Chapter 14
NATASHA
The plane’s wheels bounced off the runway below us as a mix of emotions swirled within me. My excitement to be in my home country was tempered by the loss of my new ally–a man I was quickly developing feelings for.
Leaving Kyle unconscious on that beach had been like a knife to my gut, and I still hadn’t recovered from it.
My eyes narrowed at my sister who stared at her phone, one leg casually draped over the arm of the chair, her leather boot swinging in the air.
In the inside pocket of her leather jacket was my burner phone–and my only means to contact Kyle.
I licked my lips, my fingernails digging into my palms. Nadia would never give up the phone. And I couldn’t slip it from her pocket either. She was far too savvy for that.
I dug my teeth into my lower lip as I tried to come up with another way to reach out. I had bigger problems now that I was on Belvarian soil, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Kyle.
I framed it that I was focused on him because he may provide a solution to some of my problems, but I knew that wasn’t the case. Feelings that I’d never experienced before had already taken root and were growing.
As nonsensical as it sounded, I knew that was the case. I’d never experienced a connection with anyone like this before.
I had to find a way to contact him, at least to see how he was. My mind created nightmare scenario after nightmare scenario. What if something had happened to him after we left? What if he was seriously hurt and no one knew?
“Nadia,” I said as the plane slowed to a stop and the engines began to wind down.
My sister raised her eyes to me, her eyebrows arching in question.
“Did you leave someone behind to make sure Kyle was okay?”
My sister huffed out a breath as she rose, shaking her head. “I’m not that concerned about the good doctor. We have larger problems on our hands.”
I leapt from my seat. “Kyle can be a solution to one of those problems. Unless he’s lying on the beach dying because of your hit to his skull.”
“Calm yourself, Natashka. There is no reason to be upset.”
“There is every reason to be upset,” I shouted.
My sister lifted her chin, peering down her nose at me. “He is a distraction you do not need. If he proves in any way useful, I will–“
“Fetch him, I know. You will crack him over the head before you tie him to a chair and force him to do your bidding. I know exactly how you operate, Nadia. I have turned a blind eye in plenty of instances.”
My sister licked her lips as she took a step closer to me, her expression unimpressed. “My mode of operation is not your concern, moya sestra. The outcomes are the only thing that matters.”
“That’s not true,” I said, my nostrils flaring.
My sister scoffed. “You must forget about him, Natasha. He is nothing to you, and he must remain nothing to you.”
My jaw tightened as I prepared a rebuttal.
Before I could, she clapped me on the shoulder. “Do not argue, my sister. The fire in your eyes is undeniable. It is up to me to make certain nothing comes of it, though.”
“That is not your decision.”
“And your life is not your own. There are larger things at play here. Do not make the mistake of thinking Papa would agree with your childish tendencies. He would not.”
I wanted to shout that it wasn’t a childish tendency, that my feelings were real and valid, but my sister would never listen.
She gave me a gentle shake as I pressed my lips together. “Natashka, give it a few days. You’ll forget all about him. He’s just a passing fancy.”
I struggled not to roll my eyes at her condescending statement. Instead, I simply stood still as she waved Stefan over.
“Straight home. No stops. And no phones.” My sister wagged a finger at him.
“Of course,” Stefan answered, wrapping his thick hand around my bicep.
“No phones? Nadia, I’m not a prisoner.”
“No, you are not. You are far more important than a prisoner. And as such, I must take the necessary steps to protect you. Even from yourself.”
My lips parted as I stared at her. “Protection from myself?”
“You are a danger to yourself in your current state. And I will not allow this to go off the rails right now because you’re a love-sick schoolgirl.”
My eyes widened as Stefan began to drag me toward the opening. “I am not a love-sick schoolgirl.”
“Could have fooled me,” my sister called over her shoulder as she pressed her phone to her ear and dismissed us with a wave of her hand.
Stefan led me down the stairs to the tarmac below where cars waited for us. I yanked my arm away from him, striding toward the car myself. “I’m not a child, Stefan.”
He didn’t answer, but I wasn’t surprised. My sister’s posse were loyal to her to a fault. It didn’t matter what I said to them—they would not defy her.
I would be unable to convince him to help me in any way. I’d have to rely on someone else.
The plush leather enveloped me as I slid into the backseat of the car, a pout on my lips. Every second took me further away from Kyle.
I pictured him again on the beach, worry making my heart seize before it capitulated into something worse. Tears stung my eyes, and my lower lip trembled as I wondered if I’d ever see him again.
Would he simply return to Alex and Ava’s and move on? He’d said he was falling in love with me, but what if he said that to every woman he met?
I sniffled as a few tears rolled down my cheeks. A handkerchief waved in front of me. I raise my watery gaze to Stefan in the passenger seat before I snatched it.
“Spasibo,” I murmured as I used the cloth to dab at my cheeks.
“Your sister means to protect you,” he answered.
“I do not need her brand of protection. Can you at least tell me if you know what happened to the man who was with me on the beach?”
He stared straight ahead, his jaw clenching. I knew that look all too well. It wasn’t that he couldn’t tell me what happened to Kyle, he was simply refusing to do it. He must have received a directive to wipe all traces of Kyle from my life.
“I won’t ask again if you tell me now. I just want to know he’s all right,” I tried.
Sometimes you caught more flies with honey.
He never took his eyes from the road in front of us. My nostrils flared as frustration shoved aside my worry and upset. I curled my fingers around the handkerchief, displeased with his stonewalling.
“Did Nadia tell you not to answer anything about Kyle?”
He responded by murmuring to the driver to use a back entrance.
“You could at least answer me, Stefan. You don’t get to just ignore me.”
He twisted to face me, his features neutral. “Nearly there.”
“Information I did not need. I know the streets of my own city very well. The information that I need is about Kyle Carter. Have you gotten anywhere with determining if he can help our cause?”
“These are things for your sister to tackle, not you.”
My jaw clenched at the words. How dare he put me in my place? He had no right. But it was useless arguing with him. It would only make him dig in deeper.
With all the trouble swirling around us, he followed his orders to the letter, determined not to incur Nadia’s wrath should something go wrong with me.
I settled back into the soft leather, my arms crossed. I needed a new plan. No amount of needling at Stefan would work.
The car slowed, turning into a nondescript alley before it raced toward a garage door nearly buried underground.
The driver lowered his window, speaking Belvarian to another man as a second swept the car for any signs of explosive devices. Within minutes, we were disappearing into an underground garage.
The man slid the car into a parking space and killed the engine along with all of my chances to secure another cell phone.
There would be no leaving now, I thought, as the last traces of daylight slid away, blocked by the thick metal garage door.
I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed my handle, pushing on the door. It refused to budge. My eyelashes fluttered, my nose wrinkling with annoyance. “Really? You engaged the child locks.”
“We cannot be too careful, malenka.”
I rolled my eyes, annoyed by both the overzealous care and the affectionate term of “little one.” I wasn’t a child anymore, and I didn’t deserve to be treated like one.
The door pulled open away from me, and I hopped out, my jaw set as I wagged a finger in Stefan’s face. “You are overstepping. I do not need to be protected from myself.”
“That remains to be seen.” He reached for me, but I skirted past him, avoiding his grasp.
“You do not need to drag me into my bedroom, I know the way.”
“Remove him from your mind, narushka. There is work to be done here, and we do not need distractions.”
I crossed my arms, my irritation coming to a boiling point. “And I do not need lectures. Do not presume to tell me what to do.”
I glanced at him only to find his features neutral as he flanked me. I wanted to slap that look right off his face. It somehow made him even more smug than if he’d smirked at me.
We threaded through the familiar halls of my home until we reached my doors. I pushed inside of them, whipping around to close the doors behind me and shut Stefan out of my sight.
After engaging the lock, I spun to lean against them, letting out a sigh. With a scrub of my face, I stretched my neck, trying to come to terms with the whirlwind that had been my life over the past few days.
Now, back home, I started to wonder if I’d made up everything about Kyle Carter. Had my knight in shining armor been a mere figment of my imagination? Had I made more of it than it was?
A shuffling noise sounded across the room, and I snapped my eyes open.
My heart skipped a beat as I stared at the bulky form of my brother stalking toward me.
The shadows seemed to gather around him as he stepped closer, his smirk a mix of triumph and menace.
His polished boots echoed ominously on the marble floor, each step tightening the knot in my stomach.
“Welcome home, Natashka. We have so much to discuss.”
My fingers found the door, wondering if I could unlock it in time to get help if I needed it or if I had shut out Stefan only to lose my life to my brother.
He’d already killed our father. Would I be next?