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“I doubt he’s that excited to meet me, Ashlyn,” I say. It’s kind enough for her boyfriend to allow me to stay here, but I doubt there’s a person on this planet who is excited to have someone crash at their home.
Ashlyn’s eyes brighten. “No really, Taty. You’ll see.” She leans her head back into the hallway. “Sweetie, guess who just came downstairs to meet you!”
A dark shadow rises against the marble floor of the hallway and climbs towards the far wall as Ashlyn’s boyfriend approaches from the kitchen, appearing in the doorway next to Ashlyn. She throws her arms around his waist, swings off his torso and extends her arm towards me. “Look baby, it’s Taty!”
His tattooed arms grab Ashlyn and breaks her vice-like grip on his body before walking towards me.
Ashlyn doesn’t need to tell me who this is. I already know. It’s Bruno, the man who I reported to as a spy in Chicago.
“Father told me you were on your way,” Bruno says as he continues to walk towards me. He’s smiling as if my presence here planned.
My mouth hangs open, not understanding what that meant. “Who is your father, and how did he know I was coming?” I ask.
Bruno smiles at me condescendingly. “Did you think you’d be able to escape Russia on your own? My father made sure they did not stop you at the airport. He knows as well as Ashlyn that you belong here with me.”
“What are you talking about?” I demand. Something had felt off ever since I came back to Chicago. Ashlyn’s physical changes, the way she’s been acting, bringing me here… none of it feels right.
I turn to Ashlyn. “Is this a part some of plan?”
“An agreement would be a more fitting description,” Bruno answers. “Arkady sent you from Russia to watch over the Lane family.” Bruno looks at me with a threatening glare. “But while you were here, I watched overyou. I wanted to be sure wouldn’t do anything to violate the terms of our agreement.”
“What agreement?” I shout at Bruno.
He walks to me and cups my chin in his hand like I’m a trinket of his.
“You’re off limits,” he hisses at me. “Even if you’re in America. Even if they sent you here on a mission. Your father made an agreement with my family, and I’ll make sure it’s honored.”
I snap my head to the side, tearing myself from his grasp. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Bruno’s smile widens across this stubbled jaw. “Your father was a desperate man. He’d sell anything he could to stay alive. Including his own daughter,” he says as his eyes glow in triumph.
A gasp echoes through the foyer before I realize it came from me. It makes sense. My father and I served Arkady and his men ever since the day they attacked our village. I always knew Arkady served some larger family, but never knew who.
Tears burn the corner of my eyes as I try to make sense of what Bruno is telling me. “I served Arkady–”
“You were Arkady’s ward!” Bruno shouts at me. “You were property of the Stepanov family. My father Boris gave you to me because I demanded it. You’ve been my property for the last ten years, Tatyana. To be in my possession when my father no longer saw the need for you.”
A flood of memories fill my head when Bruno finishes. From the moment I came to Chicago, I tried to make friends and even had some men ask me out on a date. Within days after talking, the men would act as if they had never met me. It happened over and over.
Until I met Ashlyn.
I turn to her with my cheeks hot in anger. “All this time, you were never my friend…” I whisper to her. I raise a tense finger at Bruno. “You were just followinghiscommand.”
“That’s not true!” Ashlyn protests. “Well, not all of it. I’m really your friend, Taty-”
“Stop calling me that!” I shout at Ashlyn. She leans her head to the side in a motherly sort of way, but I can see it for the lie it is.
“Tatyana,” Ashlyn says gingerly. “When you and I first met, we really were friends. Boris just followed me one day and asked me to watch over you, and that’s what I’ve done.”
“Watch over me?” I repeat. “You kept me from making new friends. You stopped me from talking to men. You always found some problem with them, and I listened to you because I trusted you. All this time, I thought you were just being a good friend.” I want to break down and cry over Ashlyn’s betrayal, but I don’t want to show any weakness to either of them.
“Bruno and I didn’t start dating until recently!” Ashlyn yells as if it helps.
“Tell me,” I say, glaring at Ashlyn’s red hair, her new breasts, and Bruno’s house. “Did these changes with you happen before you started dating, or after?”
Ashlyn’s face grows red as she draws back her lips. “I don’t have to explain myself to you!” she shouts.
“You’ll change too,” Bruno says. He walks closer to me with a lustful gaze in his eyes. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were perfect. I ordered my father to give you to me as a gift, and he did.”
