Page 23 of The Pakhan’s Hidden Heir

That stops her cold. “What?” Her eyes go wide as she sits straighter.

“Last week.” I turn my hand over under hers so we’re holding on to each other properly. “They were calling four, five times a day, you know that. You sat on my bed and heard them ring.”

I lift one shoulder. “Then last week it just stopped. Not one call since.” My suspicion is that they’ve gone to litigation, which means mail from my old apartment will start being forwarded to Bastian’s place.

But if he lets me go into town, I can pay them.

I just have to access my bank now.

I have money to pay for the worst parts. And when I conceive I can pay it all.

Lada’s grip tightens, and instead of the relief I expect her face goes tight with alarm. “The collectors don’t just stop, Raina. Debt like yours doesn’t evaporate. It scares me.”

“Look, I got an upfront advance on the payment.” I pull my hand back gently, without meaning to upset her. I’m not exactly lying, but letting her believe I paid them is the only way out of this graciously. “Not everything is a conspiracy.”

Before she can push any further, Ingrid appears at the terrace doors. “Ms. Volina, Mr. Dravenko has called for you. Is it a good time to step away?”

It’s a perfect time to step away.

We need to cool this down before we start arguing, and I need to let Lada sit with the assumption that I’ve paid my own bills, though the real mystery behind those calls stopping is nagging me now.

“He wants me,” I say, setting my napkin on the table and rising. “I’m sorry, Lada. I have to go and see what he needs.”

Lada looks up at me with more concern. “You’re running to him like a dog to a whistle.”

“I’m being polite to the man whose house I’m living in.” I lean down and kiss the top of her head to take the edge off the anger. “Ingrid will see you out. I’ll call you tonight, I promise.”

“Raina—”

“Tonight. I promise.” I catch Ingrid’s eye and give her a small nod, and she moves in to gather Lada and show her out, but I don’t stay to see her off.

I leave her there with the worry still on her face. I hate a little that I’m relieved to be walking away from the conversation, but I am.

Sometimes Lada can be a little persistent and I don’t think that conversation was going to end well at all.

It was already too heated. I have to do this now, because I signed a contract.

It doesn’t matter if she’s right and Bastian is the devil himself, which I hope she’s wrong, but I am legally obligated.

Or I have to pay his money back, and I really need that money.

I follow the sound of his voice down the hall to the study where he spends most of his mornings.

Bastian is standing by the window when I come in. He turns when he hears me. “There you are. I hope I didn’t pull you from your friend.”

“She was just leaving.” Only half a lie. If I hadn’t been interrupted, I may have ended lunch early anyway. “You needed me?”

“I wanted to tell you something before you noticed it and worried.” He takes the chair across from mine rather than the desk, which I notice anyway. “You’re going to see more men on the grounds soon. Extra guards, faces you won’t recognize. I didn’t want you looking out a window one afternoon, seeing strangers with the men you already know, and frightening yourself.”

My gut churns a little in anxious tension. Lada’s gotten into my head sewing her seeds of doubt and I’m not sure how to take this. “Thank you for telling me. I would have wondered.” Why do we need extra security? What’s happened?

He sighs contently but I have questions and I’m not going to be shy and hide from them anymore.

“Can I ask you something? Lada told me a man was killed. Shot in the street, somewhere in the city.” I watch his face for any shift, but he stays comfortably relaxed. “She seemed to think it might have something to do with you. Is that something I should be worried about?”

Bastian doesn’t so much as blink. “No. That’s nothing for you to be concerned with.” He leans forward, forearms on his knees so we’re closer to level. “I’ve told you before and I’ll keep telling you until you believe it. You are the most protected person within these walls. You have no reason to fear.”

The strange thing, the thing I wouldn’t admit to Lada if she pried it out of me, is that I believe him. I have no doubt he would protect my life to the death.