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“Did the Novikovs hire you for the wedding?” I ask. “Or was it the bride?”
Paige stares at me, a puzzled expression on her face at why I should care about that right now. “The Novikovs. They paid for it all. Why?”
“You met with no one else?” I ask.
“No. Andrei. Why?”
“It wasn’t chance.” I say as the strength seems to drain from my body. “You were always supposed to be at the wedding. You weren’t supposed to leave there alive. I kept wondering why they’d also go after you, someone so ordinary. But now, all the pieces have fallen into place.”
I place my face in my hands, frustrated and shamed by my ego.
“This …” I breathe. “This isn’t about the Bratva,” I continue. “This is aboutyourfamily. It always has been. The Bratva are players in yourfather’sgame. We have to talk to him if we want answers and to find Emma.”
Paige bites down on her lip. She looks at me with wide eyes, looking guilty as hell. “Yes, we have to talk to him. But it might be better if you did the talking.”
“Why?” I lean across the table and grasp her hands firmly in mine. “What other secrets are you keeping from me, my darling wife?”
She slips out of my grasp and stands. “Let’s go talk to him before it’s too late.”
Chapter 44
Paige
It wasn’t easy lying to Andrei, and I’m glad he didn’t press for the truth when I told him that Talia told me about the money. While she did do so, my father had already confirmed in before she took me.
Before I leave the room, my phone chimes. Finally, it’s a text from Kenney, claiming to have lost his phone. A thin lie, but safer to play along with it.
“Where is Emma?” I text him.
“Taken. I’m on it. I’ll call you,” he replies.
“Kenney, you better call me tonight.” I wait for a reply. Nothing. My hand trembles as I hand the phone to Andrei.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” I ask.
He shakes his head, placing the phone down on the table. “This only makes him seem guiltier. Let’s head downstairs.”
I’ve kept secrets. We all have, but I’ve pretended to be a good person when I’ve been as bad as the rest. The way Andrei looks at me makes me feel ashamed. If I had told the truth about so many things instead of letting my distrust sway me to lie, maybe this wouldn’t have happened to Emma.
Am I crazy?What Andrei does every day of his life isn’t right.
Do I constantly have to remind myself how I ended up here? Andrei didn’t ride up on a white horse and whisk me away. He shoved me into the back of a black SUV. But I do believe him now. I believe it when he says they wanted to kill me the day he kidnapped me.
Inessa looks up as I enter Dad’s room. Instead of her sassy look, her expression shows genuine concern. Everyone here likes Emma, and there’s comfort in knowing that. They’ll do everything they can to get her back unharmed.
When Andrei enters, Inessa stands up from her chair and silently slips out of the room. Dmitri soon enters and takes his place by the door. He hangs back, away from the bed, his phone out and shining a bright light in his eyes.
“I thought you were talking to my father?” I ask Andrei.
“I am, but Gerald may say something that we need to act on fast,” he replies, nodding in Dmitri’s direction. “The guards are waiting for orders.”
I feel better knowing that Emma will eventually be safe. Kenney refuses to answer his phone or my texts. When I see him again, I’m going to shove his cell phone up his ass.
My father is lying in bed, peacefully asleep and unaware of the chaos unfolding around him. His body is thin and frail, and the skin stretches like parchment over his bones. His face is serene, despite the harshness of the LED lights attached to the bedframe.
I still feel tenderness for him, especially when I see him like this. I want to reach out and touch him, to take the creases of worry from his forehead and smooth them away.
Instead, I stand quietly near the door, my eyes burning with tears. I try to remember what our lives were like before. The love I felt for him and how everything changed when his secret life hurled us into danger.
