“And we have you.”
“He doesn’tcareabout me,” I snap, heart pounding. “Maxim. If he has my children—ourchildren—that’s all the collateral he needs. They’re his legacy now, not me. They’re his claim toyourcache. Do you understand? You and the Snake are not enemies, not truly, anymore. You’re blood. And once you’re out of the way, he’ll be free to lay that claim.”
“Even if he could, he won’t kill me. He needs me.”
“He needs you until he doesn’t,” I say, standing. “He has power and money. What the fuck will your loyalty earn against that? Do you really think your men will fight for you when they could live richer, better, with more power and influence and freedom for my father?”
Maxim puts his hand on my shoulder and pushes me firmly back onto the couch. He kneels in front of me. “I’m not your father.”
“I…” I stare blankly into his familiar face, his calm eyes. His hand is on my knee, palm burning like a brand. “I know.”
“I don’t buy loyalty. These men will die for me. They can’t be bought. Not by money, or power, or pain. Do you understand me?”
I hesitate, then nod. But I can’t even imagine it—a world that isn’t ruled by violence and manipulation and exertion of power. “Do you believe me?” I hear myself asking, my voice dangerously soft.
Maxim pulls his hand from my leg as though burned, and stands. “I don’t know yet. I…want to. But I don’t know if I can trust you, Annika. After everything.”
I nod. Then, without giving the words permission to leave my lips: “Let me prove it to you.”
Maxim watches me, calculating. God, he’s beautiful. The way he looks down his nose at me through those too-thick lashes, the way his black curls hang over his forehead…it hits me like a gut-check: how good it felt to lose control with him.
How badly I want to do it again.
“Water’s running,” says Yvan, emerging from the back room. “Heat too. I’ll go into town and see if I can find us something to eat. There’s a safe back there,” he adds to Maxim, eying me pointedly.
Maxim nods. “See you soon.”
Yvan gives me a cold look before ducking out.
“What are we doing here, Maxim?” I ask softly.
He watches me a long moment, as though debating his answer. Then, simply, he says, “Waiting.”
* * *
The day yawns on into night. I want to sleep, but I’m so anxious I can’t stop pacing. Sacha and the other men…why are they coming here? Is Maxim crazy enough to think he can take my father’s human trafficking compound with this small army? Even if he did, what would be the point? He’d just be starting a war he couldn’t possibly win.
My father started that war.I pace the front room, grateful for the pumping generator and the heat flooding the room. Even with it, the wind manages to worm in through every crack in the walls, roof, and windows. This northern cold is in me now, buried in my bones.
Wild, my mother would say.
My mother.
I sink onto the edge of the sunken couch, biting my fingernails. Maxim is outside with Yvan and Gregor, keeping watch. But even in my privacy, I can’t manage to shed a tear. My mother, who contacted me against every rule, against the odds of her own protection. My mother, who left me so long ago to suffer under my father’s control.
My mother, who, on the shortest possible notice, showed up to take my children before Maxim arrived to do it first.
Is she dead? I tap my foot frantically, sweat prickling along my hairline. Are my babies safe?
Was I a fool to believe I could ever escape this world?
I stand, heart thrumming against my ribs, and knock on the door. Yvan opens it. “I’d like to speak with Maxim.”
He narrows his eyes, but lets me through. Outside, darkness has fallen, turning the sea of snow silver. The stars are buried beneath streaking clouds. I brush past Gregor and Yvan, padding through the fresh snow to Maxim. He’s at the edge of the property, looking down the deep gravel road to the main highway, a strip of broken black leading endlessly in both directions.
“You should be inside,” he says without looking at me. “It’s cold.”
“I’m used to the cold.” I wrap my arms around myself and stare off into the dark. “I don’t care if you believe me, Maxim.” My voice barely penetrates the infinite velvet night. “All I care about is the safety of my children.”
