She tenses immediately. “What do you want?”
“I want you to make a call to your brother,” I say. “A casual call, so that he doesn’t suspect I’m the one who put you up to it.”
She frowns. “Why?”
“I need information on the investigation.”
“How many times do we have to go over this? He’s not going to disclose that kind of stuff to me.”
“I think he will,” I demur. “Especially because you’ve been calling him regularly, haven’t you?”
Her eyes go wide with realization. “That’s why you allowed the calls,” she gasps. “So that Rob wouldn’t suspect anything when I called him up and started asking questions about the FBI.”
“I never do anything without a good reason.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not doing that.”
“As a matter of fact, you will do it,” I snarl, pulling out my phone and handing it to her. “And you’ll do it right fucking now.”
She stares at me, her nipples hard as rock and poking through her soaked dress. But I don’t think she’s even registering the cold anymore. She’s wondering how she can talk to her brother and alert him to the fact that I’m listening in on their entire conversation.
“You’re really going to make me do this?” she asks finally.
“Put it on speakerphone.”
She takes a deep breath and dials Rob’s number. I can see the anxiety on her face the moment it rings. On the second unanswered ring, she cuts the line.
“He must be busy.”
“Try again.”
“But—”
“Now.”
She meets my gaze for an endless few seconds before she caves and re-dials. Three rings and he picks up, his tone cold and business-like.
“Agent Lawrence.”
“Rob?”
“Liv,” he says, dropping the formal tone. “Is everything alright?”
“Of course, of course, everything’s fine,” she says, eyeing me warily. “I… I just… wanted to talk. Are you free?”
She’s hoping he’ll say he isn’t, but he disappoints her instantly. “Of course.”
I take a step towards her and grab her arm, a gentle reminder that she needs to keep to her end of the bargain. Goosebumps prickle her skin, but she doesn’t try to get out from under me.
“How are things, uh… going?” she asks. “Like, with work.”
“Slowly,” he sighs. “The Bureau is losing interest in pursuing this investigation.”
“Are you serious?” she blurts out, before remembering who she’s with.
“But I’m not going to give up that easily, Liv. Especially after what you—”
“It’s fine,” she blurts. “I’m fine.”
I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes. Does she really think I don’t know about the scarf? Does she really think anything happens in this fucking house without me knowing about it?
“Where are you now?” Rob asks.
“In the garden.”
“By yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” he says, his tone flatlining for a moment, before it picks up again. “I am a little busy at the moment, Liv.”
“Okay, no worries. I’ll call later.”
“Goodb—” The word is cut off by her hanging up too quickly.
She passes the phone back to me, trying to look as innocent as possible. “There,” she says. “I did what you asked.”
“Did you?” I ask. “Because all I heard was you giving your brother the tip-off.”
“Listen, I—”
Before she can go on, I reach out, grab her arm, and yank her towards me. She slams against my chest with a wet slap and a cry.
“What do you take me for?” I demand. “What kind of idiot do you think I am?”
“I did what you asked!”
“Careful, kiska. You don’t want to piss me off.”
“Ow,” she winces as my grip on her arm tightens. “You’re hurting me.”
It’s distracting, the way her nipples are rubbing up against me. But I suppress my desire for her and instead let her see the don I must be.
“Your phone line will be disconnected starting today,” I tell her. “No more family chats for you.”
Her eyes go wide with shock. “What? No! You can’t do that!”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want.”
I push her hand away and she stumbles backwards. As much as I want to stay and undress her with my eyes, then my hands, I turn and start walking away.
“Aleks! You can’t do this.”
“I already have.”
“Please!” she cries, forcing me to a standstill. “Please, I have to be able to talk to them.”
“Maybe you should have thought of that before you pissed me off.”
“I did what you asked me to do!”
“Bullshit. You want me to hold up my end of the bargain? Then you’ve got to hold up your end, too. Otherwise, get used to being Mrs. Makarova.”
Her eyes go wide with alarm, but I’m not about to take back the threat. I turn and walk away, and as I go, I realize that, deep down…
Part of me is hoping she’ll fail.
31
OLIVIA
The phone has been disconnected for twenty-four hours now.
I’ve spent most of that time staring at it, checking it incessantly, hoping that he’ll have a change of heart and restore the connection.
Once my hope well and truly dies, however, I decide to take my art supplies and head down to the edge of the lake to draw.
I haven’t seen Aleks since he left me standing, wet and shivering, by the water.
He saw right through my seduction attempts. And the humiliation was only made worse by the fact that he wasn’t affected in the slightest.
Sure, he looked. Maybe he even admired my body. But he didn’t lose his mind with lust. Seeing me naked was no different than any of the hundreds of other naked women that have waltzed across his path.
At least he didn’t rescind my freedom. I can still move about the compound as I choose. But yesterday was a lesson in the limits of his tolerance.
The more I continue to defy him, the more difficult he can make my life. This time, it was the phone connection. Next time, I could end up locked in my room for good.
The water ripples with the light breeze in the air. I sit under the ash tree, right where he stood yesterday, watching me.
Most artists sitting in front of a view like this would sketch the landscape, but that’s never been how I work best. For me, it’s instinctive. I do my best work when I shut my brain off and stop thinking so damn hard.
I start sketching without thought, allowing my pencil to move across the paper on its own. And eventually, images begin to form.
I’m so involved in my drawing that it takes a few seconds for the strange scraping sound coming from behind me to catch my attention.
I glance up and see a young man pushing a wheelchair down the path. An older man is sitting in it. He’s hunched to one side, so it’s difficult to see his face in the shadows.
Who could that possibly be?
The caretaker catches sight of me as he pulls up to the lake. He’s dressed in a nurse’s white uniform, with a strong jaw and an easy smile.