Page 129 of Queen’s Gambit

He turned it upside down and dumped everything out. Then rummaged through my things like they were trash until he held up the phone.

“You’re never getting out of here. So I’d get real cozy if I was you.”

Christov walked out and locked the door.

He hadn’t continued to taunt me, which was surprising, but if it wasn’t now, then more would come later. This wasn’t the plan. In my plan, I ran, and everything was better for everyone, including Alina and Christov. Now, everything was messed up. All I knew was that if it came down to me and Lilya or them…there wasn’t even a question of who I’d choose.

Hours passed, and the sun was long gone when Lilya said she was hungry. I’d packed some plane snacks for her in my purse and spotted the bars on the bed. I was just tearing open the wrapper when the door opened, but it wasn’t a guard or even Christov, it was Alina.

“Why can’t you just fucking go away,” she said, hands balled into fists.

Lilya gasped at the bad word, her hands going to her mouth. Eddie and I never swore around her.

“I was happily on my way out of the country when Christov dragged me back.” Her face twisted with anger, and I crossed my arms. “So, you’ll have to ask him. Maybe there’s a part of him that knows he still needs me because you’ll always be trash,” I said, purposely pushing on her insecurity.

“You bitch,” she yelled and lunged for Lilya instead of me.

I screamed and jumped in front of Alina before she could touch Lilya. Pushing her back hard, she landed with a thump and cried out.

“Don’t you dare touch my daughter. I will tear you to shreds,” I said as Lilya grabbed my leg and began to cry.

“I’ll kill you, you fucking bitch. You’ve interfered in our life for years.”

“Your life? I never wanted this life!” I roared at her, the insanity of the situation fueling both of us. “You think I wanted to live here in this loveless marriage with you two? Are you crazy?”

“You should’ve died when I poisoned you, but I dosed you wrong. I won’t make that mistake twice,” Alina said, openly admitting it was her.

“Well that answers my question. Yes, you are crazy.”

“I fucking hate you! I hate you! I hate you!”

Lilya tightened her hold on my leg and hid her face, as Alina screamed hysterically. I touched her head trying to comfort her as best I could while preparing for another attack.

“Enough, Alina. We need Yulianna alive for now,” Christov said as he strolled into the room. I wasn’t sure if he meant to say ‘now,’ but I picked up on it. It told me all I needed to know and had known for some time…they were just biding their time before killing me.

“Did you hit her,” Christov asked, looking at Alina, still on her ass on the floor.

“She went for our daughter. Keep your whore on a leash, Christov. If she tries something like that again, I won’t stop next time,” I threatened. He must have seen something in my eyes because he helped Alina stand up, and they walked out the door.

Lilya lifted her head from my leg, and I bit my lip as her sad eyes locked onto mine.

“I need you to let go. But stay right here for a minute and be really quiet.”

Lilya nodded. I tiptoed into her room and over to the door. If I put my ear right against the wood, I could hear them talking.

“Why do you keep protecting her? We have no use for her anymore. You promised me years ago that we’d get rid of her. She was leaving, and you brought her back. Why?” Alina fumed.

At least she was asking all the right questions.

“Alina, get it through your head. We can’t just off Vadin Mikhailov’s daughter. He’s helping me because he thinks I want her. If we murder her, and it doesn’t look like an accident, he’ll retaliate. How long do you think we’ll survive with every Mikhailov family member gunning for us?”

“I hate her so much. I want to strangle her daughter in front of her and then slit her throat,” she snarled, and then I heard a muffled sob. I rolled my eyes. “I just want us to have a normal marriage, free of that woman and her brat.”

“We will. But Lilya is my child, too. We’ll kill Yulianna and keep Lilya. She’s a Mikhailov princess who will fetch a huge price when she’s older. I could easily sell her off at fifteen as a virgin bride. We’re talking millions for a prize like that.”

“Fine, I won’t go near her again. But please, I can’t take years of this,” Alina pleaded.

“I have an idea that will allow us to get rid of her next week. Just trust me and keep clear of them both,” Christov said, and I bit my lip.