“I want my cat.”
“Excuse me?”
“My cat–I can’t possibly leave her for days on end.”
“I’ll be happy to p-pay for an in-home p-pet sitter,” I suggested.
Sarah narrowed her eyes. “And I want her here with me.”
Christ. Of all the animals she would have, it would be the one I was allergic to. The last time I’d try to cohabitate with one was after Irina’s death, and Kira brought hers. Considering her mother had just been murdered before her eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to tell Kira to get rid of it. Instead, I’d been bedridden with the worst head cold of my life for days until Mother made Kira move the cat to another wing of the house. Sometimes I teased Kira that she still held a grudge against me all these years later.
Huffing a harsh breath out of my nose, I replied, “Fine. You can have your cat as long as it stays in your room.”
Instead of thanking me, Sarah merely shot me a triumphant look. Ignoring it, I asked, “Is there anything else you want?”
“While that’s it for now, I would like to reserve the right to make future requests.”
A chuckle rumbled through my chest. “You d-drive a hard b-bargain.”
“As you said, I’m worth the money, right?”
“We’ll see.”
“How long do you expect to keep me here?”
“As I mentioned b-before, I need t-to improve as quickly as p-possible.”
A sympathetic look came over Sarah’s face. “While I can help improve your stuttering, I’m assuming you know there is no true cure considering your age.”
My chest clenched at her words. It wasn’t like I hadn’t expected that answer. But I hadn’t completely given up hope that Sarah was a miracle worker.
“Yes, I d-do. But with t-that said, I do want t-to immerse myself in t-treatment.”
“I understand.”
“How long can you be gone from your practice?”
She frowned. “Maybe ten days. I’ll have to reschedule a lot of clients.”
“I’ll t-take it.”
Sarah blinked like she was coming out of a spell or hypnosis. After running her hand over her face, she shook her head. “I must be fucking crazy to agree to this. Maybe as crazy as you are to kidnap me and give me a million dollars to treat you.”
Before I could respond, Lev burst through the door. After throwing a frantic glance between Sarah and me, he blurted, “Dima’s been calling you.”
“And I’m b-busy as you can see. I’ll call him b-back.”
With a shake of his head, Lev replied, “He needs you.Now.”
Fuck. At all times for our well-crafted plan of our father’s demise to be executed, it had to be now. “Right. T-Tell him I’m on my way.”
As Lev hurried out of the room, I gave Sarah an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, b-but I have an important meeting t-to attend.”
“What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?”
“I’ll have my associate take you to your home to get your things and your cat.”
“Okay,” she replied warily.
