Page 8 of Cruel Submission

I check my phone one more time.

Still nothing from Arkady.

The house feels too big now. Too empty. I should be relieved he’s not here. Should be grateful for space to breathe without those ice-blue eyes tracking every move.

Instead, I feel hollow.

I hate that I need him.

Hate that his absence feels wrong.

Hate that even after yesterday—after Kostya’s hand reaching for me, after hearing Gavriil Laurov’s name—I still want Arkady to walk through that door.

Even though he’s probably the most dangerous thing in my life.

I push myself up, phone still clutched in my hand. Stare at the blank screen.

Waiting.

For answers. For him. For whatever comes next.

The baby—still too small to feel—reminds me what’s at stake. Not just my life anymore. Not just Dad’s treatment. This tiny growing thing that needs me to be smarter, stronger, braver than I am.

I can’t keep running.

Can’t keep hiding.

Everything comes out eventually.

And when it does, I need to be ready.

I leave the room and head back to my tasks, trying to take my mind off things.

But all I see is Kostya’s face.

The van.

Dubai.

And Arkady’s bedroom with drawers left open and his scent still clinging to the sheets.

Chapter Three

Arkady

Debra.

The name sends a shock through my system. Mirabel’s twin sister. The girl who vanished and tore Mirabel’s world in two.

She’s been here. In this house. All this fucking time.

My finger rests against the trigger guard, muscle memory from a thousand hours at the range keeping me from doing something stupid. One shot would end Gavriil. But she’s too close to him, and I won’t put a round anywhere near Mirabel’s sister. Not after I already failed her once.

Through the gap in the door, I watch my father grab her face. His fingers dig into her cheeks hard enough to leave marks. “Fuck you, stupid woman. All you do is whine.”

She doesn’t meet his eyes. Probably learned that looking at him only makes it worse.

“You are here to serve all my needs, understand?”