Papa knows I’m here. Or he will soon.
Lev is here too. Vika with him. Maybe already on their way to whatever beautiful hotel his family arranged. Maybe laughing about me. Maybe not thinking about me at all, which is worse.
I look at Roman’s reflection in the window.
His face is turned slightly away, expression unreadable, one hand resting on his thigh. He looks different in Moscow. Notmore relaxed. The opposite, in fact. As if the city has recognized him and he has recognized it back.
I glance at him. “Roman?”
“Yes?”
“What do you do?”
He turns his head slowly. There’s a pause. Not long enough to accuse him of hiding something, but long enough for my skin to notice.
“Investments,” he says.
I stare at him, my gut twisting. “That’s what men say when they do something illegal.”
This time, he does smile.
A real one. Brief, devastating, and entirely unhelpful.
“Sometimes it’s what men say when they dislike explaining themselves in cars.”
“That’s also suspicious.”
“You’re very suspicious for a woman who followed me into an airplane washroom.”
My face goes hot. “Don’t use that against me,” I say, making a face.
“I have many better uses for it.”
The heat in my face drops lower. I turn back to the window before he can see too much.
The car leaves the wider airport road and enters the city gradually. Traffic thickens. The buildings grow taller, older, grander. Snow clings to ledges and railings. The sky remains pale and heavy.
By the time we reach his building, I have stopped pretending I’m not nervous.
It’s not a hotel.
It’s not even simply an apartment building.
It’s something of dark stone with tall windows. A private entrance set back from the street. Two men outside who look like they’ve never smiled in their lives. The lobby beyond the glass doors glows with amber light and marble, elegant enough to make me aware of my messy hair, my overnight bag, and Roman’s jacket hanging off my shoulders like evidence.
“Roman,” I say quietly.
He pauses beside the open car door. “Yes?”
“I thought you were showing me Moscow.”
“I am.”
“This does not look like Red Square.”
“No. This is where you will shower, change, and eat something that’s not chocolate cake.”
“I liked the chocolate cake.”
