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I inch back towards the elevators. Something in Ruslan’s face is scaring me. “Yeah, I think. He approached me a few days ago, asking if… well, he actually asked if I would spy on you for him. I turned him down, of course.”
Ruslan’s eyes narrow into slits. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I shut him down and told him to take a hike. I thought that was the end of it. But now, he’s stalking my kids! He’s watching the house right now. The kids are all freaked out. I’m sorry, I gotta—”
“I’ll drive you there.”
I gape at him. “What?”
He walks fast towards the elevators. “Let’s go. We’re wasting time.”
I keep glancing at him in the elevator on the way down. Letting me leave the office during working hours is one thing, but actually coming with me? Why would he do that?
“Um—you have meetings all evening,” I remind him as the doors whoosh open.
He pulls out his phone and starts tapping at the screen. “I’ll have Kirill cover for me.”
I’m so worried about the kids that I barely register the sleek Aston Martin that pulls up right outside the skyscraper. On the drive home, I keep picking at my cuticles, trying to calm my frayed nerves.
Ruslan glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “I know Remmy. He’s a fucking leech. But nothing I can’t handle.”
I nod, but I’m not going to relax completely until that creep is far away from the kids. Still, something registers in the recesses of my consciousness.
Was that… a gesture of comfort? From Ruslan Oryolov?I look out the window, wondering if I’m going to see pigs flying around the skyscrapers.
There are a handful of cars parked on the opposite side of the street when we pull up. I scan through the lineup, but I can’t figure out which one is Remmy’s. I’ll figure that part out later; right now, I need to make sure the kids are okay.
I’m on the second flight of stairs up the apartment when I realize that Ruslan is right behind me.
My first thought?He’s gonna see the apartment.
My second thought?He’s gonna meet the kids.
My third thought?Oh, fuck.
I push it all out of my head and use my key to get inside—except it’s been chain-locked. I peek in through the two inches of space the chain allows.
“Amelia? Josh?”
“Sorry!” Amelia calls. “Hold on a sec.”
I step back as the door closes shut. Then I hear the chain unlatch and Amelia throws it open for us. “Sorry, the kids were really scared, and—” She stops short, her eyes veering to the behemoth of a man behind me. “Um, yeah, so we… um… used the chain.”
Her cheeks flush bright scarlet. I have a pretty good idea as to why. Honestly, I don’t blame her. We women are only human, after all.
“Where are they?”
Amelia focuses on me. “They worked themselves up into a panic. The girls are hiding in Josh’s room underneath his blanket. And—”
“Auntie Em!” Josh yells as he enters the living room. He bolts towards me, his arms wrapping tight around my waist.
I kiss the top of his head. “How are the girls?”
“Scared,” he admits without letting go of me. “They think that man is gonna kidnap them.”
I’m immediately furious. Josh would never admit to being scared himself, but the fact that he’s clinging to me like he hasn’t done for years proves that he is, too.
“Amelia, would you mind staying with the girls?”
