Page 96 of Nine Months to Love

She sighs. “You work too much, Stefushka.”

“I know.” I stand and kiss her forehead. “Thank you for the game and for the conversation.”

“Go fix things with your woman,” she advises. “Before you lose her, too.”

I head back inside, pulling out my phone as I walk. I’ve decided on one thing: I definitely need to talk to Iakov. Face to face. Whatever happened between his father and my uncle, he might know something. Or at least point me in the right direction.

Somewhere in there is the key to understanding what happened. And once I understand, I can finally end this.

I just hope it’s not too late.

31

OLIVIA

I wait until I’m sure Stefan is nowhere nearby before I slip out of my room.

The hallway is empty. I move quickly, keeping my footsteps light on the marble floors. Down the stairs. Through the foyer. Past the sitting room where Babushka sometimes takes her tea.

I need air. Space. Something other than these walls closing in on me, because if I stay in this nightmare jail cell for a millisecond longer, I’m going to start screaming, and I’m going to run out of oxygen long before I run out of grief or willpower.

The front door is unlocked. I push through it and breathe in the night. The garden stretches out before me, dark and still.

Beyond it, the gate.

Beyond that, freedom.

I walk faster. My bare feet slap against the stone path.

The guards at the gate spot me before I’m halfway there.

“Dr. Aster.” The one on the left steps forward. I recognize him. He was the one who interrupted Stefan and I the night of the dinner. A thin red line still marks his cheek.

“I need to leave,” I tell him immediately.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. We have orders?—”

“I don’t care about your orders. I need to go.”

The other guard shifts his weight. “We can’t let you through without clearance from Mr. Safonov.”

“Then get clearance.”

“It’s not a good time right now, ma’am.”

“I don’t care what time it is.” My voice is rising now. I can hear it, the edge of desperation creeping in. Screaming at the top of my lungs continues to feel like a very viable option. “Open the gate.”

“We can’t do that.”

“Please.” I step closer and switch tactics. If bossing them around won’t work, maybe begging them will. “Just for a few hours. I’ll come back. I promise.”

The first guard shakes his head. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t understand. I can’t stay here. Not tonight. Not after—” I break off. They don’t need to know what happened. They don’t need to know anything.

“Look, ma’am, I think it’d be best for everyone if you went back inside.” He reaches for my elbow to turn me around, but I smack his hand away and hiss at him like a banshee.”

The second guard chuckles. “Careful, before this little she-wolf attacks you, too.”