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“Hey, you’re home early,” she says cheerfully.
A man in his mid-thirties comes into view, and the sight of him sends my anxiety skyrocketing. The way he walks looks like he’s on the prowl to kill something. Or someone.
God, he looks intimidating.
He smiles at Rosalie and gives her a kiss. “I missed you,Moya malen'kaya roza.”
Hearing him speak Russian makes goosebumps spread over my body, and before I know what I’m doing, I pick up Vincent.
“Mommy!” my little boy snaps. “I’m playing.”
Viktor’s eyes snap to me, and it feels like I’m hit with a thousand-pound hammer. Instinctively I take a step backward.
“Who’s this?” he asks Rosalie.
“She’s the friend I told you about. Viktor meet Everleigh.” She glances in my direction, and the smile drops from her face. “What’s wrong?”
Another man comes into sight, and my heart explodes from my chest. My legs give way, and I sink to the tiles, my arms locking tightly around Vincent.
Alek.
With wide eyes, I stare at the man I love, unable to make a sound. The shock makes my vision tunnel on him.
Alek.
He glances from Viktor to me, and I watch as the blood drains from his face. He shakes his head as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing.
An eternity passes between us.
The long darkness where it was just the two of us. Watching him getting beaten. Watching the skin being torn from his back. Vincent being killed. Alek being shot because he pushed me out of the way.
His father dragging me out into a field and shooting me like an animal.
All the hell we’ve been through is laid bare between us.
I hear voices and feel as Rosalie crouches beside me. She pulls my crying son from my arms, and all I can do is stare at his father.
He still looks the same…yet he doesn’t. He’s taller than I remember, and his body is more muscled. His face looks older, all the boyishness gone from his features.
He looks just as scary as Viktor.
Alek shakes his head again, his features tightening until he looks devastatingly broken.
My breaths saw over my lips. My heart hammers uncontrollably, and I start to feel dizzy.
Alek
I stare at the ghost of Everleigh, thinking I’ve completely lost it.
Today I’ll be locked up in a padded cell.
I hear Viktor’s voice. “Is your friend okay?”
“I don’t know,” Rosalie answers as she rushes to Everleigh’s side. “She’s having an anxiety attack. Make some sugar water.”
I watch as Rosalie takes the crying boy from Everleigh’s arms, and it becomes too real.
I shake my head, and still, I see Everleigh.
