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“After some rest, you will have to see them,” he says. “There’s no getting around that, you know.”
“I know.”
I can’t get past the fact that they all think I betrayed them.
I want so badly to be a part of this family. I want them to know they can trust me, but I'm not sure how to reveal the truth about my brother and what I know about the Romanov family. I have to pretend Iamthe enemy, even if it will kill me.
"We're going to the bedroom,” he begins. I swallow hard. It feels intimate and dangerous to be alone with him. He continues, undisturbed. “You’ll see the doctor. I'll make sure you get food and something to drink, then you can take a shower and rest. But for now, don't fuck around."
It's the smartest thing to do because even though we are on fairly friendly terms at the moment, I have seen firsthand how quickly that can change.
He leads me to the third floor, a place I've never been. The house is huge and often bustling, but the married men have homes of their own now, so it’s not as chaotic now as it once had been. Mikhail and Aleksandr, the two oldest brothers, are firmly established and married with children. They own houses not far from here. The third brother, Nikko, married Vera Ivanova, a doctor often stationed overseas in various countries. He travels with her. Viktor and his wife, Lydia, also live nearby, but not quite as close as Mikhail and Aleksandr. Lev and Isabella go back and forth between New York and Colombia.
Ollie is the only one who doesn't live on his own.
Before I was taken back to Colombia, we would talk about this. I wanted to know what his plan was, what he dreamed of, and he wanted to know mine as well. He told me, in great detail, and it meant something to me that I was his confidante.
I want to get back there.
Ollie opens the door to the bedroom and gestures for me to go in. I’m tired and weary and have no more power to resist.
Before I can even sit down, there's a sharp knock on the door. Ollie has his weapon drawn.
"You don't need that here," I tell him, my belly twisting. It's so instinctual for him to draw his gun when something unexpected happens; it's like a hair-trigger reaction.
"I know," he says quietly. "I don't want anybody else to hurt you. Not again."
I look away as something in the wall of my chest breaks a little. He doesn't want me to be hurt. It's not just his instinct but his instinct to protect me. My God.
"Who is it?" he snaps.
He told his family to leave me alone, so I don't expect Mikhail.
"Dr. Agostino," comes the response.
An adult Latina woman with short gray hair enters the room. I've never met her before.
Ollie glares at her. "ID, now,” he snaps.
I don't know how he thinks this woman actually got into the family home if she isn’t legit. Without batting an eyelash, she flashes her ID at him.
"What happened?" she says sternly, her gaze fixed on me. I look like a wreck… I know that. Her eyes flash back to Ollie. "Did you do this to her?"
His eyes are immediately on her. "Of course I didn't. That's my fiancée. Did you come in here to interrogate me or to check on her?"
A muscle ticks in his jaw as he stands at his full height, at least a head taller than her, but she's unfazed. "I was hired to check. I need to know if you're an immediate threat."
Huh. She’s lying. He said nothing to her about Ollie being a threat. That’s all on her. Mikhail vouched for her, and she’s lying to our faces. I can tell by the shift in eye contact, and her facial expressions betray her. She’s good at it; I can say that much. I’m guessing she’s concerned about these guys, and for good reason.
"You can leave now, doctor," Ollie snaps as he opens the door.
"Mr. Romanov instructed me to come here," she says. “I am not leaving."
What the fuck? Ollie takes his phone out, places a call, and starts speaking in Russian. I don't understand what he's saying, but a minute later, Mikhail himself steps into the room. "Is there a problem here?" he asks. The tension is so thick in here it’s choking me. I lean back on the bed, exhausted. I don't say anything to anybody. They wouldn't believe me if I did.
"She's giving me shit about whether or not I hurt her," Ollie says.
“A legitimate question,” Mikhail replies evenly. He doesn’t make eye contact with me. "She betrayed us. She's a prisoner. You're marrying her to cure that. Don't forget it."
