“I know this world better than you do, Molly. You can’t escape. If you go out there alone, you’ll be killed. The safest place for your son is here. In my house. With me.”
She doesn’t say anything.
My fist tightens at my side. “I’m Theo’s family, too. Don’t I get a say? I want what’s best for him, too.”
She spins away from me and grabs her bag. “Then you’ll let us leave.”
Molly reaches for Theo to wake him up, but this conversation isn’t over. She isn’t thinking clearly.
I grab her hand and pull her back towards me, and she tries to draw it back, tries to pull away from me.
“Molly, stop.”
“No!” she yells. “I won’t. I’ll never stop as long as I’m being held against my will.”
Theo rolls over on the couch, blinking around the room. When he sees his mom, he runs to her and hugs her legs.
“Come on, baby,” she says, patting the back of his head. “Grab your blanket. We’re going.”
Theo grabs the throw blanket and follows after her, and my vision goes black. It feels like I’m watching them leave through a television screen. Like I’m a helpless observer, screaming at the characters on the TV, begging them to make the right choice.
Molly is halfway across the room when I run to her and grab her arm.
“What are you doing?”
She tries to pull away from me, but I hold on tighter and pull her up the stairs. Theo follows sleepily behind us, taking the steps one at a time.
“Call it what you want—kidnapping or protection—but I can’t let you leave. Not like this. Not tonight.”
“Viktor!” Molly swings her arms, throwing her elbows at me, and I dodge.
“If you aren’t careful, we’ll fall down the stairs and land on Theo.”
That stills her. Her shoulders go slack. “Viktor. Don’t.”
I pause outside her bedroom door. “Will you stay? Or will you run in the middle of the night like you did last time?”
Her silence is the only answer I need. I open the door and shove her inside.
The lock on the outside of the door is discreet. I realize Molly never even noticed when she’s confused when she can’t get the door open immediately. She tugs and twists on the handle but it doesn’t budge.
“I’ll talk to you in the morning,” I yell through the door. “Get some sleep. Think about it.”
She’s still railing against the door when I put Theo to bed. He is confused, but exhausted enough that he falls asleep before I’ve even shut his bedroom door.
Once Molly quiets down, I walk downstairs and stumble into the kitchen. The wine I opened for our romantic dinner is on the counter, and I pull open the kitchen drawer and find the ring box under a pile of utensils.
I can’t imagine Molly ever accepting this ring from me now. Not after I’ve literally locked her away.
“Fuck,” I mumble, running my hands through my hair. I drop my elbows onto the counter and rest my head against my hands. “Fuck.”
A few hours is all it took for Fedor to ruin everything. My business is in disarray, my relationship with Molly is over, and I have no idea what is going to happen next. Where will he strike? When?
My phone rings, and I’m embarrassed by how much the sound of it makes me jump. Then, I see Fedor’s name on the screen. I answer the phone in a trance and lift it to my ear with numb hands.
I don’t even say anything, but Fedor knows I’m listening.
“Sorry about all this fuss, brother.” He almost sounds genuinely sorry. “You know how business can be.”
“You came into my house. You touched my wife.” He doesn’t know the justice of the peace is a lie, and I don’t intend to tell him. I suppose it doesn’t matter that much anyways.
“You took my son,” he counters lazily. “Like I said—business.”
I grip the phone so hard I think it might crack in my hand. Red creeps into the edges of my vision. “You’re right. It’s business. Because you’re not my brother. Not anymore. You came after my family—my real family—and that was a fucking mistake. I’m coming for you.”
He chuckles. “Game on, brother.”
