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She jerked away from me. “I can try again, and again, and again until I’ve succeeded.”
“Good luck with that.” I turned around to leave, stopping in front of the door. “Ms. Popov will bring your dinner to you. If you’re nice to her, she’ll bring you a change of clothes too.”
Just as I pulled the door open, something hit my back, and an ache worked its way down my spine. The bottle of water fell to my feet. I whirled around and frowned at her. “What was that for?”
“For being a jerk,” she said, panting like an angry beast. “Trust me, there’s plenty more where that came from.”
God, this woman hadn’t even stayed here a day and was already causing me so much trouble. “Go on, maybe I’ll ask Ms. Popov to let you starve.”
“I don’t want your food. I need to go home.” She slumped on the edge of the bed, her eyes welling with tears. “You can’t keep me here.”
“Is there a reason I can’t?” If there was, she should’ve thought of it before she appeared here on her own to kill me.
She wiped her tears aggressively. Seeing her cry made my chest tinge with emotion. I wished I could walk over and comfort her. “There is, and you’re going to hate yourself when you find out what it is.”
“I hope you’re right, and I regret it. Though I hate to break it to you, there’s only one thing I regret in my entire life.”
Her brows raised, but I ignored them and walked out of the room. The only thing I regretted was not bringing her here with me six years ago. She could try to act bad all she wanted, but seeing her get riled up so easily and cry only meant one thing to me: she was still very much the woman I loved. I knew deep down in my soul that she loved me then, too. What we shared couldn’t be faked.
Something was wrong somewhere, and I was going to find out what it was.
Chapter 5 - Gianna
My gaze remained on the door after Max left and locked it from outside. A lump lodged itself in my throat, and tears fogged my vision. I’d known this mission would fail, I couldn’t say I wanted it to, but I knew it would. What I’d not anticipated was being held captive and locked up in a dark room.
Papa must have heard that the mission failed by now. He would be mad, very mad. I winced, imagining him taking out his anger on my children the way he used to do with me.
Daylan and Ryan, I missed them so very much. They missed me, too; I could feel in my bones that my children were crying for me. I wasn’t going to be there for them tonight. Maybe I would never get to see their handsome faces again. I wondered what Papa would tell them when they asked of me someday if they dared ask at all.
Knowing my father, he was probably going to tell them some shitty story about me being a whore and running off with some guy, or he’d lie to them and tell them he was their father. They were still too young, my memories would be wiped out from their consciousness before they even turned eleven. My heart stuttered at the thought.
I jolted up from the bed, filled with a new determination to save my children. I’d been here for only an hour or so, it was too early for me to be resigned to my fate. I needed to find a way out of here.
The windows had iron rods, so jumping out wasn’t an option. There was only one way out of here and that was breaking out through the door, but how was I going to do that? Max definitely had guards around the building and I wouldn’t even make it past the hallway before one of them caught.
Anxiety crept up my throat. I bit my nails to calm myself. I needed to leave, to go back to my children—our children. I couldn’t tell him about them, he’d take them from me if he knew. Heck, he would probably kill me, too; I couldn’t put that past him, considering how he killed my mama.
I ran a hand over my hair. Think, Gianna. Think.
I flinched from the sudden noise as someone tried to open the door from outside. If it was Max, I could convince him to let me go somehow. I’d go down on my knees and beg him if I needed to.
But when the door opened, an old woman walked inside with a tray of food. She smiled at me. “You’re even more beautiful than I heard.”
She’d heard of me? I couldn’t think of anyone who would tell her about me. Both Mariana and Maxim were too mad at me to say anything good about me, especially concerning my looks.
The old woman set the tray on the table. When she opened it, the aroma of pot roast over mashed potatoes invaded my nose. My stomach grumbled when I eyed the dish with honey-glazed carrot by the side. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.
I’d only had a cup of coffee before my papa’s men came for me earlier today. As much as I wanted to dig into the food and stuff my mouth, I had two five-year-olds waiting for me, and I needed to get back home to them.
“I’m sure you haven’t eaten anything since this morning, child.” The old woman basically shoved a fork in my hand and shoved me down on the bed. “Eat. You’ll need all the strength you can get.”
She was so sweet. If she were the only one in this house, I’d have probably considered bringing my kids here maybe, but Maxim and his brothers scared the shit out of me right now. And my children were with my narcissistic psychopath of a father. “I don’t need food. I need to get out of here this instance.”
The corners of her eyes wrinkled a little small when she smiled. “I’m merely a cook. The most I can do for you is make sure you’re well-fed. Eat!”
I glanced down at the fork in my hand, and a thought bubbled in my head. It was a disgusting thought that made my stomach lurch, but it was a way to leave here nonetheless.
“What’s your name?” I asked, holding the fork tighter.
