“We’ll manage.”
“You might not. For all you know, he’s the head of the fucking Irish mob.”
I slam a fist into the table and grit my teeth together at Valentin’s words. The thought of Nina with the Irish sends a chill down my spine. They’re known for their violence towards women.
“Take it back.”
He smirks at me. “I knew you didn’t like the idea of her sleeping with someone else.”
“Of course I don’t,” I grind out. “But I’m not going to blame her for something that happened when we weren’t together.”
“When she left you, you mean.”
Valentin runs to the other side of the room just as I swing across the table to haul him up by his collar. The bastard is shorter than me and he’s always been quicker, too.
“You see what I mean, cousin,” he drawls, looking at his fingernails. “It’s not the best look to have your future wife sleeping with whoever she wants.”
“Keep your damn opinions to yourself, cousin.”
“Don’t think the family hasn’t noticed what you’re doing. Pushing aside business to chase this girl. You’ll only end up embarrassing yourself when she leaves you again.”
With that, he slips out of the room, leaving me to stew in mythoughts.
He might be regurgitating bullshit, but one thing does have meaning.
I need to find Ava’s father.
Especially if Ivan’s right and he’s someone in this household.
I need to know whether she left me for him, whoever he is.And why he’s not around anymore.
All I’ve gotten from Ivan recently is an explanation of where Nina went when she left me. Only, the story was so full of holes that it told me nothing.
Nina showed up at the Estate, went inside for an hour, then left — in a rush, judging by the coat slung over one shoulder and the way she was urgently talking into her phone.
The next day, she drove all the way to Missouri, where her family lives.
One day later, she left Missouri and never went back. She hasn’t visited for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other occasion since.
That’s where the trail stops. We were only keeping tabs on her in New York and Missouri. The only other information we have is her college record.She continued her studies remotely, attending every online class, and maintaining her perfect 4.0 GPA.
There’s not a single blip, not even when she must have been the mother of a newborn, living alone, God knows where, and studying remotely without her support systems. Her placement rotations were marked as completed in the system, but there are no records of where she completed them.
It was only when she got the residency at Middlefield,a year and a half ago, that she returned to the city, enrolled Ava in preschool, and came back onto our radar.
That was when I was finally able to make the security arrangements that I wanted.
13
NINA
Yet another policy change at work. We’re being forced to take two fifteen-minute breaks a day.
If I didn’t know it was Art who was behind it, maybe I would be grateful for the time off my feet, the way everyone else seems to be.
Instead, I wish I could be doing something.
Just eating a snack sitting down is a luxury none of us are used to. I keep expecting someone to jump out and tell me off for sitting down when I could be helping.
