The boys notice me standing there and Finn waves from inside the fort. “Mam! Come see! We made a secret entrance!”
I paste on a smile and crawl into their fort. Let them show me every detail of their construction. Pretend everything is fine while terror sits in my chest like a stone.
An hour later, Cassian arrives. Julian brings him to the sitting room where I’m waiting. The boys are still in the playroom with Nadia, oblivious to the tension crackling through the house.
Cassian looks at me and I see the same fear I’m feeling reflected in his eyes. “Julian told you,” he says.
“Why didn’t you?”
“I was handling it.”
“Handling it? They’re watching you. Asking about your family. And you didn’t think I needed to know?”
“I didn’t want to scare you.”
“Well I’m scared now! My sons are in danger because you killed Dmitri Petrov six years ago and his family wants revenge!”
“Oursons. And yes, they’re in danger. Which is why I’ve doubled security and have people watching every approach to this estate.”
“Security isn’t enough. We need to leave. Take them somewhere safe.”
His expression hardens. “No.”
“No?”
“I just got them back. I’m not letting you disappear with them again.”
“This isn’t about you! This is about keeping them safe!”
“And you think running is the answer? You think the Petrovs won’t find you?”
“At least we’d be moving. At least we’d be doing something instead of sitting here waiting to be attacked!”
“You want to do something? Trust me to protect them.”
I laugh. Sharp and bitter. “Trust you? The man who tried to kidnap them from school?”
“That was different and you know it.”
“No. No. You’re still the man who takes what he wants and deals with consequences later.”
“And you’re still the woman who runs the moment things get difficult.”
The words hit like a slap. We stare at each other across the sitting room, years of resentment and fear and mistrust boiling over.
Julian clears his throat. “This isn’t helping.”
“Stay out of it,” we both say at the same time.
He holds up his hands and leaves the room.
I turn back to Cassian. “I have spent years protecting them. Keeping them hidden and safe. And now they’re in danger anyway because of you.”
“Because of me? You’re the one who witnessed the shooting! You’re the one the Petrovs saw being taken that night! They know you’re connected to me and they’ll use that!”
“Then what do you suggest? We just wait here for them to make their move?”
“Yes. We wait. We prepare. And when they come, we end them.”
