Page 135 of Sins of a King

Yours,

Igor

I read the letter again, more confused about my feelings than ever. As much as I wanted to sit alone and dwell on circumstances I couldn’t change, it wouldn’t do me any good. I needed to leave the sanctuary of my room and meet the two men Dolinsky had deemed my keepers.

After a quick shower, I headed downstairs toward the living room, hearing them immediately. There was yelling in Russian and my heart tripped with anxiety.

It was all for nothing; I found the two men sitting at the antique backgammon table by a large window. They looked like they were in the middle of a heated argument, but then the blond cracked a smile and laughed. His friend, the dark-haired giant, shook his head and then rolled the dice.

“Good morning,” I greeted.

The blond shot up from his chair, his good humor remaining. “Good morning,moya koroleva. My name is Sasha.” His Russian accent was barely detectable.

The dark-haired giant didn’t smile as he slowly stood up from his chair. Something about him…his eyes…they were as cold as Sasha’s were warm. “Vlad,” he clipped, his accent much thicker.

“Barrett,” I introduced.

“We can’t call you by your given name,moya koroleva,” Sasha explained. “It would be disrespectful.”

I felt like I’d been transported into old world European aristocracy. “Please, don’t stop on my account.” I waved them back to their game of backgammon. “Have you both eaten?”

“Yes,” Sasha said. “Galina and Katrina fed us.”

Ah, the two women had names. I’d never thought to ask, and Dolinsky had never volunteered their names. I was a selfish, self-involved bitch, too caught up in my own issues to remember there were human beings who cooked and cleaned for me.

Vlad snapped something in Russian to Sasha and Sasha nodded. Vlad looked at me and spat, “Patrol.” He stalked from the room and I let out the breath I’d been holding.

“I don’t think Vlad likes me,” I said to Sasha.

“Vlad doesn’t like anyone.” Sasha smiled and I found myself smiling back. “Do you play?” He began to reset the monstrous backgammon pieces.

“I do.”

“Do you want to play me?”

“Sure.” I took Vlad’s empty seat and picked up my dice. “Why doesn’t Igor have a television or computer here?”

“He thinks they’re distractions,” Sasha explained. “And when he comes here, this is his sanctuary, and he wants it to remain…what’s the word…unsullied.”

“It’s very beautiful. He has exquisite taste. The library alone…”

Sasha grinned. “That’s his pride and joy.”

We each rolled one die to see who would go first. I got a four and Sasha a two. I kept the roll and moved my pieces. “What did you call me?” I asked. “When you said you couldn’t call me by my given name?”

“Moya koroleva.Means ‘my queen.’”

Sasha ran a thumb down his jaw, clearly in thought. His eyes were blue, but light like aquamarines, not at all like Flynn’s dark cobalt.

“He plans to kill your husband.”

The idea of Flynn dead left me feeling sick to my stomach, and like someone had carved out my insides, leaving me hollow. “I’m aware.”

“You don’t sound upset by it. Do you not love your husband?”

“I thought I did. But I hardly know him,” I lied.

“Then why did you marry him?”