Page 19 of The Last Hope

“He had a stomachache. Nothing—”

“I wasn’t talking to you,” I cut off the girl who was desperately trying to get my attention.

“What business is that of yours, Nikolai ?” Antonio asked, stepping closer, all pretense of politeness gone.

He wanted to hit me. Every part of his body was screaming for it. And I was just waiting for him to try.

My hands slipped out of my pockets, ready to make him swallow his own teeth—but, of course, it wasn’t going to happen.

“Mr. Rasili ! Mr. Rasili !” A man shouted, running toward us—one of his guards. He bent down, whispering something inAntonio’s ear and the moment he heard it, Antonio took off toward the elevators, his cousin following him, though she didn’t leave without throwing me a glance over her shoulder.

Every fiber of my being screamed at me to follow him.

Something was happening.

Something to do with that woman, those bruises, and the little boy who had clung to me like I was his last hope.

“Nikolai !” Grigori called from the exit, motioning for me to come. “Hurry up, Andrei won’t stop crying.”

I shut my eyes, groaning as I ran a hand down my face.

I turned on my heel and headed outside, leaving behind the trembling, mesmerizing woman and the boy who had held onto me.

Selina

My fingers hurt so much that it made me dizzy as the airport slowly came into view. I gently stroked my son’s hair as he slept on my lap. My eyes shifted again to my sister, sitting in the passenger seat, constantly making calls and sending messages. She spoke in English, Italian, and what I assumed was Russian while putting away the makeup she had used to cover my bruises.

I had asked her several times where we were going and, more importantly, how we were getting there, but she just kept telling me not to worry, that she was taking care of everything. My gaze drifted toward the driver, who hadn’t spoken a word in the two hours we had been on the road. He hadn’t even looked at us, keeping his eyes firmly on the road.

“Mamma ?” my son called in a sleepy voice.

“Yes,Angelo mio, I’m here,” I answered, kissing his head as he groaned and shifted, sitting up.

“Where are we ?” he asked, leaning between the two front seats.

“We’re at the airport,Pulcinomio,” my sister replied, turning in her seat and ruffling Rafael’s hair.

“The airport ? With real airplanes ?” he exclaimed, more excited than ever.

“Of course they’re real airplanes,” Sienna confirmed with a nod. Watching my son interact so freely, without fear, with someone other than me stirred an emotion I had never felt before. Seeing him talk without hesitation, without looking over his shoulder, made my heart ache in ways I couldn’t explain.

He had spent his entire life locked inside four walls, no matter how large they were, with no one but me to keep him company. The fact that he had never gotten to experience what every child should broke me more than anything. No matter how much I had tried to entertain him, to distract him from the horror of our reality, I couldn’t shield him from everything.

The way he had hidden behind my legs at the gala, unable to meet people’s eyes, let alone speak to them, had been one of the hardest things I had ever had to witness. I had never felt so powerless.

“Here,” Sienna said, handing me two passports. I took them with furrowed brows, and my eyes widened as I opened them.

“Nina Lebedeva, Vlad Lebedev,” I read aloud. “What is this… Sienna, what’s going on?” I demanded.

She shrugged, showing me hers, which read “Alina Lebedeva,” before slipping it back into her bag.

“Did you really think we were going to leave the country with our real names? That bastard would find us in no time. Besides…”she said, digging into her bag again before pulling out two caps and a pair of sunglasses, “…put these on. We need to avoid the cameras.”

I shook my head, struggling to process everything that was happening. A few hours ago, I had thought I was going to die, and now, here I was, about to board a plane to… I didn’t even know where.

“Where are we going, Sienna ? At least tell me that.”

“Somewhere safe for now, before taking a boat to where we’ll actually be living,” she responded vaguely, still not giving me a specific location.