Page 36 of Fractured Ties

“No, I was just looking around,” she said.

“You’re free to do that.”

Good to know.

“This isn’t your house, is it?” she asked.

Kolya’s lips edged higher at the corners—a ghost of a smile. “What makes you think that?”

“Because it looks like a showroom, and not a home.”

“Perhaps I am impersonal about my space.”

No, she doubted that.

“I don’t think so,” she returned.

Kolya nodded. “It’s not my place—it’s a … mutually owned and used house for certain people, should they need it.”

She wasn’t sure what he meant.

But whatever.

“Why bring me here, then?”

This time, Kolya did smile.

And laugh.

The sound was shocking. It wasn’t the same kind of laugh he had given to Sumerki earlier, but rather, a deeper bass that made Maya’s skin tingle.

Why?

Because he looked so damned good doing it.

“Because, Maya,” Kolya said, “my place is one step up from the dog kennels you were going to sleep in tonight, had I not taken you out of there. I figured you might appreciate being comfortable.”

Huh.

She had so many questions.

So many things to ask.

To know.

Yet she didn’t know where to start.

“Good night,” Kolya murmured, turning his back to her. “I’m sure you’ll find me if you need me, Maya.”

“Wait.”

His broad back stiffened, and his footsteps hesitated. Still, he didn’t turn around.

Maya decided to ask what she figured was the most important question she had at the moment. “What’s going to happen to me now?”

She didn’t expect him to answer.

Or perhaps to give her another vague response that left her with more questions.