We stay locked together as the aftershocks fade. Her head drops to my shoulder, and her breath comes in warm puffs against my neck. I keep one arm wrapped around her waist, holding her steady while we remember how to breathe.
“Stay right here,” I tell her after a moment.
I grab a clean dish towel from the drawer and wet it with warm water from the tap. When I return, I clean her gently, watching her face for any discomfort. She watches me with something soft and wondering in her gaze.
I smooth her dress back down over her hips, then I help her down from the counter, keeping one hand on her waist until I’m sure her legs will hold her.
“Water?”
She nods, and I fill a glass from the tap and place it into her hands.
“Drink. All of it.”
She takes a long sip, watching me over the rim as I tuck myself back into my pants and refasten my belt. “You keep doing that.”
“What?”
“Taking care of me afterward. No one’s ever done that.”
The words settle in my chest, in the space that’s been slowly filling with feelings I don’t ever let in. She reaches for my face, and I catch her hand and kiss her palm, right over the spot where she bit me.
“Get used to it.”
Her phone goes off on the counter beside us, and we fall silent.
I reach for it before she can, checking the screen. Unknown number. Video message.
“Don’t,” I warn, but she’s already taking it from my hand.
“I know it’s from him. I have to see.”
She opens the message, and the video plays automatically. Bogdan’s face fills the screen.
“Hello, darling. I hear you’ve been busy sending our daughter away and conspiring with your family against me. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”
Daria’s hands are shaking. I wrap my fingers around hers, steadying the phone so we can watch.
“I’m impressed. You’ve grown a spine since we were together. The Daria I married would never have had the courage to fight back.” His smile widens, and there’s nothing pleasant about it.“But you’ve made a mistake, my love. You’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with.”
The camera pans, and I freeze.
He’s outside the train station on the same platform where we said goodbye to Kira just hours ago. He holds up a photograph of Kira with her face pressed to the window.
“Beautiful girl,” Bogdan continues. “She looks so much like you. I hope the train ride to Moscow isn’t too frightening for her. Children can be so sensitive to change.”
Daria makes a wounded sound beside me.
The video ends.
Daria drops the phone like it burned her. “He knows where she is. He’s going to?—”
“He’s not going to do anything.” I grab her shoulders and make her look at me. “Listen to me, Daria. Alexei is with her. Two of his best men are on that train. Bogdan is bluffing.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know what he’s capable of?—”
“I know exactly what he’s capable of. And I know that going after that train would be suicide for him. He’s desperate. He’s trying to scare you into making a mistake. Don’t let him win.”
She’s crying now, tears spilling down her cheeks. “I can’t lose her. Pyotr, I can’t?—”
