Ivan’s mother rose slowly, offering me a gentle, knowing smile. “Welcome, sweetheart.”
That crack that felt like it was splitting me in two out in the hall felt like it could never be closed again.It was a gaping hole taking over my entire body.
I turned back toward Ivan, who was leaning against the doorway, arms folded, watching me with an expression I couldn’t read.
“Jane’s okay,” he said quietly. “Better than okay.”
My eyes burned. “Why here? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“There wasn’t much time. A lot went down this morning while you were gone playing dress up. We had to get out of the penthouse.”
I frowned. “What do you mean? What happened?”
Panic rose up inside my my chest as I thought of all the worst-case scenarios, even though they didn’t matter because my sister was safe, sitting not even ten feet from me.
Poppy jumped from the couch. “Someone broke into the penthouse! Ivan checked it all out and then…” She paused and gave me a wide-eyed, dramatic look. “As the police were about to assess the place… The building caught fire!”
Ivan nodded slowly. “The whole penthouse is gone.”
My stomach did a flip-flop. “What do you mean?”
Ivan shrugged as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Whoever broke into the house didn’t want anyone to know it was them or what they were looking for, but they set fire to the place; everything is a loss.”
Poppy leaned back into the sofa. “Except all the things I got while shopping today. Thank God I wanted new pajamas and a few new outfits, or I would be nude right now.” She, of course, whispered the last bit.
Mrs. Cristof chuckled. “I would never let that happen. We would have gone shopping as soon as you got here if that were the case.”
“Can you be my new mom?” Jane clapped her hands in front of her, and that crack became something monstrous. My eyes stung and my nose burned as I turned away from them and tried to gain some kind of composure. It was nearly impossible.
Ivan pushed away from the wall and nodded with his head for me to follow him. I swiped under my eyes quickly and watched as he went down an ornate hallway with all kinds of art coating the walls.
“My mother’s room is on the other side of the penthouse. Our rooms are over here, split floor plan or something like that. Jane is right here,” he knocked on one of thedoors and then kept walking. “Yours is at the end, and mine is right next to it.”
He pushed open the door at the end, and my breath caught. It was beautifully furnished with a massive four-poster bed in the center. There was even a small sitting area and a little nook full of books by a small fireplace.
Could I stay here forever?
His gaze finally met mine, and it almost brought me to my knees. The devastation in their depths was almost too much for me to bear.
“You and Jane are safe here. My mother has some of the highest security in all of this city. Her men are paid so well, no one will get through.”
His eyes flicked down to the ring again, and I wanted to tuck my hands behind my back.
“Ivan,” I whispered, very much aware of his mother and my sister down the hall. “I don’t want this. You have to know that.”
He chewed on his bottom lip. “Don’t, Poppy. You don’t owe me an explanation. We went over this already. We fought about this already, so I’m going to be honest with you… I don’t have it in me to fight with you anymore. I want nothing more than for you to be happy, but if you choose this, I won’t fight it.”
I wanted him to fight for me. I wanted him to whisk us away. I wanted… I wanted him.
“Ivan, if I had a choice?—”
“You do,” he said softly.
I shook my head even though he wasn’t looking. “No. I really, really don’t.”
Silence stretched between us—thick, brittle, and terrifying. How many more times could we do this song and dance? Not many more. It was breaking both of us, and it wasn’t fair. He just had to bring me to his mother. He just had to make this harder.
“Goodnight, Poppy.”
