“Polina.” He extended his hand. His grip was warm and brief and made no attempt to be anything other than what it was. “Welcome. You’re safe here.” The words felt foreign. A language I understood but had never expected to hear directed at me.
Two words I had not heard directed at me in—I tried to calculate when I had last been told I was safe and found I couldn’t locate the occasion.
“Thank you,” I said. “For making accommodations available on such short notice.”
“The apartment is yours for as long as you need it,” Gabriel said. “Security handles the building. If you need anything, call.”
I followed them in.
Gabriel handed me a key card.
“Access for the building, elevator, garage, and apartment.”
I turned it over in my hand.
A key. Nobody had ever handed me a key that wasn’t really someone else’s.
The simplicity of it felt oddly significant.
Gabriel led us through the space with the efficient familiarity of someone who knew every inch of it.
The apartment opened into a living area framed by floor-to-ceiling windows. The skyline stretched beyond the glass, Philadelphia turning gold beneath the late afternoon sun. A charcoal sectional faced a wall of built-in shelving. Wood, stone, and steel softened what could have felt impersonal into something unexpectedly warm.
“The kitchen’s stocked,” Gabriel said.
It was.
The refrigerator was full. The cupboards organized. Coffee, tea, bottled water, fresh fruit arranged in a bowl on the island.
Someone had anticipated needs I hadn’t had time to think about yet.
“The building has twenty-four-hour security. The elevators require credentials. Visitors need approval.”
Not my father’s kind of security.
Nobody was explaining restrictions.
Only options.
Gabriel opened a door off the main hallway.
“The office.”
A desk overlooked the river.
Another door.
“Guest room.”
A third.
“The primary bedroom.”
The room was larger than my entire suite at home. Soft gray walls. A king-sized bed. More windows. More sky.
The ensuite bathroom was finished in stone and glass with a soaking tub positioned beside the window.
I stopped.
