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Kirill made a noise behind me that I ignored as Miss Helen crossed the distance and hugged me when I stood with Nora on my hip. For the first time since waking at that disgusting auction–I was going to have to ask what they were doing there in the first place–all the fear evaporated. We were okay. I had Nora with me, and nothing else mattered.
Nora propped her chin on my shoulder and pointed at Kirill. “Is he a prince?”
Kirill blinked slowly, and I chuckled at the shocked expression on his face. “Why would he be a prince?”
“Because the princes in your stories have big houses and guards.” She said it so simply, like it made perfect sense to her.
Heat climbed into my cheeks. “That’s just a story.”
“But he has a big house and guards,” Nora insisted.
Kirill cleared his throat. “It isn’t technically my house.”
That gave Nora pause, and she returned his slow blink with a frown. “If you live in it, it’s your house.”
I loved that she didn’t ask him if he did. She simply assumed, and probably rightly so, that he belonged here. They all did. Not me and Nora, or Miss Helen.
Nora smiled at Kirill, and his grin softened around the edges, his gaze lingering on her curls before he swung around to look at me.
Footsteps approached again, and I muttered a soundless curse under my breath. Not this bullshit again. The thought came as soon as I saw the expressions on Maksim’s and Roman’s faces. Roman took in the scene with a quick glance. “We need you in security.”
“No.” I adjusted Nora on my hip. “Whatever’s happening can happen without me. I’m done.”
“It involves you.” He stopped several feet away, but his eyes held a dangerous glint that reminded me of the version of him I’d met downstairs. “There’s something you need to see.”
“I’m not leaving Nora.” I shook my head, adamant about staying with my daughter. We’d just gotten back to each other. Yes, it had only been a few days, but I’d been kidnapped, interrogated, and then kissed one of my captors on those few days. I was done with this mess.
“She can stay here.” Maksim inclined his head toward the room behind Helen. “She’ll be safe here, inside the residential wing.” He raised two fingers, and three men stepped forward. “They will watch her.”
Over my dead body.
“Nika.” Miss Helen’s use of the nickname pulled me back from the brink. “Go see what they need. I’ve got her.” She squeezed my shoulder.
She could stay here, I knew that. I knew she’d be safe. That didn’t make it any easier to let her go. Miss Helen held out her arms, and Nora leaned into them, grinning at me the whole time.
Maksim gestured toward the hallway. “Come.”
“Keep your caveman orders to yourself.” I fisted my hands, the ache of emptiness intensifying as I followed Roman through a set of doors and down a short corridor. I expected another interrogation room and almost recoiled when Roman opened a reinforced door, but the space beyond looked like NASA had developed a cocaine habit and moved into a billionaire’s basement. Screens covered one wall, showing gates, hallways, exterior roads, and what looked like half the property–including the gardens where I’d kissed Kirill–from different angles.
I barely made it into the room before I saw her on the middle screen. Alina stood behind the front gates with both hands tucked into the pockets of her ivory coat, smiling up at the camera like this whole thing was a game.
My stomach dropped so hard I put a hand out to catch myself. No fucking way.
Her hair was shorter than mine, falling just below her shoulders, and she’d dyed it since the last time I saw her. None of that mattered. I’d know my twin if she shaved her head, put on a clown face, and walked backward through the streets. She was my flesh and blood. I knew the angle of her chin, the slight curl of her mouth when she thought she knew more than everyone else in the room…which was often true. She was brilliant and infuriating. “Alina.”
All three men stiffened. Kirill drifted closer but kept his hands to himself. “You’re sure?”
“Unless Mom squeezed out a secret triplet and forgot to mention it, yes.” I stared at the screen, trying to reconcile the woman outside with the sister I hadn’t seen in months. “How can you have any doubts? If all it takes is a haircut and dye job to fool you, you’re all fucked.”
Maksim pulled out a chair. “You need to stay right here.”
I snorted and crossed my arms, refusing to sit. “Trust me, hot shot. I have no intention of running out there for a tearful reunion.”
“Good.” Kirill took the chair Maksim had offered me and propped his feet up on the console.
Roman swatted at Kirill’s Italian leather loafers and pressed a button, leaning toward a microphone. “State your name and purpose.”
Alina laughed. I’d heard that laugh a thousand times growing up. Usually right before she did something stupid Mom would blame us both for. Hearing it come through the speakers made every hair on my arms lift.
