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What I wouldn’t give to be able to burn the world down and rebuild it for her. If I had the kind of power Kirill has at my disposal, Yuliana would have the best doctors and tutors. She’d have therapists and psychiatrists and anything she could possibly need.
We walk through the front doors and halfway down the sidewalk before I remember I don’t have my car here.
Then I remember why I don’t have my car.
Panic zings through me as I look up to where Kirill dropped me off. The space is empty. His car isn’t there. For the first time in his life, he took direction from someone else. It’s a miracle.
I dig into my pocket for my phone to order a ride. I normally wouldn’t waste the money, but it’s been a long day and Yuliana doesn’t need the stimulation of a public bus.
“It’ll be just a minute. Mama doesn’t have her car today,” I tell her. “I’m going to get us a ride.”
Yuliana doesn’t respond, which isn’t surprising. But she’s staring down the street, captivated. I follow her gaze and my fingers freeze over my phone. My heart stops.
The black car is double parked next to a moving van, only the trunk and taillights visible. But Kirill is standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring.
Not at me…
But at Yuliana.
“Shit.” I grab Yuliana and pull her behind me as if I might be able to hide her from view. Like there’s any chance at all I can recover the upper hand in this situation.
Why didn’t I check to make sure he was gone? Why didn’t I call for a car from inside? Why did I let Kirill come with me in the first place?
The answer to every question is the same: I wasn’t thinking.
Kirill is moving towards us with purpose, and even now, my mind is blank. Completely and utterly blank. I have no plan. No excuse. No explanation.
I just stand on the sidewalk, my hand wrapped around Yuliana’s, and wait.
Kirill stops a few paces away. He looks from me to Yuliana and back again, silently taking in the pair of us.
He’ll figure it out. I know he will. This is Kirill Zaitsev we’re talking about. He sees everything, catalogs everything, comprehends everything.
And Yuliana looks exactly like him.
“I thought you left,” I say weakly.
His jaw clenches. “I looped around the block.”
I shouldn’t have expected anything less from Kirill. He’d never leave me behind. Not with so little information.
He opens his mouth to say something else, but before he can, Yuliana tugs on my arm.
I look down, and she’s staring at Kirill with wide, green eyes.Hisgreen eyes. “Mama,” she whispers, ducking her chin and talking into my leg, “who is that?”
29
KIRILL
Mama.
The little girl said it softly, but I know what I heard.
“Mama?” I repeat, looking to Rayne.
It’s impossible to believe that, less than an hour ago, she was splayed out naked on my board room table. It’s been a lifetime since then.
Rayne won’t even look at me now. She bends down to talk to the girl. “This is Kirill,” she says. “He’s a… a friend. He gave me a ride to come and get you.”
