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There’s a heartbeat of silence. “I can’t retrieve you personally, and there is nobody that I trust enough to send in my stead. It’s too dangerous for me to travel to that part of Europe, at the moment.” There’s another crackle as he pulls in a breath. “You will have to meet me somewhere.”
Trepidation squeezes my chest.
This is a risk—the last two men I trusted, Laurent and Alexander, put my life in danger. Why would my father be any different when he’s hurt me before? I’ve run out of options, though. As close as I am to Tara and Nya, I wouldn’t want them to help me with escaping. Alexander would torture the truth out of them.
As far as I see it, there’s only one choice to make.
“We’re going on winter break soon.” I swallow around the lump in my throat. “That’s the earliest I will be able to leave.”
He grunts, almost as if he’s dissatisfied with my answer.
“Leave now. I can have a jet ready for you in Moscow in twelve hours to take you to me.”
My hands shake. “I can’t,” I say, looking around at my friends. There’s no way I’ll be able to sneak away without Ezra and Vance knowing—withoutAlexanderknowing. Moscow is almost four hours away by plane.
“Why is that?” The threatening voice is back.
I wipe a bead of sweat from my brow. “I can’t leave right now without being followed.” That's all I can manage. Anything else might risk his ire. I hate it here, but I also need time to devise a plan to deal with him and Alexander. “But by winter break, things should be easier.”
It’s two weeks away. If I can wait two weeks, so can he.
“This conversation isn’t over, mon trésor,” he says. “I have to go.”
The phone goes dead.
Instantly, emptiness sweeps through my insides, leaving me with a bone-deep chill. I don’t even have time to process my emotions, for the moment I get off the phone, Tara and Nya crowd me. The look on their faces tells me I didn’t do a good enough job of hiding how stressful the conversation was.
“Is everything okay?” Nya speaks first, putting a hand on my shoulder.
Tara’s eyes skim my face. I quickly wipe what’s left of the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand. I can’t tell them the truth.
“I’ll be fine,” I say. “I just…” I take a deep, shuddering breath. “I just got some new information that has changed a lot for me. I need some time to process it, that's all.”
They give me sympathetic looks, their gazes burning into mine.
“Your father,” Tara says knowingly.
My breath catches, but there’s no angry reaction from them.
Nya gives me a glum smile. “We all know what it means when you switch languages.” Her lips curl. “If you hear me on the phone talking in Swahili, I’m definitely getting my ass handed to me.”
Despite the cloud of sadness, it pulls a smile from me.
“Yes,” I say, finally. “My fucking father.”
It feels like a weight lifts off my shoulders to admit it. Just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse, my father has added a new layer to the maelstrom that is now my life. I need time to process it, and figure out what to do.
I’ve been lied to by Laurent this entire time.
I’m the daughter of akiller.
And my murderer of a father wants me to run away from my equally dangerous fake fiancéeto meet him. Now that my father knows where I am, it’ll be harder to escape him if I want actual freedom.
I’ll have to manipulate this situation to get what I want.
Tara and Nya hook their arms with mine and we start walking into the nearest store, a Dior. Vance and Ezra are already inside. Vance is signing an autograph, while Ezra is sipping champagne, still reading his book. He looks up when we enter.
Ezra gives me a curious look, but doesn’t say anything.
