I frown. “Holding me hostage?”
“No. He’s luring you into his world. Trying to bring you into the fold. Soon enough, you’ll be his little puppet, parroting anything he wants you to say.”
“Rob,” I say, “listen to me. I’m not so simple-minded that I can be won over by a nice meal and clean sheets. I don’t intend to remain his wife for long. He’s told me that if you keep your word and drop the investigation, then he’ll release me.”
“Release you?”
“Give me a divorce and let me go,” I explain.
“He said that?”
“He did. And I think he means it, too.”
“Why the hell would you think that?” he snaps.
“He’s not going to want to be saddled with me for life,” I point out. “I’m just baggage. Be realistic: I’m not the right kind of woman for a man like Aleks Makarova. He’ll want to be rid of me as soon as he gets what he wants. Which will be in a year, if you do what he asks.”
“Fuck,” Rob mutters. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Okay, so… he wins.”
“What?”
“He wins,” Rob repeats with emphasis. “We’re all worried about you, Liv. Mom and Mia have been beside themselves since he took you. It’s not worth what this is doing to our family.”
“Rob—”
“I’ll drop the investigation. I will.”
Yesterday, that’s all I wanted to hear. But now? After what I found?
“No,” I say firmly. “You can’t.”
I hear nothing but his breathing for a long time. Then: “What on earth are you talking about?”
“I’m so sorry, Rob,” I say slowly. I hope this devastating morsel of information doesn’t send him into a vicious downward spiral. But he deserves to know that he was right all along. “I… I found something.”
“What is it?”
“A scarf,” I say in a hushed voice. “A red scarf with strawberries all over it.”
It’s only silence that follows, but there’s so much dread in it that I shiver. I can just imagine Rob standing in the kitchen with Mia’s cell phone pressed to his ear.
Deathly still.
Deathly pale.
Cold as the grave.
“Are… are you sure it’s the same one?”
“Positive. I remember the day you bought it for her.”
“I do, too,” he murmurs. “I can still picture the look on her face when I gave it to her. She was so damn happy over that stupid little gift.”
“I’m so sorry, Rob,” I whisper. My voice is choked and tight.
“So he took her,” he says evenly. Just stating facts—even though I know he’s dying inside. “Does he know you found it?”
“No one does. Just you.”
“Good. Let’s keep it that way. I’m guessing he allowed you to make this phone call?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good, too. He probably thinks you’ve been cooperating with him. Let’s keep that going. He has to trust you.”
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who trusts anyone.”
“You’re not just anyone. If any person on earth can inspire trust, it’s you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I mumble.
“I’m serious. You’re so much more capable than you give yourself credit for, Liv. Just trust your instincts and keep your head down. I’m going to get you out of there. A year be damned.”
“Just as long as you’re careful, too, Rob,” I tell him. “We lost Dad. We can’t afford to lose you too.”
“Backatcha, kid.”
I smile, though it’s tinged with sadness. “Rob, I really am sorry. This is—”
“She’s not dead, Liv,” he cuts in. “I know everyone thinks she is, but I can feel it in my bones. She’s not dead.”
I nod. “Okay, Rob, sure,” I say, though I’m really just telling him what he wants to hear right now. “I’m gonna help you find out what happened to her. And then we’ll bring her home.”
“Damn right. Don’t take unnecessary risks, Liv.”
“I never do.”
But as we say our goodbyes and hang up the phone, five little words play in my mind over and over again. Aleks’s words.
Risks make life worth living.
28
ALEKS
A FEW DAYS LATER
“You opened up her phone line?” Demyan asks.
“I did.”
“And you tapped it, I assume?”
I smirk and give him a pointed look. “What do you think?”
He laughs. “Well, out with it. What’s the hot goss?”
I exhale slowly. I understood the risks of giving Olivia freedom of the house, but I hadn’t expected it to escalate so damn quickly.
Especially since I assumed the maids knew how to follow orders.
“She found the scarf.”
Demyan’s eyes go wide and he sits bolt upright. “How?”
“How else? She went snooping.”
“That door is supposed to be locked.”
“I know,” I growl. “The maid on duty forgot to lock it.”
“Fire the woman. No, execute her. Better yet, jettison her into space.”
“It’s Tina,” I tell him, knowing that he’s always had a soft spot for the petite blonde.
He groans. “No, not Tina!”
“Should I prepare the rocket?”
“The poor girl was probably day-dreaming about me,” he muses with fake devastation. “She shouldn’t be punished for that. We can’t really blame her, can we? Curse my roguish charm!”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“Okay… so the wifey knows then?” he asks.
“Hardly,” I scoff. “She doesn’t know anything for certain. But she has assumed a lot.”
“And she told her brother?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t change anything. I made it clear to both of them where I stand. Rob knows what he’s risking if he pushes me.”
“Does that mean you’ll keep her for more than a year?” Demyan asks shrewdly.
“I’ll keep her as long as I have to.”
“I see, I see.” He strokes at his nonexistent facial hair. “How convenient.”
“Don’t be an asshole, Dem,” I warn.
“You might as well tell me to stop breathing,” he retorts. “My point still stands.”
“Since when have you ever made a valid point?”
“Since your world got flip-turned upside down by the cute brunette with the dimples.”
I feel a prickle of annoyance when he says that, but I hide it. Demyan already thinks he’s right about everything. No need to let him know he might be onto something where Olivia is concerned.
“I appreciate a beautiful woman as much as the next guy, don’t get me wrong,” he says. “But this one is more trouble than she’s worth.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you have the potential to actually fall for this girl,” Demyan explains. “That makes her more dangerous than the rest.”