Page 58 of The Beauty Who Loved Him

“Does he know you had contact—”

“I had to take a risk,” Igor muttered fast. “I had just enough information to go on to do it. It was worth it. I’ve got the seizures under control, and he's not self-medicating with whatever cocktail he likes for the day. He’s back to barking orders into the phone and when you’re around, he actually gets out of the house. I consider that winning”

He was taking another telling her that information, too.

Vera thought that counted for something. She grasped on to the proverbial olive branch because she had a feeling that even with counting the people sitting in that SUV on the side of a rural road, she could use one hand to name the number of people who had the access and ability to look after Vaslav.

“It’ll only get worse,” she said, wondering if Igor even realized the reality in front of them. “It doesn’t matter how unstable he thinks he is now or how many walls and trees he puts around himself to shut out the world, what’s happening inside his head won’t get any better. Especially not living like he does.”

“Yeah,” Igor replied, his voice a croak, “I know.”

“Does he?”

That was the real question.

“Making him do things is one of those lines I mentioned earlier,” Igor said “And I have a pretty good guess about where he draws mine just based on history. I enjoy my place and perhaps that’s another thing you don’t understand just yet. Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in.”

His head fell to the right, giving Vera a good view of the emotionless expression Igor leveled on her as he said, “I have been the right-hand man to Vaslav for a long time. It’s allowed me a great deal of power and privilege inside a world you will never get to see, you should be thankful for that, too, they’d eat you alive.”

She didn’t even blink at the subtle threat. Whether or not he meant for it to be threatening was another thing, but that didn’t change the way it made her feel.

“If what Vaslav wants to do is hide and wither away in the hills of Dubna with you by his side beside him to pass his time, then that’s exactly what I intend to let the man do. Comfortably. We all make sacrifices for the life we’ve chosen. His has led him to where he currently is, mine hasn’t quite arrived at what I consider a satisfactory end just yet, but at least he’s given me some insight on how it will be, and I can’t fault him for that. Because someday when the threat of him coming out of hiding isn’t enough to control the kind of people waiting for him on the other side, I’ll be the only one standing in the middle of the war, Vera.”

“But why?”

Why would he want to be the man standing there?

Vera thought she already knew the answer.

“You care,” she said, speaking it into truth.

“Yeah, well, so do you,” Igor accused. “I guess we make quite a pair, no?”

*

Igor hadn’t lied. Kiril waited, relaxed and bored in his staple leather jacket, on the front steps of her villa. As they parked behind the black, two-door coupe that Kiril now called his, he barely reacted to their arrival beyond a lazy wave.

“I trust that everything we’ve spoken about regarding Vaslav will remain between the two of us,” Igor said, his sharp gaze jumping to her in the rearview mirror as Vera unbuckled the seatbelt.

“Why wouldn’t it?”

Kiril, who had already pushed himself up to his feet and was brushing off the knees of his acid wash, distressed denim jeans, looked their way expectantly. Vera’s attention jumped between the young man waiting to be let into the villa, even though he was perfectly capable of finding a way in, and the man with his hands still on the wheel.

“Some people forget he’s just a kid, is all,” Igor said, shrugging one broad shoulder. “Even if he doesn’t entirely look or act like it most of the time. Adult problems are better left to those who can understand their complexities.”

“Yeah, I’m not one of those people,” Vera returned dryly.

“Good,” she heard him say as she exited the vehicle.

Vera didn’t bother with her two small bags in the back because Igor was already heading that way. Instead, she made a beeline for the walk leading up to the villa as she dug the keys from the pocket of her hoodie.

Kiril tucked something away into his back pocket as Vera tossed him the ring of keys. “Look at that, today you get to use the legal way.”

The kid had the nerve to grin. “Didn’t really need it, though. I already popped in next door for a drink of water and a piss.”

Vera side-eyed the kid as he flipped through the keys. “Seriously?”

“The old man’s plants needed to be watered, too. They don’t know he’s dead.”