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My entire body goes rigid at the mention of her name.
Of course Akim knew Emily. Why didn’t I think of that before?
Maybe because you were too busy getting bent over the hood of Timofey’s car to use your brain?
“What was she like?”
I’m not sure why I even asked. There is no answer Akim can give that will make me feel better.
If she’s exactly like me, then I’ll feel like some kind of sick replacement for the woman Timofey lost.
If she’s nothing like me, then I’ll feel like I don’t have a shot in hell of being with him.
Not that I want to be with him. Or that I should be with him. That isn’t my goal here…
Is it?
Akim sighs, drawing me out of my pathetic, frantic thoughts. “She was… she was really amazing. Such a sweet person. Incredibly beautiful.”
Yeah, this isn’t helpful. I want to go back in time and withdraw my question.
“That makes sense,” I say. “Timofey is ridiculously handsome.”
Akim frowns. “I mean, they aren’t related. So I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
I wrinkle my nose and turn to him. “Obviously, they aren’t related! Gross.”
He stares at me for a second, looking confused, and then shrugs. “Anyway, she was amazing. Timofey was always more at ease around her. They’d known each other for a long time, so he was more himself with her than with most people. It was good to see.”
What did it look like when Timofey was being more like himself? Was he the gentle version I saw the other day? Maybe he even smiled when he was around her.
Jealousy twists in my gut, hot and foul.
“Then they had a falling out and things changed,” Akim continues.
That’s right—Timofey may have killed her. I was too busy being jealous to remember how things turned out for Emily. Her position isn’t exactly enviable.
“Oh. That’s too bad. Was it a serious argument?” I ask. “Were they able to sort it out before she was killed, or…?”
Akim opens his mouth to respond. Then, all at once, he lowers the remote and turns to me. The usually lighthearted chef is suddenly serious. “What are you asking me, Piper?”
I feign innocence as best I can. “I’m not asking anything. I just wondered if they put their differences aside before she was—before she died. Were they still together?”
He shakes his head. “Have you talked to Timofey about any of this?”
I snort. “You said it yourself: he isn’t exactly an open book.”
“Right.” He clicks off the television and stands up. “Maybe I should follow his lead then.”
I reach for him. “Wait! Don’t go. If you can’t talk about it for whatever reason, then don’t. If it wouldn’t be safe for you, I won’t press.”
“Ask Timofey whatever you want, but I should probably keep my mouth shut from this point on.”
Before I can say anything else, Akim hands me his bowl of specialty popcorn and hurries out of the living room like I’ve started another fire.
71
PIPER
