand, I’d lived in the same home for children who belonged to the state because their parents didn’t want them from the time I was two until I graduated from high school the previous year. There was no family to take me in, no one to adopt me, and no one to care if I made it safely to bed each night. I had been on my own except for the nuns who ran the orphanage and the other kids who lived there.
But I was okay with that. I didn’t want to answer to anyone. Didn’t like having someone breathing down my neck, asking questions about every little thing I did. And I sure as hell wasn’t looking for someone to take care of me.
I could do all of that on my own with no help from anyone. I’d worked my ass off to get good grades so I could win scholarships, first to the most prestigious private academy in the city, and then to the best universities in the state. I’d chosen Columbia because they’d given me the most money, paying for everything, including my books and even the single dorm room where I didn’t have to deal with annoying roommates. Being so close to Sofia and my other tutoring clients was a plus. It allowed me to keep working while still going to classes and not having to build up a new client list somewhere else.
The fact that it kept me close to Sofia’s older brother, Theo, wasn’t even a small bonus.
Of course that was the lie I fed myself every day. And one I intended to continue repeating over and over again.
“Tavia,” Victoria Volkov, Sofia’s mother, greeted me cheerfully as she walked into the library where we always studied together. I was already standing, and she embraced me, giving me a light kiss on the cheek before stepping back. “How are your classes? Are you eating enough?”
I felt a small pang at having her motherly questions tossed at me. No one had ever cared if I got enough to eat until I’d met Sofia’s mother three years before, when I’d started tutoring her. From the first time I’d shown up on their doorstep, looking like a drowned rat because I’d had to run in the pouring rain from the front gate at the bottom of the Volkov estate’s long driveway to their gigantic home, Victoria had fussed over me.
Was I eating enough, sleeping enough?
Did I need anything?
I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes the first few times she’d asked, thinking she was just being polite—and maybe even a little condescending. But then I realized she was genuinely concerned for me, and I’d grown to like and appreciate her affection.
“I’m good, Mrs. Volkov. Classes are going smoothly as always. And yes, I promise, I’m getting three meals a day.”
“Good. Would you like to stay for dinner?” She tossed her long auburn hair back from her face, her alabaster skin glowing in the overhead light. She was gorgeous, and there were actually two of her since she had an identical twin sister, someone I’d met only a handful of times over the years.
I gave her a regretful smile as I tossed my backpack over one shoulder. “I wish I could, but I have one more stop to make before I can get back to the dorms. Rain check?”
“Of course. Anytime, sweetheart.” She put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. Everyone knew Sofia was adopted, but she and her mom had a stronger relationship than some of the biological mother-daughters I’d seen together. “I’ve already sent your payment through your app. Thank you again for all you’ve done for our Sofia. I honestly don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t helped her so much over the years.”
Sofia rolled her eyes at me, making me have to fight a grin. It was true that I’d helped her focus on her studies more, but Sofia was smarter than anyone gave her credit for. She just didn’t want to apply herself most of the time. It wasn’t that she was lazy, just…bored. And a bored Sofia was a mischievous Sofia. Not that she got into a lot of trouble. She was so carefully guarded and watched twenty-four seven, she couldn’t do much that would actually get her into trouble. But there were times when she tried her hardest.
I checked one last time to make sure I had everything I needed and gave them both a wave as I left. Outside, there was a car waiting on me. Ever since that first day, Mrs. Volkov always made sure I had a safe ride home.
As I walked down the stairs, the sun rapidly setting and turning the sky a burnished orange, the driver stepped out and opened the back door for me. It didn’t surprise me that it wasn’t Theo, but I still felt an acute pang of disappointment that I quickly had to hide when the driver’s eyes turned to me.
“Miss Zima,” Yerik said quietly as he stood there looking like some carved-from-stone statue. He was my usual driver, but the truth was, I couldn’t stand him. Still, I wasn’t going to hurt Mrs. Volkov’s feelings by turning down her generous offer of a free ride all the way back to my dorm—no matter how uncomfortable the man made me. Plus, I could go over my notes for the upcoming client on the ride.
Once I was seated, Yerik got behind the wheel. I told him the address of where I needed to go as I pulled out my notebook and pen, using the light on my phone to see by.
For the next twenty minutes, my focus was solely on what I needed to cover so my upcoming client could pass his French exam the next day. It wasn’t until I closed the notebook that I lifted my head.
Only to realize we were definitely not almost there.
My eyes darted around, unease sitting hard in my gut as I tried to make sense of where Yerik had taken me in so short a time. It was completely dark out now, not even a single shard of orange coloring the sky, and I didn’t recognize anything outside the car’s window.
There were no streetlights, no passing cars, no buildings. Nothing to give me even a hint of where we were. I felt my hands begin to sweat as I turned my gaze to Yerik, who was now gazing back at me every few seconds in the rearview mirror. Fear tightened my throat, but I quickly swallowed it down and glared at the driver.
“Mrs. Volkov will be upset you didn’t take me to my next appointment, Yerik,” I gritted out, making sure my voice didn’t shake and give away just how scared I was.
