Page 75 of Deadly Knight

Anastasia finishes preparing her drink and asks, “Want anything, Katya? I’ll exchange food for an explanation of who you are and what is going on here?” Despite her words, her tone remains polite, her smile well practiced as she stares at Vanessa.

“Jesus, Ana,” Vanessa mutters.

“If I tell you, maybe you can take my side and get me out of here.”

Like Zeno, Anastasia just stares for a moment before laughing as she heads to the fridge. “Oh, man, Dimitri’s fucked, isn’t he?” She opens the fridge. “I make a mean omelette, if that’d interest you.”

Vanessa gags, nudging me towards the counter. Assuming she wants to be closer to Zeno and get me away from the door, I slide onto one of the barstools tucked into the island.

“When Ana says ‘mean’, it’s actually because it’s pure cruelty. She’s a health nut and enjoys forcing her diet upon us all. At least you won’t complain of being malnourished while here.”

Anastasia flicks her fingers at Vanessa before pulling out an egg carton, milk, a green pepper, and a small onion. “Not my fault you all eat like shit. Bodies need to be taken care of.”

Vanessa’s smirk slides in my direction. “Ana’s a ballerina, so exercise and diet are important to her.”

“A ballerina? Like, a real-life one?”

“Well, if I’m not real, then I have no idea what I am. Yes, I’ve been doing it for years. It’s whatever.”

“It’s not whatever,” Vanessa interjects. “She’s being humble.”

Anastasia gets to cutting the onion, and the air prickles with the telltale sting often accompanying the vegetable. Zeno leans over the counter, musing, “You know who you’d get alongwith fantastically? Nero. He consumes more alcohol than you’ve probably ever had in your life, and his idea of eating healthy areciambelle al mostobecause they’re made with grape juice.”

Anastasia’s nose scrunches. “And a whole lot of everything else the body doesn’t need. Donuts are a nightmare to my workout routine.” Zeno laughs, about to say something when Anastasia slams the knife down a bit harder and looks towards me. “Enough about me and my career. I’m making food, so I think an explanation of what is going on is owed.”

I glance at Zeno and then Vanessa, realizing I wouldn’t know where to begin, considering they’re all virtual strangers. Kind enough, but strangers nonetheless.

Vanessa waves her hand. “I know everything, so say as much or as little as you want.”

“Um.” I shift on the barstool, focusing on Anastasia now cutting the pepper. “Well, Dimitri and I dated as teenagers, when he attended my school. He helped me at a party one night, drove me home, and we kinda became friends from then on. Eventually more.”

Anastasia stops slicing. “Dimitri once had a heart? Damn.”

Vanessa snorts around the coffee mug she stole from Zeno, who’s been silent and listening. “Oh, he had a heart, and you’re looking at her.”

“Why didn’t I know about this? I mean, I guess back then I didn’t know Dimitri as well, but to hide an entire relationship…”

“He never brought me around,” I supply. “Only when the place was empty, which was pretty rare. He kept me away from everything to do with the Bratva.”

Shetsksher teeth. “That makes sense, knowing the assholes who were around here.”

“His father never approved of the relationship?—”

Anastasia snorts. “Unsurprising.”

“—and tried to pay me off on the day of our graduation. I turned the money down. So he…” I trail off, the words dying in my mouth as my hand floats to my arm, fingers curling until my nails are brushing my skin. No matter how many times I’ve said it aloud to Ava, this is different. We’re not in the confines of an office under strict confidentiality rules. Regardless of what Vanessa claims, everyone here is a stranger.

“Ivan had them attacked, to say the least,” Vanessa fills in. “The details aren’t important.”

I throw a grateful look her way while Anastasia stops chopping entirely. The two share a silent conversation before Anastasia shrugs and the knife whacks into the cutting board again.

“Afterward, I couldn’t do it anymore.” This part, I skim over, the truth of everything that was in my head for me and Dimitri only. “I hated breaking up with him, but I was scared what continuing would mean. If his father didthat, what else would he eventually do to keep us apart? So I ended it and ran away to Canada. Being in Russia…it felt like too much. This is where it happened, and getting better didn’t seem possible where all the memories are. I also wanted Dimitri to heal away from me, to not have the reminder. Figured if we were both apart, we’d be okay.”

“Don’t think it worked how you wanted it to,” Vanessa chimes.

Anastasia whistles. “Damn. Dimitri’s tirade makes more sense. It’s less about betraying the organization and more about Katya. Alright, so what’s the story of you being here today?”

Vanessa snorts, reaching for Zeno’s mug again. “Dimitri’s a possessive asshole.”