AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Yasha leads me through a den, a meeting room, then back through another set of doors into a kitchen.
“That’s basically everything,” he sums up.
“This house has a million rooms. There’s no way that was the full tour.”
His eyes glimmer with mischief. “Everything you need to know about, anyway. If you get lost, it’ll be because you were sticking that little button nose of yours where it didn’t belong.”
He reaches out to tap my nose and I slap his hand out of the air. “Don’t touch me.”
From the other side of the kitchen, there’s a stifled laugh. I turn to see who it was—and have to bite off the beginnings of a scream.
An elderly man is standing next to the pantry. His face is long and gaunt with bushy eyebrows. His eyes seem to be sunken into the sockets, hooded yet perceptive. If Yasha told me he couldn’t see him standing there, I wouldn’t doubt it. The man looks like a ghost.
“And this is Niles.” Yasha sweeps an arm towards the man. “He may look like the cryptkeeper, but he’s actually the caretaker.”
Niles turns to me with a polite smile. “Keep putting him in his place, Mrs. Pushkin. Master Yasha needs a firm hand.”
“Oh, no, I—” I shake my head. “My name is Cora. I’m not Mrs. Pushkin. I’m not—”
“Married yet,” Yasha interjects quickly. “She’s still Ms.… What’s your last name again?”
“St. Clair. But you can call me Cora.” I smile at Niles. “Please.”
He bows his head respectfully. “Is there anything I can get for you, Cora? I apologize that your room is nowhere near ready yet. I wouldn’t have put you in there today, but it was at Mr. Pushkin’s request. He wanted to keep you close.”
Oh, I’m sure he did.
“But if there’s anything I can get you in the interim, something to eat or drink…?” He looks at my outfit and grimaces. “Some clothes, perhaps?”
I nod gratefully. “Clothes! Yes. Clean clothes would be amazing.”
Niles nods again. “The guest room directly across from yours isn’t being used right now, but there are plenty of things in there that should fit you. You can have your pick until your things come in.”
A room full of women’s clothes isn’t being used right now? As in, it has been used in the past? When? How frequently? By whom?
The jealousy is stupid. Ivan isn’t my husband. He isn’t my boyfriend. He isn’t anything to me.
You’re no one. You’re an empty vessel I can use as I please. As bait. As a wife. That’s what makes you perfect for this, Cora.
I need to remember that.
22
CORA
The guest room is as bland as the rest of the house. So are the clothes in it. Neutral basics, jeans, jackets. I slip into a pair of camel-colored joggers and a white tank top. It feels so good to be out of my waitressing uniform that I don’t care who they belong to.
When I get back down to the kitchen, Niles redirects me outside. “Yasha is waiting for you on the veranda. I’ll have lunch sent out shortly.”
Someone else preparing food for me will never be normal, but I thank him and step through the French doors.
Yasha waves from a circular table across the patio. Flower boxes brimming with marigolds and periwinkle outline the edge of the patio behind him. A soft breeze blows across the lawn, lifting my hair. It’s such a picture-perfect setting that it’s almost impossible to think I was being shot at only this morning.
The thought fractures the moment. Cracks of panic bleed through the lovely scene. I look up at the blue sky above, white wispy clouds burning away in the sun, and all I see isdanger.
Could someone attack us from above? What about the hills surrounding the compound? Are there any snipers up there? What if—
“You’re safe here,” Yasha calls.
