I gape at him, wondering if I should call his bluff. Then he glances at me and that one look is enough to tell me what I already know: Leo Solovev always keeps his promises.
I close my eyes. “I was trying to… to hurt you.”
He nods, satisfied. “Keep going.”
“You used me for my name,” I say, trying to push back the sobs that threaten to derail my composure. “You married me to gain more power, to gain a hold over the Mikhailovs. Do you know how that made me feel?”
“About the way I feel right now,” he snarls. “Was that the goal?”
“I never meant for this to happen.”
“And yet here we are.”
I turn towards him. “This would never have happened if you’d been honest with me from the start.”
His grip tightens on the wheel. “Right, because you could have handled the truth?”
His tone is cutting. It makes me feel the way I felt all those months with Anya. Like I’m a disappointment. Like I’m not good enough.
“You don’t know that I couldn’t. You just assumed.”
“Jesus Christ, Willow. Do I really need to remind you?”
“Remind me of what?”
“Of the woman you were before I walked into your life?” he demands. “You were living with a man who was abusing you. You had nowhere to go and no money of your own. I saved you from that hell. Never forget it.”
My words cut off with every new wound he leaves on my soul. It’s like he’s become that little voice in my head, whispering back all my weaknesses. All the qualities I hate most about myself.
It hurts most of all because I know he sees strength in me, too. He’s said as much. So which is it? Does he love me or hate me? Respect me or pity me?
His hand closes over mine as I’m lost in thought. When I look up, his eyes are searching mine. The temper recedes, the edges soften. “We’re getting him back, Willow,” he rasps quietly. “We’re getting our son back.”
Then his eyes go wide. He whips his head around to see something out the window, but before I can follow his gaze, he wrenches the car hard to the right.
If it weren’t for my seatbelt, I might have flown into the window. “What the—”
“We almost missed the pass. The safehouse is close now.”
“Shouldn’t we duck or something?”
“The glass on these jeeps is bulletproof. What does Anya’s security look like?”
“Fully armed and all over the place. But you already knew that.”
As we turn into the rocky road that leads towards the safehouse, I spot a line of guards. Their weapons are out and drawn. Apparently, they’ve already caught our scent.
I’m not surprised. It’s quiet up in the mountains and we’re in a caravan of jeeps. Not exactly subtle. Before Leo can bark an order at me, I unbuckle and open the passenger side door.
“Willow—”
I jump out of the jeep and slam the door.
“Hold it! Don’t come any closer.”
I recognize the voice instantly. “Armand.”
“Fucking hell,” he breathes. Immediately, the guns come down. Of course, that lasts only until Leo climbs out of the car.
“Ms. Viktoria, you brought him here?”
I’m about to apologize, but I stop myself. I have nothing to apologize for. I came here to see the woman who promised to protect my son.
I said a long time ago that I don’t want to be a victim anymore.
It’s time I started acting like it.
I draw myself up tall. “Where is she?” I demand.
Leo moves in next to me. I’d be lying if I said his presence didn’t make me stand a little taller.
“Ms. Viktoria, I can’t let you in. Not with him.”
I look towards the house. It’s a cabin, but it’s nothing like Leo’s. Where Leo’s is open with large windows and natural light, this cabin is just like its owner: cold and closed off. The small windows dotting the sides are covered with black curtains. There’s not a crack of daylight getting through anywhere.
It could just as easily be a prison.
Which is how I know she’s in there somewhere.
“Anya Mikhailov!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Come out here and look me in the eye!”
The men look towards the house, concern written in the way they hold their guns, not sure whether to lower them or aim to kill.
They know the woman they work for. If I was anyone else, I’d be dead already.
But I’m not just anyone else. And they don’t know how she’ll react to me.