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Oh my god, how could I have been so reckless?
I swore to protect my daughter, and I failed.
Mrs. Bombae’s dainty laugh pulls me from my alarmed state. “He was so secretive he made me promise that I wouldn’t tell your mother that I had seen him. I told him he’d have to buy me an extremely expensive steak for me to even consider his request.” Her pinched brows make her wrinkles more noticeable. “I was meant to have dinner with him on Monday. He never showed up.”
“Because he’s missing. Presumed dead.”
The brunette who rushed to Ark’s side last week joins our conversation. She seems to know me, and she doesn’t appear to be a fan of mine.
“The circumstances of his disappearance are eerily similar to the disappearance of a man six years ago.” Her eyes drop to Tillie for half a second before they return to my face. They’re not as cruel now but extremely unhinged. “Perhaps you’ve heard of him.” There’s no remorse in her eyes, no hesitation on her face. With two short sentences, she hacks my confidence down to a penance like I’m the criminal. “Luba Babkin. Does his name ring a bell?”
Tillie attempts to bite at the bait she’s dangling in front of me, so I speak quickly and clearly. “I have heard of him, but I am under no obligation to announce the reason as to why my name is associated with his, Ms…”
“Detective.” She flashes her credentials too fast for me to take in. “Detective Sanya Pascall from Trudny PD.”
The fact she is a police officer strips the last of my understanding. She knows my rights as a victim, yet she is attempting to exploit them in public.
“If you have questions in regard to my relationship with Dr. Babkin, I suggest you contact a victim advocacy lawyer before approaching me again.”
My steps are thwarted for the second time when she says, “And your father? Who should I contact about his disappearance slash murder? You… or your billionaire boyfriend rich enough to cover for you?”
I’m too stunned by her accusation to remain quiet. “I had nothing to do with my father’s disappearance?—”
“So you’re saying it was him?” Detective Pascall nudges her head to an image announcing whose birthday is being celebrated today.
“No. Ark would never…” My words trail off when I recall Ark’s reaction to finding out I had been raped.
I’m going to track down that fuck and make him regret the day he laid eyes on you.
I’m going to kill him.
Then there were his other multiple promises of protection as our wonderfully beautiful twenty-four hours of reprieve from the world went on.
He swore he’d never let anyone hurt me again. That he would do everything in his power to keep Tillie and me safe.
Would that have included murder?
I want to say no, but the evidence is worrying.
Scarcely breathing, I sling my eyes to Mrs. Bombae, as desperate to interrogate her as Detective Pascall is to interrogate me. Her timeline of my father’s last known movements is damning. It could lead to a conviction if handed to the wrong person.
Before I can utter a syllable, the elevator doors I begged to miraculously open only minutes ago finally do, exposing both the man of the hour and the man I am almost certain maimed for me.
44
ARKADIY
She knows.
One glance into Mara’s pretty eyes exposes everything.
She knows what I did and how far I will go to protect her. She knows my deepest, darkest secret that has nothing to do with my childhood, and everything to do with ensuring her daughter wasn’t forced to walk down the same dark corridor we were dragged down when we were children.
She knows, and I am as relieved as I am scared.
I take a moment to try to determine the cause of the groove between Mara’s dark brows—is it fear or relief?—before I shut down the personal side of my head and rule with the power I once craved as much as I now do Mara’s touch.
With a click of my fingers, I demand security to my side. “Please escortMrs.Babkin from the premises. If she attempts re-entry, contact Myasnikov PD to advise them acivilianis impersonating an officer of the law.”