Page 42

I hid out in the guest bedroom until Arkadi was out of the house, then wandered around, vacillating between hurt and furious.

Either way, something had to change if we were going to truly be a married couple, and not prisoner and jailer.

And I needed to be as calm as possible to get my point across, so I tried putting together a flower arrangement with blooms I picked from around the gardens.

It was a nice, relaxing project, and I was pleased with the outcome, meaning to put it in the middle of the table when Arkadi and I had a civilized conversation over dinner.

Then, one of the guards showed me a message bluntly telling me he wasn’t going to be home for dinner. No explanation why, just to eat without him.

Oh hell, I wasn’t going to be civilized at all. I meant to have a knockdown, drag-out fight if that was what it took to make him see reason and let me see my brothers. Or at least tell them I was all right.

I was willing to keep the fact that I was back home a secret for a few more days. Underneath my current anger, I really was beginning to trust Arkadi, so I could give him that if he could, in turn, promise to give me what I wanted. It had to go both ways.

A phone call, nothing more. So damn simple that it was unbelievable that I even had to fight for it. Was I still a prisoner? Or a partner, like I longed to be? It seemed like it leaned far more to one than the other. I couldn’t even shop online without supervision, for goodness’ sake.

Fired up, I decided to put it to the test. I found the guard who had relayed the text message about Arkadi ditching me for dinner and gave him my sweetest look.

“Can I use your phone?”

He didn’t burst out into laughter, which was a good sign, but he certainly didn’t hand it over with no questions. “I can call Arkadi for you if you like,” he said, as stony and unshakeable as any of them.

Well, I meant to shake this one. “I want to talk to him in private,” I said, trying not to take out my ire on him.

I kept my hand out, and we had a tense stare-down, but I was determined to win this tiny battle or else turn it into a war.

“Is there some rule against talking to my husband that I don’t know about? ”

Reminding him, I was the boss’s wife cracked him, and he begrudgingly handed over the phone. Following me for a few steps, he hung back, miraculously letting me go into the next room.

I closed the door, waiting a second to see if I heard his footsteps, but it seemed like he wasn’t going to listen in.

I looked down at the phone as if I had never seen such a marvel before.

That was way too easy. Now, who to call.

It had to be my most reasonable, even-tempered brother.

The problem was that the only one whose number I could recall off the top of my head was Ivan.

He was just about the most hot-headed of them all.

Well, I didn’t have any other choice if I didn’t want to waste this rare chance I might never get again. It was only a matter of time before the guard realized he probably screwed up and came bursting through the door to wrestle the phone away from me.

Holding my breath, I sent Ivan a text message.

It’s me, Mila. Promise me you’ll be cool, and then I’ll call.

His promise came almost immediately, but when I called, he was anything but cool.

“What the fuck, is it really you?” he shouted.

“Yes,” I said in a low voice. A whisper would set him off more, but I couldn’t have the guard overhearing. “Stop yelling. I can’t believe you’re mad at me.” I mean, I kind of could, but I didn’t have time for it.

“I’m not mad,” he said. “I want to know where you are so I can send an army to rescue you.”

“I don’t need rescuing,” I told him. “I just need your vow of secrecy.”

“What the hell? Who’s making you say this shit?”

“Ivan, calm down and promise you won’t say a word to anyone else until I can explain everything.” I thought I heard a sound outside the door and jumped. I had to end the call fast. “Promise, and I’ll meet you somewhere.”

He continued to freak out, and I felt awful for causing such strife in my family, but I held firm and eventually wrung a promise out of him that he’d keep his mouth shut until we met in person.

“If you’re lying and you’re not the only one there, I’ll bail,” I said.

“I swear on Olivia, it’ll just be me,” he said.

Since he loved his wife more than he loved himself and any of us, I believed him and hung up. Quickly texting him the location I hoped I could actually get to, I deleted the messages and the call log, blocked his number, and breezed out of the room.

“Thanks,” I said, handing the phone back to the guard with a long sigh. “Arkadi’s really not going to be able to make it back for dinner, so I’d like to go out to eat. Can you arrange the car?”

I must have been a better actress than I ever believed because he agreed without a blink, telling me it would be ready when I was.

To keep up the appearance that nothing was off, I ran upstairs and put one of my wigs on, even dotting on some fake freckles for good measure, like I was actually dedicated to the disguise.

Back downstairs, I continued to act like everything was completely normal, even though my heart was beating out of my chest.

Going out on my own wasn’t actually that big of a deal, even though I had only done it a few times since we moved back, and it was always with a driver who acted as my guard.

So far, it was just a quick trip to a pharmacy and another through a drive-through, so I was pushing my luck, asking to go to an actual restaurant.

However, Arkadi had set me up with the perfect cover story, so the driver easily agreed we could go eat the fresh tacos that I supposedly craved.

It was nearby, and once we were there, I ate my food in a leisurely fashion, giving Ivan time to arrive at the settled location.

Once it was time, I held my breath, trying to keep my face bland as I slid my seat back.

“I’m going to pop to the restroom,” I said, my voice sounding all wrong, much too stiff and fake.

It was true I was about to pee myself from nerves, not wanting to waste this precious chance to ease my family’s mind that I was all right.

The guard shrugged and nodded. As far as he knew, there was no reason to keep me on a tight leash anymore, and he didn’t follow me and hover outside the door like I feared.

What he didn’t know was that I had chosen this place specifically because there was a back exit that led down an alley to the place where I told Ivan to meet me.

I laid the groundwork in the car that I was having some nebulous lady issues, so when I went to the restroom, I could have a few more minutes than normal.

That was all I would need to race down the alley, assure Ivan I was really safe, not under duress at all, and that everything else would be revealed in a few days.

He was waiting by the exit of the store a few doors down, pacing back and forth along the side of his car, haphazardly crammed into the small alley.

He looked impatient and furious, but I was so glad to see him that I picked up my pace, eager to hug him.

He stopped, suddenly alarmed that a black-haired woman was barreling towards him, then he recognized me under my wig.

I grinned, holding out my arms, but instead of hugging me, he gripped my shoulders, blazing me with a harsh glare. “Get in the car,” he said.

“This won’t take long,” I told him as he led me toward the passenger door anyway.

“Get. In. The. Car,” he repeated.

I didn’t have time for his dictatorial act, but knowing him the way I did, it would be easier and quicker just to let him have his way and talk to him in the car. He had promised to hear me out and not act rashly.

And like an idiot, I believed him. Enough to be shocked when he slid into the driver’s seat and jammed on the button to lock my door.

“Ivan,” I yelped. “You said you would listen.”

“I will, when you’re safe.”

I was still stunned beyond belief as he slammed the car into gear and took off down the alley like every last one of Arkadi’s men was after him. I turned around to see that the alley was empty. My poor guard probably thought I was still in the restroom.

I whipped around to smack Ivan on the shoulder, but the dense idiot stared straight ahead, refusing to listen as he continued to drive.

Damn it, now I was being kidnapped by my own brother.