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“What’re you doing?” Vanya’s voice quivered impatiently as she watched Zafira calmly tie her walking shoes.
Zafiraglanced sideways at her. “I’m getting ready for my morning walk with Andrei. He said the clean morning air will do me good and aid in my quick recovery. I have to admit, he was right. I’m feeling much stronger since our arrival here. Playing comatose in that hospital bed for over a month didn’t do me any good.” She shrugged. “It kept me alive longer but it weakened my muscles.” She flexed her arms and stretched out her legs. “At least my strength is returning. Slowly, but surely.”
“What are you—I don’t believe what I’m hearing! Getting ready for your morning walk? What am I, chopped liver? Do you even see me? Know that I’m here?”
“Don’t be silly, darling. Of course, I know you’re here. There’s nothing wrong with my mind. It’s just my body that took a bit of a beating.” Zafira sat down at the dressing table and leisurely brushed her hair.
“Then let’s go. I came here to take you away from that… that bastard! Now. Let’s go.”
An amused grin spread over Andrei’s face where he leaned against the doorway quietly observing the scene. Vanya’s fiery passion was what had first drawn him to her, like a moth to a flame. Even now, he could see it in every fiber of her being as she argued with her mother.
Her dark eyes flashed as she spoke with razor-sharp fervor. Through personal experience, he had intimate knowledge that she loved with an all-consuming intensity that frightened away most men. Everything Vanya did, she did with a passion. It burned within her, an untamable force that both enthralled and terrified those around her.
Andrei had always been thrilled at the way she embraced life so completely, so recklessly. While others tiptoed cautiously through existence, Vanya grabbed it by the horns and rode it. She felt everything deeply, painfully, wonderfully. He envied the raw force that motivated her. It stirred the embers within his own soul.
No matter the circumstances they were in, he was still drawn to her fiery spirit. He believed he always would be.
Vanya threw her hands in the air as Zafira fastened her hair into a french roll, unmoved by her daughter’s insistence to leave.
“I don’t understand you, Mom. How could you not want to leave? Andrei Balan—”
“Smirnoff, darling. He’s insistent about that. His name isn’t Balan anymore,” Zafira calmly interrupted.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Vanya muttered.
Andrei got the impression that she rolled her eyes but with her back turned to him, he had no way of knowing for sure.
“Whatever the asshole prefers to be called. He, that fuckface, is the one who attempted to kill you, and yet you’re in no hurry to leave.”
“Did he, though?” Zafira turned to look at Vanya. She seemed serene, at peace as she folded her hands on her lap and stared at her daughter.
“Did he what?”
“Try to assassinate me. Personally, I’m not so sure he was the one.”
“You’re not…” Vanya stumbled back and sat down on the bed as she stared at her in disbelief. “I’m lost. Did that asshole brainwash you, Mom? Of course, he’s the one who shot you. He promised he would get rid of all the Guzuns, or did you happen to forget that little tidbit of information?”
“Actually,”—Zafira cleared her throat,—“he promised to kill you, not all the Guzuns. We were just warned not to get in the way.”
“Well, thank you for that clarification.” Vanya jumped up. “I’m done asking nicely. C’mon. We’re going home. Now!”
“I’m not going anywhere, Vanya.” Zafira got up to place her hands on Vanya’s cheeks.
Andrei knew from personal experience that the soft, yet steely touch of theComare’shands on your face had the quiet force to calm anyone.
“Listen to me, darling. If Andrei was so set on killing me, why would he bring me here, nurse me back to health, and keep me alive? No, I’ve had time to think this over. I don’t believe he’s the one who shot me. In fact, I actually think he’s the one who saved me that day.”
“What do you mean, saved you?”
Zafira briefly relayed her recollection of that day, which induced another verbal explosion from Vanya.
“And, of course, he’s the one who put that little story in your mind.Blyad’, Mom! You know what happened in Russia. You know how much he had come to hate all the Guzuns. How could you fall for his ploy? All he did was soften you up and turn you.”
“To what end, darling? He has nothing to gain from me siding with him.”
“He has everything to gain.” She spread her arms wide. “It got me here, didn’t it? And instead of you chasing me off immediately, I’m still here, taking the chance that he might find me here. Isn’t that what he wants? To get to me so he can kill me… like he promised?”
Zafira turned pale. “You’re right. I was so happy to see you, I didn’t think.” She pulled Vanya to her feet. “Go. He’ll be back from his run soon, but there’s still time. Go, now!”
