Page 3 of Queen’s Gambit

“No, they are too far away, and they’ll enlist the help of the police.”

“That’s okay. Right now, the most important thing is that you two are safe,” he said.

It sounded logical…would be logical at any other time.

“I can’t have them involved, Eddie. I just need to sit tight and wait for Dimitri.”

“I don’t understand. What are you not telling me, Ana?”

“I…I….” I broke down into sobs.

“Ana? Tell me.”

“I shot Christov,” I blurted out as tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Shit…it’s fine. We’ll figure it out once you get here.”

I shook my head. “Eddie, this puts you smack in the middle of a war.”

“I don’t care. I’ll kill anyone who tries to hurt my family. Trust me, I’ll keep you and Lilya safe.”

“But I do care. I care that we’ll live the rest of our lives on high alert and under the threat that, at any moment, the remaining Ivankovs may try to steal Lilya away to hurt us. Or that my father would rather kill me than be embarrassed. We can’t do that. It’s not fair to us, and it’s not fair to our daughter. Lilya deserves more than the suffering we’ve endured. I want her to have more.”

“What are you saying?”

“Eddie, it was bad enough with both of us getting a divorce to be together. We can handle that, but murder…we will be hunted for the rest of our lives. I can’t do that to us.”

“Ana…I don’t understand.”

“You know I love you with my whole heart. You and Lilya are my entire world, but I can’t worry every second of the day that the next time you leave for a meeting is when they attack you or us. You know they’ll never stop.”

“You’re going into hiding? Is that what you mean?”

Four inches of water now flooded the footwell. I pulled Lilya’s suitcase onto the passenger seat and tucked the phone between my ear and my shoulder. I unzipped her bag and looked inside for her winter mittens.

God, I loved how she’d always been such a good baby. Even now, she took them and put them on without question. I grabbed her thickly lined hat with the fur around the edge and held it.

Eddie had gotten it for her. He’d bought most of her favorite things. Even with an ocean separating them, the connection had always been there.

“Ana, please answer me. Are you running from me, too?”

Pain sliced through my chest, and I tried to stifle my cries. Walking away from Eddie was like tearing out half of my heart.

“Eddie, I’d never run from you. This isn’t something I want to do. It’s what I must do for Lilya.”

“Ana, no. Please don’t do this. I’m begging you. We’ll figure this out. I can’t be without you or my daughter. The past four years have been pure torture. I’m powerful enough now to protect us.”

That was partially true. He’d just taken over as the Don of Dons. But at twenty-five, he was the youngest, and there was still unrest surrounding him. He would need time to build the trust and security to hold the position. I was a wrecking ball—always had been. I talked him into having a baby with me even when we both knew the risks. I’d promised him that I would run and we would be together. If I went to him now, it would destroy everything he’d worked so hard to build. I couldn’t do it, not to him and not to Lilya.

“I’m sorry, Eddie, but I don’t want Lilya to grow up surrounded by guards twenty-four hours a day. She’ll never be able to do anything like a normal child again. She won’t be able to go to parties, the movies, or even school without heavy protection. Forget about shopping with friends, getting her hair done or anything else. Lilya will spend her life in a glass bubble, waiting for the walls to shatter. It will be impossible to build real friendships or date. Eddie…we lived only partially like that and felt smothered—wanting to run all the time, hating our lives. What do you think it will be like for her? I want Lilya to have a normal life. At least until she’s old enough to make choices for herself.”

“Ana, there will never be normal. Even if you manage to hide, they’ll never stop looking. If you hide from me, how can I protect you? I know you think that this is the right thing, but please don’t do this.”

The car shifted, and the metal groaned, making me jump.

“What the hell was that?” Eddie’s worry was evident through the phone.

“Oh god….we’re slipping.”