Page 11 of Sweet Deception

Zoya met my eyes, not blinking. “Did you?”

I said nothing.

She gently dabbed the bruise with antiseptic. “You’ll feel sore for a few days. There’s swelling around your eye, too. Did he hit you?”

“No.”

Again, that long, unflinching stare.

“I’m not here to judge,” she said finally. “But I am here to protect you. Whether you want me to or not.”

I flinched at that. “Protect me? You work for him.”

“I don’t work for anyone,” Zoya replied, her voice cool. “I was assigned. There’s a difference.”

That made me pause.

She taped a cold compress to my jaw and stood. “I’ll be outside the room if you need anything. If he comes back, you call me first.”

I didn’t know what to make of her. She wasn’t soft like Elisabetta, but there was something steady in her presence. Something sharp and still, not unlike a blade tucked into velvet.

“Is there a gym here?”

“Yes. Unused.” Her eyes sharpened.

“Show me. Tomorrow.” My jaw throbbed.

My legs, poisoned, mocked me. If my father broke them, Gleb’s truth could wake them.

“Okay.”

When the door shut behind her, I stared at the ceiling and let the silence fold in around me.

Was Zoya my enemy... or was she the first person who might actually protect me in this house of monsters?”

Chapter 3

ANNA

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Two weeks since the blood, the ash, the truth. I’d spent them fighting, pushing my legs against the floorboards, Zoya steadying me when they buckled. My jaw still ached from that first fall, but each day, the twitch in my muscles grew stronger. “Does he ever come back unannounced?” My voice was a quiet echo against the stone walls, and I hated how small it sounded.

Zoya’s lips tightened into a thin line. “Mr. Romanov does as he pleases. Best not to test his patience when he does.”

I paused, “What happens when someone does?”

Zoya hesitated, a flicker of something dark passing through her eyes before she murmured, “There was a gardener once. He touched something that wasn’t his. They found him in the river the next day, minus a few fingers.”

Her words hung in the air like smoke, each syllable colder than the next. I forced a nervous laugh, trying to shrug it off as some grim joke, but Zoya didn’t smile. She didn’t even flinch. “Your family should’ve warned you,” she added, her voice soft, almost regretful. “He’s still settling old scores.”

My stomach tightened, but I didn’t let it show. I shrugged, brushing it off. I had learned quickly, fear couldn’t control me here. Not yet.

Zoya was a constant, her presence like a shadow always just behind me. But I wasn’t naive. She was Gleb’s eyes and ears, not just my companion. I could feel the weight of her gaze everytime I stepped out of line. Her constant presence didn’t fill the emptiness left by Gleb’s silence.

Two weeks without a single word. No calls. Nothing. And all I could think about was why. Why had he left me here? Why didn’t he care?

The thought of him not even caring enough to show his face made my stomach churn. I couldn’t decide if it was the betrayal or the isolation that gnawed at me the most.