I force my face into what I hope is a relaxed expression.“Oh, I’m sure it’s fine. She just wanted to go to bed early,” I say distractedly, spotting Valentin across the room. Someone else who might knowsomething.
I hurry across the floor to him.
“Nina? Have you seen her?”
Valentin shrugs in response to my growl, then stumbles back at the look on my face.
“Fucking hell, Tyoma, you’ve been terrifying enough lately that no one’s going to touch your wife.”
“Then where the fuck is she?”
“Did I hear a ‘Congratulations on your wedding that I forced you into’?” Valentin cups his ear.
I throw it over my shoulder as I leave. “Congratulations, Valentin. Hate to leave your wedding early, but I need to find my wife.”
35
NINA
Mr. Jones, the doorman, greets me with surprise, his eyebrows practically up in his hairline.
“Nina? You’re back? But why?”
I give him my best fake smile, hoisting Ava onto my hip.
Everything is perfectly normal, I tell myself. This is another day where I show up to visit my neighbor at my old apartment building.
Because everything is perfect in my life.
“Just visiting Ms. Orlov. She’s still our favorite babysitter, right Ava?”
“We haven’t seen her in aaaages,” Ava says.
Mr. Jones calls the lift for us and sends us on our way, looking a little shocked. His expression makes me wonder if I look as panicked and anxious as I feel.
Ms. Orlov’s reaction makes me feel the same way. She opens thedoor and claps a hand across her mouth.
“Nina? You look lovely all done up, that color is just delightful on you…” Something in my face makes her trail off into a frown. “But why are you here all dressed up like that?”
“Please, Ms. Orlov, I didn’t know where else to go.”
She peers out of the door and looks down the hallway as though expecting to see someone else with me. “Of course, come in.”
Inside, she makes us both a cup of tea and lets me put Ava to bed in her spare room, then makes a phone call.
“Are you alright, dear?” she asks when she returns, setting the tea down carefully in front of me.
I cup the mug with both hands and absorb the warmth, taking a deep breath of the chamomile tea.
Ms. Orlov’s winged glasses fog up each time she takes a sip. I look around this cosy, crowded kitchen where I’ve spent so many early mornings and late nights dropping off Ava and picking her up. My second home.
“I have to tell you something.”
I explain everything to Ms. Orlov. Art’s family, the crazy situation, the weddings, all of it. Except Denis’s death — as much as I might feel betrayed, I don’t want Art to end up in jail. I shiver when I think about the way Polina has been looking at us since Art killed Denis. Like we’re a part of a scheme that she’s still developing.
Ms. Orlov nods her head, her eyes reassuring. She doesn’t seem shocked by any of it, which makes me wonder if she’s dealt with similar situations before.
“I can’t handle it anymore. I don’t think it’s safe for Ava. And Ihave a plan.”
