I remain standing, arms crossed. “So, where is he?”
Dad scratches the back of his neck, avoiding the question, while Mom rises slowly.
“He’s out walking the property. Said he wanted to get a sense of the place before we all sit down to talk.”
Something twists in my gut. Unease settling like a stone. This already feels wrong, and I don’t know why.
Then she reaches for my hands and grips them tight. Too tight.
“Fiona,” she says gently. “I need you to go into this with an open mind, okay?”
My stomach knots. “Why? What’s going on, Ma?”
Her eyes gloss, blinking too much, like she’s holding something back. “This investor…he’s serious. And this might be our only chance.”
I glance at my dad, but he’s not looking at me. He’s just staring into his lap, his hands clenched so tight that the skin over his knuckles has gone pale.
“What aren’t you telling me?” The tension continues to grow. “Dad?”
He lifts his head, breath hitching like he’s about to confess to a crime. “Fiona, I?—”
But then I hear it: the voice that lives in my nightmares.
“Good morning, Ms. Prosecutor.”
No. No, no, NO!
All the blood rushes out of my body.
“It’s good to see you again.” Every syllable is soaked in smug satisfaction.
I don’t want to turn. I already know what I’ll find. But I do anyway.
Leaning against the doorway—coffee cup in hand, hair coiffed back, black shirt tucked into tailored slate-gray pants that hug the rippled muscles of his thighs—stands Aleksei Marinov.
All the air leaves my lungs.
This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening. My parents know what he is. Who he is. They know what his family is capable of. They would never do this.
Would they?
I squeeze my eyes shut, praying he’ll disappear. That he’s a mere hallucination. But when I open them, he’s still there. Still watching me. Still looking at me like this has already been decided.
Over my dead body.
“No,” I snap as I whip toward my parents. “Absolutely not.”
“Just…hear him out,” Mom pleads, words thin with desperation. “Please, Fiona.”
“We are not dealing with that family, Ma! Are you kidding me right now?”
“Wow, Ms. Clark. You think so highly of us. I’m honored.”
“Go fuck yourself, Aleksei. No one’s talking to you.”
“Fiona!” Mom scolds like I’m a child.
“Oh, come on, Ma,” I scoff. “I’ve said way worse to him.”
