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“The entire lullaby was bad,” Ivan argued.
Andrei shrugged. “She liked it, and that’s all that mattered.”
“Gave Antony nightmares.”
The three of us stood over her grave, swapping stories about the woman none of us ever truly got to know. Even after eleven years with her, my mother was still as much a mystery to me as she was to the man she had been married to and the other child she birthed. Because the woman I grew up with had been changed by the cruel world that had taken her.
Ava stood by my side quietly, her eyes drifting closed as she leaned into me. My Little Red had been fighting jetlag for half the day. I picked her up in my arms, and she gave a small groan of protest before I narrowed my eyes at her in warning. That shut her up fast, and instead, she leaned her head against my shoulder as I walked through the cemetery toward the line of SUVs waiting for us. By the time I reached the car, she was fast asleep in my arms.
Vas opened the back door, and I gently slid inside, careful not to wake her. Once Vas was behind the wheel, I nodded at him that we were good to go. He pulled out from the curb, following the route to take us to the hotel.
My phone dinged in my pocket, and I dug it out.
Tell her to stop looking.
It came from an unknown number, but it could only be one person.
You know I can’t do that, Kenzi.
Day after day, my wife had been leaving messages for her sister to come home. She had Mark scouring every inch of CCTV footage she could get her hands on, hoping to catch a glimpse of her sister.
It’s too dangerous. I could have seriously hurt her.
That was an excuse.
But you didn’t.
I’d bet money that Kenzi hadn’t known about the hidden phrase she’d been trained to obey. It wasn’t uncommon practice when brainwashing someone to hide a subliminal message deep in their consciousness. We had been lucky that Kenzi seemed to be relatively immune to it.
And you won’t.
She didn’t answer, but I sent her another text anyway.
June 24th. I’ll send you a pin for the address. Don’t miss your sister’s big day because you are too scared to face it and too prideful to ask for help.
I threw my phone on the seat of the car and wrapped my arms tighter around the woman snuggled up to my chest.
My life.
My love.
The woman who had stolen my heart and would never give it back.
I watched the wreckage of my childhood fly by out the windows as we drove through St. Petersburg. My mother’s family had been buried here for generations, and it was where she had always wanted to be buried as well.
I thought it would be painful to come back here, even after all the time that had passed, but I realized that the memories were only painful if I let them be. My childhood had been paved with blood and pain, my life often hanging on by the tip of a knife, but none of that mattered anymore. Because each and every decision had led me to this exact moment and to the woman I loved.
Sometimes the most beautiful things were forged from the pain of the past.
And I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.
CHAPTERTHIRTY
THREE MONTHS LATER
Iwanted her to be here, but there hadn’t been any sign of her since that fateful night four months ago. Kenzi had all but dropped off the map. Matthias said that there was hope for her since she hadn’t seemed to respond fully to the built-in command she had been given over the phone.
A phrase.
