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“Dom!”
“Well,” he laughs, “what kind of question is that? Arsen is bringing her to the house because you want her around. He’s bringing her because she’s sick and he wants to make her comfortable.”
I know I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but I want to rip this horse’s jaws apart and do a full dental inspection.
“But why?” I press. “Because his wife died? That has nothing to do with me. You can keep an eye on me and Mom back at home. We don’t have to move here.”
“It’s too late for that. The closer you are to Arsen, the safer you are. Now,” he says, clearly changing the subject, “I was calling to give you a chance to warn your mom and Evelyn that I’m on my way. So, the longer you spend prodding me for answers you’renot gonna get, the less time you have to explain to them that a very handsome man is about to bust down their door and load ‘em into an unmarked van.”
The conversation Mom and I had last night went badly enough. She was groggy from sleep medications and could barely focus on me. She hasn’t been calling me nonstop all morning, which means she probably thought she was hallucinating the whole thing.
“Fine. But this isn’t over.”
“With you, it never is.”
“And grab my pregnancy pillow!” I order. “And my yellow cardigan. Also, my yoga mat.”
He laughs. “Like I said… it’s never over.”
Dom hangs up, and I don’t even have a few minutes to collect my thoughts before I call my mom. He may have been laughing, but I know he wasn’t kidding—if I don’t make this fast, he’ll kick down the front door and chuck her into the back of the van whether she wants to go or not.
The phone rings and rings, and I worry Dom beat me and he’s already there. But finally, Mom answers. “Laila, sweetheart? Why are you calling?” The confusion in her voice lets me know she still thinks I’m in the room next to her.
“Okay,” I breathe. “This is going to sound crazy, but let me finish, and then?—”
“What’s going on?”
I sigh. “I’m not at home. I’m at Arsen Adamov’s house. He is the?—”
“The adoptive father?” she blurts. “Why are you there? When did you leave? You were here last night!”
I never would have told her Arsen’s name if I’d known he was a criminal. Thank God my mom is technologically illiterate and still thinks Google is a cute word babies say.
Then again, if she had looked him up, maybe we would’ve figured out who he was associated with enough time to run for the hills and save my baby.
I squeeze my eyes closed and focus on the here and now. I can save thewhat ifsfor the many, many hours I’ll probably spend alone in this room, contemplating my future.
“It’s a really long story, and I’ll explain it to you when you get here, but?—”
“Get where?”
“Mom, I’m so sorry, but there isn’t any time for questions.”
Is this how Arsen felt trying to get me out of my room last night?I hate that I’m sympathizing with him at all.
“The new house is, uh… full of… mold,” I blurt suddenly. “Black mold. Tons of it. Really nasty stuff. And Arsen is worried about the health of the baby, so he’s moving me here. He’s also offered to let you and Evelyn move in, as well. While the house is… de-molded.”
She gasps. “Where is the mold? Who did the tests?”
“No time for questions, remember? Someone is coming to pick you and Evelyn up right now. His name is Dominik.”
I vaguely hear her and Evelyn talking in the background before her voice comes through the line again. “Is that the handsome man standing in the driveway?”
I suppress a groan. Dominik would die of smugness if he could hear that.
“That’s him,” I tell her. “You can trust him, and we’ll talk more when you get here, okay?”
A couple years ago, Mom would have barricaded the front door against Dominik and demanded answers. She wouldn’t have let me off the phone without a full explanation and several amendments of her own to the living arrangement. I suspect a hot tub would’ve been high on her list.
