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He takes a deep breath and then pulls me away. He leans down and looks into my eyes, his mouth a serious slash. “You are Cora fucking St. Clair.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It meanseverything. Everything, Cora.” He squeezes my shoulders. “You are going to clean yourself up and walk back in there like nothing happened.”
I shake my head. “I’m not like you. This isn’t my world. I don’t know how to do any of this.”
“You are. It is. And you do.” He presses a kiss to my forehead, his lips lingering there before he finally pulls away. “I have to go. But I’m going to see you soon.”
Instinctively, I dig my fingers into his arm. Gently, he pries my hands away and wraps his fingers around mine for one brief squeeze.
Then he’s gone.
And I’m all by myself again.
26
CORA
It takes a full thirty seconds after Ivan has left the bathroom for me to feel the small lump he left in my palm.
I open my hand and find a necklace. It’s a circular locket with intricate designs worked into the gold. It looks like the petals of a peony. It looks like the engagement ring Ivan gave me.
I glance down at my left hand. For as much as I hated the gaudy ring at first, I miss it now that it’s gone. I hope Francia isn’t wearing it. If she is, I’ll make sure she chokes on it before she dies.
I flick the tiny latch on the locket and it springs open. A tiny strip of paper falls out. I unfurl it with trembling fingers.
Wear this and I will always find you.
Tears burn the backs of my eyes. I press the locket against my chest and try to gather up these last few minutes I had with Ivan. I want to hold them close and use them to help me make it through the next however many days I have left in this prison.
Then I hear Ivan’s voice in my head.
You are Cora fucking St. Clair.
He has a plan and I am stronger than I think. So I take a deep breath and get to work.
I flush the strip of paper down the toilet and drop the locket into my pocket. I can’t walk out wearing a piece of jewelry I didn’t have going in. I’ll figure out how to make sure it can hang proudly around my neck soon.
Until then, Ivan told me to clean myself up. I turn to the mirror and—holy hell. My lipstick is smudged around my swollen mouth, my eyeliner has gone smokey, and my hair is falling out of the loose bun I had it twisted into.
As quickly as I can, I clean up the blurred edges of my makeup and redo my hair. It’s not perfect, but Mikhail has been so busy showing me off that he hasn’t really bothered to look at me.
But as soon as I step into the restaurant’s dining room, Mikhail is waiting by the hallway. He grabs my arm and pulls me towards the back patio.
“We’re leaving,” he hisses.
I feel like I’m suddenly standing under a black light, signs of Ivan blazing across every inch of my skin. He’s going to smell Ivan on me.
He’ll see what I’ve been doing. He knows.
I take a deep breath and do my best to look confused. “What? We haven’t even eaten yet.”
He spins around so he’s in front of me. His pale face looks yellow in the direct sunlight. “Where were you?”
I snap, “I was in the bathroom. Can I not even go to the bathroom by myself now?”
His hand tightens around my wrist, but his eyes shift over my shoulder towards the dining room. People are watching us. He loosens his grip and smiles.
