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Unknown number.

No name. No contact saved. I haven't given out the new number to anyone outside this house.

But I know.

I know before my brain can make excuses.

My hand starts to shake.

Evan has found me.

11

NIKOLAI

Five days after the pool incident, Anya stops asking when she can go back to school. At first, she argued with me every morning, listing the friends she missed and the activities she wanted to return to, but now she accepts whatever arrangements I make without complaint. I should be relieved that she is cooperating, yet I find myself missing the arguments. She is eight years old, and I don’t want her to become so accustomed to being frightened that she stops asking for the things she wants.

This morning, I find her in the library with Elara, working through a geography lesson. Anya has drawn a map of Europe and is explaining why she thinks Portugal looks like a face. Elara listens with the seriousness of someone reviewing an important financial proposal.

“That’s Spain’s nose,” Anya says, pointing with her pencil.

“I see it now,” Elara says. “Although I think Spain would be offended by the size of its nose.”

Anya laughs, and I remain in the doorway longer than I intended.

Elara looks up first. Her smile fades a little when she sees me, and she straightens in her chair. “Good morning,” she says.

“Morning. How’ s your shoulder?”

“Better, thank you.”

I look at Anya’s map and ask her a few questions about the lesson, then leave before the conversation becomes awkward. I know Elara notices. I have been doing this for five days, and she is too observant not to understand that I am avoiding her.

I ask Levin about her recovery every morning and make sure she has everything she needs, but I have not spent more than a few minutes alone with her since the pool. She is recovering well, although her hip still bothers her if she walks too far, and Levin wants her to avoid strenuous activity until he is satisfied there are no complications.

I tell myself that keeping my distance is sensible. The kiss happened after she nearly drowned, when she was frightened and exhausted, and I should not have responded to her the way I did. I am also her employer, and she is living in my house while she recovers. Those circumstances matter, regardless of how much I want her.

The problem is that I still want her.

I find myself checking the security cameras more often than necessary, particularly when Elara is with Anya in the library or the garden. I never access her private rooms, but I watch her in the common areas and then become irritated with myself for doing it. Yesterday, I spent almost ten minutes watching her and Anya make a paper model of the solar system, although I had three reports waiting on my desk.

I eventually switched off the monitor and went back to work.

Then I checked it again half an hour later.

Sergei has noticed my distraction, but he has had the good sense not to comment on it.

We have more important problems.

The investigation into the pool incident has established that someone interfered with the camera covering the fountain. The recording was looped for approximately nine minutes, leaving us with footage of an empty terrace during the period when the silver bracelet must have been placed near the wet stone.

We still don’t know how the person gained access to the system or whether the footage was altered remotely or from inside the house. Sergei has brought in two specialists to examine the equipment, and we have temporarily restricted access to the security room while they work.

Every member of the household staff has been questioned. So have the guards, gardeners, maintenance contractors, and anyone who entered the west wing that day. I have instructed Sergei to review everyone, regardless of how long they have worked for us.

He didn’t question the instruction, although I know he understands what it means.

Galina has been with my family for decades. She helped raise me, and she has been part of Anya’s life since the day she was born. Irina is Sofia’s sister. Kirill has protected Anya for years. None of those relationships makes the investigation less necessary, but I would be lying if I said I found it easy to consider the possibility that someone close to us is involved.