Sasha
Ryker surges forwardand grabs the guard by the collar. Before I’ve even made a sound, he’s got the man by the scruff of the neck. “Consider this your termination notice,” he spits in the man’s ear.
“Ryker, you don’t have to…”
But I don’t finish, when he punches the elevator button. “Sasha, please knock on your brother’s door. I’d like to see you inside his flat before I take this piece of shit down to the control room.”
I give a quick nod and then spin to the door, banging far more loudly than necessary.
Ava opens the door a few seconds later, her warm smile turning to a look of confusion as Ryker hauls the guard into the waiting elevator. “Everything okay?” she asks me as I step inside.
“Fine, I think,” I answer, rubbing my arm. “I was loitering in the hall, I guess, and the guard thought I shouldn’t.”
Ava frowns. “What is wrong with him?”
I really appreciate those words. But the guard may have had the right of it. “Two days ago, I considered myself a prisoner here. Apparently, the guard agrees.”
Dimitri appears, full scowl on his features. “You were never a prisoner. I was worried otets would come for you and I didn’t want him snatching you and hiding you in Russia again.”
I debate asking the question. How is my life different now from the one I lived in Russia?
But I know that it is. No one here has ever hit me or broken my bones. And I’m starting to feel like Ryker really cares about me, I’m not just some pawn he’s using to build his own future.
Anna appears, her little pigtails bouncing as she gives me a toothy smile.
I drop to a knee, opening my arms.
She rushes to me, wrapping her arms about my neck as I nuzzle her cheek. “You are the light of my life,” I whisper in her ear.
“What that mean?” she asks, wrinkling her nose as she leans back.
I laugh, realizing that I’ve spoken in Russian. I repeat the words in English, even as she buries her fingers in my hair.
“Oh,” she says with a giggle. “Pretty. Want to play dolls?”
Her English has improved even since I’ve gotten here, and I give her another squeeze. There is nothing I’d like to do more.
“Later, my love,” Dimitri touches his daughter’s head. “Aunt Sasha and I need to talk.”
Anna frowns, her brows drawing together. “But she been gone. I no like.”
“I don’t like it either,” I assure her. “I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done.”
Her frown turns into a glowing smile as she hugs me again.
That’s when Ryker appears. I hear the door open and close as I give her cheek several rapid-fire kisses.
Ava takes Anna’s hand and leads her through the kitchen and into the hall, leaving me with Dimitri and Ryker.
Slowly, I rise, wishing I could follow Ava and Anna. “What happened with the guard?” I ask my husband.
“I fired him,” Ryker says as his hand comes to my waist.
I look at him in surprise. I saw how he treated the saleswoman who was rude, but I didn’t think… “But?—”
“No one touches my wife like that,” he replies with the fiercest scowl I’ve ever seen.
I feel my cheeks heating again. If his earlier words had hurt my feelings, these fill me with warmth. I’ll deal with the future, in the future. I’m going to enjoy the now. Besides, who knows what will happen in the next year?
