AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I take the bag of clothes, grab the end of it, and shake them all onto the bed. "Here you go, boss." I give the door the middle finger.
“What was that?” Ollie asks, opening the door. The look in his eyes makes me suspect he knew I just flipped him off, but there’s no way.
“What? Here are the clothes. You said you wanted to pick them out or whatever. Where’s the puppy?”
“In good hands. Now go get dressed.” He frowns. “And decide what to name that little mutt.”
I shut and lock the door behind me, brace myself on the sink, and stare at myself in the mirror. The swelling in my arm has gone down; that's good. One good thing, anyway.
I’ll hear from Carlos soon; I know I will. My brother will contact me, especially since I'm getting married. He probably already knows. I wonder how he'll get in touch with me… He doesn't have my cell phone number because somewhere between being hauled to Colombia and dragged back to New York, I lost it.
Not that any of that ever stopped him before.
I sigh.
There are dark circles under my eyes, and my hair is a wild, tangled mess, but other than that, I haven't really changed much. I’m still me and damn proud of that. I've been dragged from one place to another, manhandled and hurt, accused and belittled, but can still hold my head high.
No one will take my identity away from me. None of them will.
I only wish the Romanovs knew the truth. I hate the injustice of it all. I clench my hands into fists, my fingernails biting into my palms.
I have to stay the course.
I have to seek justice and not manage to get me—or, worse, Ollie—killed in the process.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ollie
“Renata defended me,”Polina snaps, her fingers absently stroking the mutt, but her eyes are fire. “How could you forget that?”
“Really, son,” my mother says sadly, the weight of disappointment in her words as she shakes her head. “Polina’s right. Renata saved the day.”
Why do the women in my life think they can see right through me, like I’m guilty of some unspoken crime for daring to be loyal to my family? My brothers didn’t face this shit.
I scrub a hand across my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose.
“I got her apuppy,” I mutter in my own defense, like it’s an offering that might fix everything.
“To watch her, and half a minute ago, you looked like you were going to throttle the poor wittle thing,” Polina croons.
Jesus.
“She defended you?” Viktor asks, lumbering up beside us. My brothers are in and out today while everyone gets ready for the wedding. “How did I miss that?”
“You were too preoccupied with Lydia and whatever newlywed mischief you were up to,” Polina says with a smile and eye roll. “Renata was eating dinner with us and overheard two of our guests plotting to blackmail me. They were college friends of mine, apparently somehow associated with one of Mikhail’s informants.”
“She was amazing,” Mom says, her eyes wide and excited. With her sophisticated silver hair pulled into a tight bun, she is the picture of grace and elegance, but she gets a wistful, almost childlike look in her eyes sometimes. “She sees right through lies,” Mom says, almost in awe. “It’s a rare gift. Like she holds truth itself in her hands. What I wouldn’t have given to havethattalent when you kids were younger.”
She’ll always know when I’m telling her the truth. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Not that I plan on lying to her, but ignorance isn’t always a bad thing.
“Really?” Viktor asks, giving me a smile. “Our girls are so much alike, aren’t they?”
I grunt in reply. His wife’s ‘talent’ is that she likes to set things on fire, so I’m not sure I agree they’re anything like each other.
“Ollie,” my mother says gently. “Don’t let the present situation sway you from what you know to be true, what you remember. Don’t you remember? You investigated what she’d overheard, and it aligned with what she said. You were moved by her loyalty and her ability to uncover the truth, weren’t you?”
I was. I softened toward her and actually felt something like trust beginning to form.
