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“And leave if I decide the arrangement isn't working?”

“Yes, Elara. You are accepting a job, not signing away your freedom.”

Her mouth curves. “Good. I like to establish these things early.”

“So I have noticed.”

Anya grabs Elle's free hand. “Come on, I want to show you your room.”

“Slowly,” I tell her.

Anya stops. Then she takes three exaggeratedly slow steps. Viktor laughs.

I look at my daughter. “Very funny.”

“I know,” she says.

Elle laughs too, and the sound catches me off guard.

It is the first time I have heard her laugh without immediately wincing afterward. I find myself wanting to hear it again.

Irina approaches before I can say anything else. She looks Elle over with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Irina Morozova,” she says. “Anya's aunt.”

Elle offers her hand. “Elara Bennett. It's nice to meet you.”

Irina takes it briefly. “I wasn't aware Nikolai was expecting a guest.”

“She is staying with us while she recovers,” I say.

Irina turns toward me. “Staying?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“We haven't decided.”

Her gaze moves back to Elle. “I see.”

I know that tone.

I've heard it for years, usually when Irina believes she has discovered something she is entitled to question.

“Elle saved Anya yesterday,” I tell her. “She was injured doing it, and Anya would like her to stay for a while. That’s all you need to know.”

Irina's expression tightens. “I wasn't suggesting otherwise.”

“Then there's no problem.”

Viktor looks away, apparently finding the fountain fascinating.

Elle shifts slightly beside me.

I can tell she is uncomfortable, and I dislike that she has been made to feel that way before she has even entered the house.

“Come inside,” I tell her. “You should sit down before Anya decides to give you a complete tour of the estate.”

“I heard that,” Anya says.