Page 5 of The Lies Between Lovers

He doubted it.

Natalia was one of the few things in his life that he wasn’t currently concerned with. She kept her distance, took his extra on her allowance without complaint, and hadn’t bothered him otherwise. He considered it a bonus that he hadn’t heard of a single issue that his mother caused since their last meeting, too.

Wasn’t that what he wanted?

“And?” he asked, sharper than he intended.

Or maybe he wanted it to sound exactly like it did. Vaslav didn’t care anymore.

“Well, usually she calls first, sir, and she did,” Mira rushed to explain, folding her nervously fidgeting hands at her middle. “If you’re not home and she wants to chat, the telephone is fine, but then she came over.”

Huh.

“It seemed like she wanted to have tea,” Mira said. “But once the tea was made, she wasn’t very interested.”

Scrubbing a hand over his throat, he considered his mother’s motives. There had to be one. There always was.

It was a little concerning that Natalia had been around, but especially when he wasn’t at home. Not entirely unusual, necessarily, but it was if she knew he wasn’t there. Even tea and conversation with Mira wouldn’t be enough to pull his mother away from the city and whomever she was currently leeching off.

“You kept an eye on her?” he asked gruffly.

“I tried to,” Mira replied.

Which wasn’t a yes.

Well, not a satisfactory one.

The very idea that his mother had been alone in his home, possibly allowed to wander his personal spaces without supervision, was enough to send Vaslav heading back for the house. Not to mention, his ever-present paranoia decided to kick up a notch.

Rightfully so.

Natalia could not be trusted.

At his back, he heard Igor yell out with his frustration.

Nothing pissed his head of security off more than a last-minute change of plans.

Oh, well.

Some shit couldn’t be helped.

“Where are you going?” Igor barked. “We have a funeral to go to!”

Vaslav didn’t turn around.

He had a bigger problem.

Maybe.

“I’m sorry,” he heard Mira mutter as her footsteps chased him up the stairs to the front door. “I should have told you sooner.”

Yes, she should have.

He didn’t need to tell her as much.

*

“What are you looking for? Or better yet, did you find it?”