Page 10 of His Forced Bride

I've said this so many times, the words have lost all meaning.

"And you're certain your father had no enemies?"

The question almost makes me laugh.

Batya had enemies everywhere—competitors who resented his success, former partners who felt cheated, rivals who wanted his connections.

But I can't say that to a detective whose notepad will become evidence, whose reports will be read by prosecutors and judges.

"My father was a businessman. He made tough decisions."

Zhukov's eyes narrow.

He knows I'm holding back, but he can't prove it.

After another hour of circling the same ground, he finally closes his notebook.

"We'll need you to come in again tomorrow. Don't leave the city."

I nod and sign the papers they put in front of me.

My signature looks wrong, shaky, nothing at all how I usually write my name.

But just hours after Batya's death, I think I'm doing fairly well, considering.

The taxi ride home is a blur of streetlights and empty roads.

St. Petersburg sleeps while I sit in the back seat, staring at my hands.

Batya's blood has dried under my fingernails.

I should have washed it off at the station, but I don't have the emotional energy to care.

So I pick at it and let tears burn my eyes again.

He's gone… Really gone.

I'm alone in this world now, and Yuri Gravitch is the shark in the water, drawn in by blood, circling and ready to consume me.

"Oh, Batya." I sigh softly and curl deeper into the taxi's leather cushion.

My apartment building looms dark overhead as the cab pulls up to a stop.

The doorman nods as I pass through the lobby.

He's probably heard the news already.

In St. Petersburg, word travels fast when someone important dies, and my father was an influential man.

The elevator climbs to the fifteenth floor while I lean against the mirrored wall.

My reflection stares back—pale skin, hollow eyes, dark hair tangled around my shoulders.

I look exactly how I feel, broken and empty and without hope in this world now.

I don't know what I'm going to do.

My business is strong, well built, but Yuri was right.