She glares at me through the crack. I can see her weighing her options, deciding whether to hear me out or slam the door on my foot.
Finally, she steps back and lets the door swing open.
“Five minutes.”
The room is small. A bed, a desk, a chair, and a television bolted to the wall. Her bag sits open on the bed with clothes spilling out haphazardly. She hasn’t unpacked. She hasn’t settled in. She’s just… existing.
“You found me,” she states. “Congratulations. Did Anya give me up?”
“Yes.”
“Remind me to thank her for that.”
“Don’t be angry at her. She was trying to help.”
“Help who? You or me?” Kirsten sits on the edge of the bed and crosses her arms. “Because it seems like everyone in your family is very invested in making sure I do what you want.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Nothing about this is fair.” Her voice cracks on the last word, but she recovers quickly. “You have four minutes left. Say what you came to say.”
I take a breath. This is it. This is my chance to make her understand.
“Jovan escaped.”
Kirsten blinks. “What?”
“When we raided the storage facility, we caught Oleg. But Jovan wasn’t there. He slipped through our net.” I start pacing, unable to stand still. “We’ve been tracking him for the past two weeks, but he’s gone underground. We don’t know where he is or what he’s planning.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because I didn’t want to scare you. You were still recovering. You needed to heal without worrying about—”
“Without worrying about what? The man who orchestrated my kidnapping being on the loose?” She stands up, and anger flashes in her eyes. “You don’t get to make that decision for me, Menlow. You don’t get to decide what I can and can’t handle.”
“I know. I know that now.” I stop pacing and face her. “But at the time, all I could think about was keeping you safe. And the only way I could see to do that was to get you away from me.”
“So you set up a whole new life for me.” She laughs bitterly. “Very generous. Very completely missing the point.”
“What point?”
“I don’t want a new life, Menlow!” The words explode out of her. “I want the life I had! I want to wake up next to you and work beside you and fall asleep on the couch watching stupid movies! I want you, you absolute idiot, and you’re too busy trying to protect me to notice!”
The confession lingers in the space between us. I stare at her, stunned.
“You want me,” I repeat.
“Yes. God help me, yes.” She presses her palms against her eyes. “I know it’s stupid. I know this whole thing started as a business arrangement. But somewhere along the way, it stopped being fake for me. And I thought… I thought it had stopped being fake for you, too.”
“It did.”
She drops her hands. “Then why are you sending me away?”
“Because I’m terrified.” The admission tears out of me before I can stop it. “I have never been more scared in my entire life than when I watched them drag you out of that car. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. All I could do was scream your name while they took you, and I—”
I break off, my voice cracking.
“I can’t go through that again,” I finish. “I won’t survive it. So yes, I tried to send you away. Because if you’re not near me, they can’t use you to hurt me. And if they can’t use you to hurt me, then maybe—maybe you’ll be safe.”
