I didn’t even have a way to contact her, and we were supposedly living under the same roof at the moment. Outside of a mysterious secret passage with an unknown point of exit, I had no idea where to find her and all of my texts had gone unanswered.
But she had come for me. She had reiterated her interest and that our connection was real. I had to take this chance. I had to see if this woman was the one for me.
Everything in my heart said she was. But could we get over the hurdles?
A knock sounded at the door, drawing my attention from my rumination. My heart skipped a beat as I opened it to find Nattie standing there, a long black cape hanging around her shoulders. An entourage of men stood behind her, Stefan included.
Her gaze flicked behind me toward Alex and Ava before she returned her focus to me, her dark eyes a mix of uncertainty and determination.
“Nattie,” I said, my voice breathless.
Her lips parted as though she wanted to speak, but for a moment, she hesitated. “Good morning,” she finally said, her voice unsteady. “We need to talk.”
My stomach clenched, twisting into a tight knot. Those four words felt like the opening scene of every bad breakup I’d ever had. Was she here to tell me she’d made a mistake? That this connection I’d felt so strongly was one-sided?
My heart wanted to believe she was here to pull me closer, but my head told me not to hope. Not yet. “We need to talk” rarely led to good things, and it felt like I was bracing for an emotional hurricane.
CHAPTER 22
NATASHA
My fingers ached from the cold, but I couldn’t stop pressing them against the cryo tube that held my father frozen in time. In an odd state, he hovered somewhere between life and death.
I leaned closer, my eyes falling onto his blue-tinged lips as I frowned. The situation had just turned even more dire.
Nikolai’s desire to take over the throne had turned things upside down–and made our timeline far, far shorter than we’d expected.
I curled my cold fingers into fists, firming my jaw. “I will fix this, Papa, I swear it.”
Stefan’s features twitched, unmistakable even from across the room.
I studied him. “Is there something you wish to say, Stefan?”
He frowned, shaking his head. “No,malenka.”
“Your face says otherwise.”
“Nadia is working to fix the situation.”
I shook my head. “She has been vetting doctors and scientists for months. We cannot afford to wait any longer.”
Stefan stepped closer, his face aglow from the frosty blue light emanating from the cryogenic tube. “You do not trust her?”
I shook my head, my gaze falling to my father’s cold form. “It has nothing to do with trust, and everything to do with expedience, Stefan.”
I raised my gaze to him.
He arched an eyebrow, prodding me to speak my mind.
“I must tell Kyle. He can help.”
Stefan’s jaw flexed as he clasped his hands in front of him. “I am not certain that is wise,malenka.”
“He has cleared your security checks, has he not?” I pressed.
“Mostly.”
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
