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The list can wait. You can’t win every battle at once.
30
PAIGE
I wake up in the middle of the night with Misha’s body curled around me.
I’m not surprised to find him in bed with me. After everything we’ve talked about, I know he’ll stay.
Maybe that new certainty is why I can focus on the other thing that’s bothering me: the fact that my only friend outside of the immediate Orlov family still believes I’m dead.
I slide myself out of Misha’s arms. He stirs, but doesn’t wake up. I grab his discarded shirt and pull it on. Then I find my phone and pad out onto the balcony.
It’s cool outside, but I’m flushed with anxiety as I dial Rowan’s number. When she finally answers, her voice is groggy with sleep. “Hello?”
I can tell she didn't even check who was calling before answering. She sounds blissfully ignorant of what’s about to hit her.
“Rowan?” I say as gently as I can.
The initial silence is loaded. I imagine her pulling the phone away, checking the number like it can’t be real, and then lifting it to her ear again.
Still, she doesn’t say anything.
“Rowan, it’s me. It’s Paige.”
This wasn’t the right way to do this. I should have prepared her. Springing this on her with a phone call in the middle of the freaking night was not the right move.
So in the name of damage control, I speed through my explanation before she can freak out and hang up on me.
“Rowan, it's me. I know what you’ve heard. But it’s not true. I’m alive. The bombing was all just a ruse. I mean… not a ruse, exactly. There was a bomb that was meant for me and—” I stop talking when I realize I’m getting no response from the other side. “Rowan? Are you still there?”
I can hear the whistling of her breath.
“I’m so sorry I called like this. It was colossally stupid and selfish. I’m so sorry,” I say again.
“Paige?” she finally whispers.
“Yes.”
“It’s… it’s really you?”
“It’s really me.”
“You didn’t die?”
“No. Petyr’s attack was real, but someone else was in my car.” A lump rises to my throat at the thought of Rose. “I know this is a lot.”
“But… I spoke to Konstantin…”
“Misha thought it was best to let Petyr think that I was really dead. Which meant everyone needed to believe it. I was in bad shape for a while after the explosion. I wanted to tell you sooner, but—”
“Misha wouldn’t let you.”
“Not at the time, no.”
She’s still wary. “So he knows you’re calling me now?”
“I told him we could trust you. And he trusts me, so…”
