Page 124 of Mile High Ruin

By the time I reach the staircase, I hear voices below. A woman crying. Another voice trying to calm her. A man speaking too quickly.

I take the stairs two at a time.

The scene at the bottom explains almost nothing.

My older sister, Nadia, is standing beside the long console table near the entrance hall with one arm wrapped tightly around our younger sister, Mila, who is crying hard enough that her shoulders shake. Mila is nineteen now, old enough that I have not seen her frightened like this in years, and the sight of tears running down her face brings something immediate and ugly to the surface.

I stop a few feet away. “What happened?”

Nadia looks up and glares at Daniel before answering. “He came around the corner while she was walking out of the library.”

Daniel spreads his hands. “I was looking for Anton.”

Nadia’s expression doesn’t improve. “I didn’t know you had guests.”

“I didn’t know you were here,” I say, frowning at her.

“We came back early.”

She says it as though I’m the one who should have known, all while keeping Mila tucked against her side.

Daniel looks increasingly uncomfortable. “I apologized.”

“You nearly gave her a heart attack,” Nadia says.

Mila presses closer to Nadia.

That’s enough for me.

I step toward Daniel.

He notices. “Vadim, I swear to you, nothing happened.”

“Then why is she shaking?”

“I startled her,” he says, looking guilty.

Nadia and Mila were supposed to remain at our family property outside Orhei until tomorrow. I hadn’t expected either of them home.

“Are you hurt?” I ask.

Mila shakes her head. “No.”

“Did he touch you?”

Daniel exhales sharply. “Vadim.”

I ignore him.

Mila shakes her head again. “He just scared me.”

Nadia looks unconvinced.

Before I can question either of them further, footsteps approach from the terrace, and Sloane enters with Anya beside her. Anya is holding the stuffed rabbit against her chest and looks more confused than frightened, while Sloane’s gaze moves immediately from Daniel to Mila, then to me.

Nadia sees them together, and her expression changes, her brows coming together. “Anya.” My niece stops. “Come here.”

Anya looks at Sloane first.