He looks up at me, and whatever he sees in my face makes his lose color.
He releases Daria’s arm before I say a word. I hold his wrist for another moment to let him feel how much damage I could do if I wanted to.
“Walk away,” I growl.
The man doesn’t glance at Daria before he turns and rushes toward the exit.
I watch him leave before turning to Daria. She’s still frozen in place. Her basket dangles from nerveless fingers, and her face is the color of old snow.
“We’re leaving,” I tell her.
Instead of arguing, she sets down the basket and follows me out of the store, leaving behind the items she came to buy.
The walk to the car is silent. Daria keeps her eyes fixed on the ground, and I don’t push her to talk. Whatever happened, she’s not ready to explain it. The trembling in her hands tells me everything I need to know about how afraid she is.
Once we’re inside the vehicle, she finally speaks. “That was nobody.”
“That wasn’t nobody.”
“It was just someone I used to know.” She stares straight ahead through the windshield. “He surprised me, that’s all.”
“He grabbed you.”
“He was trying to get my attention.”
I start the engine but don’t pull away from the curb. “People don’t freeze like that when an old friend surprises them. They don’t stop breathing.”
“I was startled.”
“You were terrified.”
She doesn’t respond. I glance over and find her staring out the window with her jaw set in a stubborn line.
“Who was he, Daria?”
“I told you. Nobody.”
“If he’s connected to the investigation?—”
“He’s not connected to anything. Drop it, Pyotr.”
I could push harder, demanding answers or threatening to tell Dmitri about the incident. I could use every tool at my disposal to break down her walls.
But I remember the way she looked when that man grabbed her. She froze like a rabbit caught in a snare.
Whoever he is, he has real power over her. The kind that comes from knowing someone’s secrets. The kind that comes from years of control.
I think about the bruises on her arms and the finger-shaped marks on her skin.
“Fine,” I tell her. “We’ll drop it. For now.”
She exhales but doesn’t thank me.
Back at the apartment, she disappears into her bedroom and closes the door. I hear the lock click into place.
In the living room, I pull out my phone and scroll through the photos I took outside the grocery store. The man’s face is clear in one of them, and looking at it fills me with rage.
I send the image to Tony with a message.
