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“He did, and Roman gets hives if he lies, so you have nothing to worry about.” It was a bald-faced lie, but I didn’t give a fuck about that right now. All I wanted was for her to stop worrying her bottom lip between her teeth before she made it bleed. “They’ll be here soon.”

I crossed the few feet between us and sat beside her, leaving enough space she wouldn’t feel boxed in. I’d learned that lesson faster than the others, though I didn’t deserve credit for it. I’d been the one holding a knife while she sat chained to a chair. Apparently I’d needed to traumatize a woman before remembering that most people preferred a little breathing room.

Not one of my finer moments.

Anika rubbed both hands over her thighs in a nervous motion. “I don’t understand who would want her.”

“They may not want Nora. Don’t give me that look.” I smiled at her glare and chuckled. “You know I’m right. I’m terrible at making people feel better, but I can give you the truth, which helps you prepare.”

“That might be the first completely believable thing you’ve said.” She glanced past me toward one of the courtyards we’d crossed on the way out. Two little boys kicked a soccer ball against a stone wall while an older woman carried a basket of laundry toward one of the smaller buildings. We’d offered them their own washers and dryers in their homes, but they liked the community of a single building for the purpose of laundering together. One of my guards tried to steal something from a tray another woman carried, which earned him a smack across the knuckles and a lecture in thick Russian. Anika shook her head. “This place is weird.”

“That’s rude. We work very hard on the landscaping.”

“Not the flowers.” She waved toward the compound. “The people. There are kids everywhere. Old ladies. Families. I saw a woman pushing a stroller past two men with guns. She smiled at them, and they smiled back.” Her brows pulled together as she studied me. “It’s not what I expected.”

I smiled and bumped her shoulder with mine, retreating a beat later. “See. You’re learning. We’re assholes, but we’re not all bad.”

“Debatable.” She rubbed the dark bruises around her wrists. “This all still feels like a fucking nightmare. I want to wake up. I want to be in my bakery making something delicious or curled up with Nora watching her favorite movie for the millionth time. I never did anything to deserve this.” Her chest hitched with a shuddering breath.

Damn me to hell if she wished, but I put my arm over her shoulders and let her sink in closer, comforting her the only way I thought she might allow. “I would magic fairy dust you back home if I could. But while this is a nightmare to you, it is a miracle to me.”

“You’re insane.” She laughed, bold and bright as a newly rising sun.

My entire body recognized the sound before she bit it off. Five years disappeared so quickly I could almost smell the hotel suite again. She’d laughed when Roman told her she was going to fall in her ridiculous shoes, and she’d dared him to take them off of her, laughing when he did just that. “Insane, yes. But damn I missed that laugh.”

She swallowed hard, her head swinging around so fast she nearly clipped me in the chin. “You remember my laugh?” Her eyes narrowed, mouth flattening into a thin line. “I’ve always hated it.”

“Don’t. It’s a beautiful sound. So full of life and emotion. I have very little of that, and hearing you happy reminds me there is good in the world.” I shouldn’t have said anything, but after the shit we’d put her through, she deserved at least a little truth from me.

“You’ve known me for one night and one kidnapping.” She shifted so our knees bumped together.

“Technically this is our second night.”

She shot me a look. “Not helping your status.”

“Sorry.” I stilled, unable to remember the last time I had apologized to anyone. My chest ached with the genuine sorrow of my actions, but despite my typical proclivity with words, they failed me in the apology department. This was why Maksim apologized by buying things and Roman treated them like negotiations.

She stopped worrying the thread on her sweater. “You scared the hell out of me on purpose. One sorry isn’t going to fix that.”

I rubbed a hand over my beard, the other arm tightening a tiny bit on her shoulder. She must have forgotten it was there, because she tensed. “I should’ve stopped it sooner. I believed there was a chance you were playing us, but the bigger part of me believed you.”

“Why did you think you needed to scare me like that?” It was a genuine question, spoken so low I almost missed it, and she resumed pulling on the thread of the three thousand dollar sweater.

I bet if I told her how much it cost, she’d take a torch to it. Or a pair of scissors. Better if we didn’t let her have access to either for a while. I could tell her that fear loosened tongues faster than pain. People lied when they thought they were safe and made mistakes when fear gripped their hearts in a tight fist. I’d done far worse to men for far less money and slept perfectly afterward. But none of those answers belonged here, because they merely proved her point.

“I thought if we pushed you hard enough, you’d tell the truth. In our world, lies are as bountiful as these flowers.” I motioned at the thick cascade of flowers covering every surface. “Every word spoken must be evaluated, tested, and kept suspect.”

“That’s fucked up, Kirill.” The stiffness in her shoulders remained, but she relaxed slightly into my side.

“Yes.” I rested my cheek on top of her head. “Yes, it’s very fucked up. If not for Maksim and Roman, I would have no one I trusted.” We lived in a brutal world, and I would not pretend otherwise, not even to spare Anika.

Anika drew one knee up and wrapped her arms around it. “I keep trying to decide which of you is the worst.”

“Roman.” I answered without hesitation. “Absolutely. Hands down. Did you know that he sleeps like a dead chicken?” I cranked my neck back, making a face at the same time. “Like this.”

A deep belly laugh rolled out, and she slapped a hand over her mouth. “You’re awful.” The words were whispered between her fingers, and she shook her head when I grinned. Groaning, she dropped her forehead to her knee. “This is all too much.”

“I’m sorry you were hurt, Anika, but I cannot in good faith or with any honesty say that I’m sorry you’re here with us again.” I rubbed my hand up and down her spine, enjoying the softness in an obscene way. I could stop there, but I didn’t want to. I wanted her to know how she messed with our heads. It was only right that I give her back a bit of power. “When we realized you were gone, we tore the place apart in hopes of finding you. Before we knew about the money. We wanted you, Anika. Just you.”