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Anya looks at me. Irina looks at me. Viktor definitely looks at me.

Brilliant.

I clear my throat and reach for Anya’s worksheet. “We were just finishing up.”

Viktor’s gaze moves to the school tablet on the table, then to Irina’s phone, then to Anya’s face, which is currently doing the worst impression of innocence I have ever seen.

“Were you?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say, already standing. “Anya, why don’t you show Aunt Irina your geography book? The one with the maps.”

Anya blinks.

Then she understands that I want her to stop glowing like a child who has just been promised stolen cake.

“Oh. Yes.” She grabs the nearest book and nearly drops it in her hurry. “Aunt Irina, look, Portugal looks like a face.”

Irina frowns. “What?”

“It does,” Anya insists, and pulls her toward the other side of the table.

Viktor still hasn’t moved from the door.

I give him a polite smile and silently beg him to go away.

He doesn’t. “Elle,” he says.

“Yes?”

“You look busy.”

“I am always busy. Very demanding job. Many maps.”

His eyes narrow slightly. He knows something is wrong. Or not wrong exactly. He knows there is a plan forming in the room, and men like Viktor can smell bad decisions the way sharks smell blood.

I cannot let him in.

Not because I dislike him. I actually trust him more than I should, which is exactly the problem. If he knows, he might tell Nikolai. Not because he wants to ruin things for Anya, but because he is Nikolai’s brother.

So I smile again. “Did you need something?”

Viktor studies me for another moment. Then his gaze flicks toward Anya, who is now explaining the alleged facial features of Portugal to Irina with aggressive commitment. “No,” he says at last. “I came to return this.”

He places the book on a side table.

“Great,” I say. “Thank you.”

He doesn’t leave immediately. My heartbeat picks up. Viktor’s mouth curves slightly, as if he can hear it. Then he says, “Try not to start a war before dinner.”

I stare at him. “What?”

“Nothing.”

He leaves.

I wait until the door closes behind him before I let out a breath.

Anya turns around. “Does he know?”