Page 2 of Queen’s Gambit

Pushing End, I quickly wiped away the tears and looked back at Lilya to give her a reassuring smile. “Did you hear that? Uncle Dimitri is coming to get us.”

She didn’t say anything, but her eyes—so like her father’s—were filled with fear. Lilya hugged her bunny tighter. I hated that I was running with her like a thief in the night. I should’ve left sooner.

“Hey, do you want to talk to Eddie?” Her eyes lit up, and she nodded. “Well, it was going to be a surprise, but the vacation is back on.”

“Really?” Lilya smiled wide, and my heart warmed.

I hated lying to Lilya about who her father was. Today was finally the day that we would make it right. We were going to live together as a family. It was all set. But now…I’d taken out that bitch Alina as part of the plan, but killing Christov wasn’t.

His men would be hunting me.

My father would be hunting me.

If I went to Eddie now, then Patricia’s family would be after us as well. He would be defending us from three major families. I’d created a war and dropped us right in the middle.

“Lets call him.”

Lilya bounced in her seat, and the car groaned.

“Oh, don’t move, baby,” I said, holding out my arm, and she stopped. “You’re not in trouble, just no bouncing. Okay?”

“Okay.”

My hands shook as I hit Eddie’s number. He picked up on the first ring.

“Anima mia, thank God. Are you on the plane? I’m so excited to see you two. The car is set to pick you up.”

My lower lip trembled at the sound of his happy, hope-filled voice. I loved him so much that it physically hurt to think about never seeing him again. About him never seeing Lilya again.

“No, Eddie, we aren’t on the plane yet. You’re on speaker phone. Lilya wanted to say hi,” I said and unclipped my seatbelt to turn a little more. “Say hi, baby.”

“Hi, Eddie,” Lilya said excitedly. “Will you read me a story?”

He chuckled into the phone. “As soon as you arrive. It’s the first thing I’m going to do, bambina. Then, we’ll go to the beach and collect all the pretty shells,” Eddie said. I covered my mouth as Lilya cheered, her exuberance like a knife to my chest. “Do you have Mr. Bunny?”

“I do, but he’s getting cold.”

I bit my lip.

“Cold? Why is Mr. Bunny cold?”

“I’ll explain in a second,” I said, grabbing my extra sweater off the passenger seat. As slowly as possible, I got up on my knees and laid it over Lilya.

“Ana, what’s going on?”

I took him off speaker and brought the phone to my ear.

“We slid off the road, and we’re stuck in a ditch with rising water. The back end of the car is still on the bank, and the nose is pressed up against a tree. At any moment, the current could push us, and…Eddie…I’m so sorry.”

“Oh my god. Okay…shit. God, don’t you dare do this, not to them.” I heard the panic in his voice and knew he was pacing.

“I already called Dimitri, and he’s coming to get us.”

“Oh, thank you, Jesus. Is there water coming in the car?” I looked down. “Ana, tell me.”

“Yes.” I didn’t want to tell him how much or how fast, but there were already a few inches on the floor.

“Okay, what can I do? Do you want me to call the Italian consulate? They will send everyone.”