My sister and Natalia together? That’s never going to happen, and I will see to it that it doesn’t.
"She’s of no consequence," I say, and the sentence comes out too fast, like I’ve been rehearsing it to convince myself.
Then Katerina says quietly, "You sound like Papa."
My grip tightens on the truck door handle, and for a moment I can’t breathe properly because she said the exact thing I spend my life trying not to be.
I don’t answer.
Katerina exhales. "Luka—"
"I have to go," I cut in.
And I hang up before she can say anything else that might crack the walls.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
NATALIA
The second the wheels hit the runway, I’m already reaching for my phone, turning off airplane mode before the plane has even slowed enough for the captain to finish his welcome back announcement.
I stare at the screen as if the act of willing it hard enough might conjure his name into existence. The little spinning wheel pauses and updates.
Nothing.
No missed calls, no text messages from him, no ‘we need to talk.’
I would take him yelling at me, telling me that I broke his trust, that he never wants to see me again, over silence. The silence hurts the most because I know this is what he does when he’sin real pain and I’m responsible for it. Carey was right… it was my secret to keep, and though I didn’t know she would use it, I should have kept my promise.
As much as I want him to say something, his silence tells me everything his words won’t.
Don’t contact me. Whatever we might have been, you’re not worth fighting with… or fighting for.
I lost him, and it’s my own fault. I’m going to have to live with that if he won’t give me a chance to make it right. But in all honesty, how can I make it right? I damaged his trust, and the information about the email won’t magically dissolve that. There’s no time machine to fix this.
The cabin fills with the usual impatient choreography of travelers unbuckling too soon and standing before there’s anywhere to go. I stay seated longer than necessary, fingers wrapped too tightly around my phone, hoping maybe something will come through in the seconds I’ve been sitting here.
Still nothing.
By the time I step into the terminal, the familiar damp Seattle air wrapping around me like a memory I didn’t ask for, my chest feels hollowed out. It’s over and I need to come to terms with that. I chased him once when he didn’t want it. I can’t force myself on him again.
My phone rings.
I jump so violently that it nearly slips from my hand, hope flaring in my chest before I even look at the screen.
It isn’t Luka. It’s Molly.
I swallowed the disappointment before answering. "Hi."
"Are you back in Seattle yet?" she asks without preamble, her voice brisk and already in motion.
"Yeah," I say, adjusting my bag on my shoulder as I step onto the escalator. "I've just landed."
"Good. Stay where you are."
I blink. "What?"
"I’m coming to get you."
