I let out a shaky breath. “You didn’t kidnap me because I witnessed a murder. You kidnapped me?—”
“To keep you safe.”
Feeling overwhelmed, I shake my head. “How could you keep all of this from me?”
“I didn’t want to frighten you.”
“When were you going to tell me?”
“Once I had eliminated every threat, I was going to tell you everything.”
I think of the three men lying dead in this house and let out an angry breath. “Clearly we’re not there yet.”
“That’s why I told him to come here.”
“Who, my grandfather?”
“Yes.”
I stand up so fast, I make my head spin. “Why would you do that?”
Nikolai also stands. “To tell him face to face that any further attempts on your life will cost him everything. Beginning with his pulse.”
Conflicting emotions crash about inside of me. What Nikolai is saying is a lot to process. I don’t know if I’m being played. I just feel like a pawn being shoved around the board in a game I didn’t even know I was playing.
“This is insane.”
“No, this is reality.”
“Everything we have has been built on a lie,” I say, holding back tears.
“What I feel for you isn’t a lie.”
“Maybe if you had told me everything sooner, I might believe you when you say that. But you’ve kept this from me the whole time. That tells me you have something to hide. That none of this was real.”
He moves fast, closing the distance between us before I can react. His hand closes around mine, and he presses my palm flat against his chest.
His heart pounds beneath my fingers. Hard and fast and desperate.
"Feel that." His voice is raw. "Feel how hard it beats for you. How it breaks for you when I think I might lose you."
For one moment, I let myself feel it. The thunder of his heart against my palm. The warmth of his skin. The way his eyes search mine with something that looks so much like love, it makes me want to scream.
I yank my hand free. “I need time to process all of this.”
“How can I help you do that?”
“Give me time to make it make sense.”
He nods. “I can do that.”
“When is my grandfather coming?”
“Tomorrow.”
I nod. But don’t say anything. I’m too numb. Because my life has just changed again.
“Malyshka—”
