Chapter 54
PETYR
The clock on the wall ticks past midnight.
I’m still in the office. The damn books I was poring over last night haven’t gotten any clearer, and my head has only grown more tangled from it.
My phone sits on the desk beside it, screen lit up with unanswered messages. None from her, though.
I tell myself not to panic. Sima’s probably feeding the baby, or asleep with her phone on silent.
A few minutes later, I step out of my study to check on her.
“Master Petyr.” Anya runs into me in the corridor. “Dinner is in the—”
“I’m not hungry,” I cut her off. “Where’s Sima?”
Anya seems taken aback. “She went out,” she says, like she expected me to know. “To dinner. Kira is with her.”
My brow knits. “Why wasn’t I informed?”
“I’m sorry,” Anya says. “I thought—”
“No matter.” I wave it off. Keeping me updated about the movements in the house is not on Anya’s long list of duties. It’s the security team who should be on top of these things. “I’ll call Luka.”
“I don’t think he’s with them,” Anya offers. “I cleared his plate a little while ago. The mistresses were already out by then.”
That sets me on edge. “They didn’t take anyone else?”
“I’m not sure.” Anya purses her lips, hesitant. “I didn’t see.”
My fists curl at my side. This isn’t right. Sima knows what’s at stake. She wouldn’t risk her safety for a girls’ night.
Then again, she isn’t a prisoner here. She’s free to come and go as she pleases. If she wanted to go out, I wouldn’t have stopped her. We’re long past that.
But they didn’t take security, and that doesn’t sit right with me.
My jaw tightens. Of all people, Kira should know better. Sima’s new to this, but Kira’s been a Bratva wife for years. She knows how these things work. What the hell was she thinking?
Then I hear the front door.
Relief hits me so hard it hurts.
They’re back. They’re safe. I’m halfway down the hall before I even think about it.
Kira stands in the foyer, coat still on, hair a mess. Her eyes are red. She looks like she’s been crying.
My relief turns to ash.
“Where’s Sima?”
The question comes out too sharp, makes Kira flinch. But I’m not in the mood to police myself. This is my wife we’re talking about.
Kira’s hand tightens on her purse strap. “We went out for dinner,” she says. Her voice is shaking. “She got up to use the bathroom and… she never came back.”
I stop short. “What do you mean, never came back?”
“I waited,” she says. “I called her name. Checked outside. She was just gone.”
My chest goes tight. “She didn’t call you?”
Kira shakes her head. “Nothing. I think…”
“What?” My patience is running out.
When Kira looks up, I can read the hesitation on her face. She doesn’t want to say it, but she doesn’t want to lie to me either.
“I think she ran off again,” she confesses.
I stare at her. The words don’t make sense. Ran off again. Like this is just something Sima does for fun.
“She wouldn’t.” My voice comes out low. “Not without a reason.”
Kira’s mouth trembles. “I’m sorry, Petyr. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“She must have been taken.” I start pacing. “She—”
“There was no one else,” Kira blurts. “The diner was empty. No cars anywhere. Petyr, I really think—”
“No.” My mouth curls into a snarl. “No fucking way.”
Kira’s eyes shine like she’s about to cry again. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “If I’d known, I never would have taken her out. I thought I could trust her, Petyr. I really did.”
My teeth grind together. I need to slow down and think, but it’s impossible.
I start pacing again, back and forth across the foyer. The air feels too thick to breathe. My thoughts keep looping, fast and useless.
How did this happen again? How did she run from me?
I should’ve known better. Should’ve checked, made sure someone went with them.
I gave her too much space. I wanted to believe her when she said she’d stay, that she was done running. God, I wanted to believe her so badly that I didn’t see what was right in front of me.
I press a hand to my face and drag it down to my mouth. My skin’s hot, my chest tight. The last time she ran, I told myself I could live with it. That she needed distance. That I’d let her go if that’s what she wanted.
But that was before the baby. Before everything else.
This time is different.
This time, she had no reason to leave.
Unless Kira’s right. It’s that voice in my head again, half my father, half my brother. Unless you never gave her a reason to stay.
I bite the inside of my cheek until I taste iron. I don’t even know who I’m angry at: her, Kira, myself. Maybe all of us.
I look toward the door. My pulse jumps again, sharper now.
I should never have trusted her.
I hate that we’re back here after everything, but clearly, we are.
I should never have believed this peace could last. Every time I start to, the ground shifts. Whenever I let myself think she’s mine, she reminds me she isn’t. This is what she does.
And I was too blind to see it.
Again.
“FUCK!” I slam my fist against the doorframe. The sound cracks through the hall.
Kira and Anya both flinch away from me. But I barely see them. All I’m seeing is red.
Sima left me. Again.
She ran away from me. Again.
She broke my fucking heart.
Again.
That’s when I hear a sound: Lilia, crying.
My gaze snaps back to Kira. “Did you take Lilia with you?”
“Petyr?”
“Answer me,” I snarl. “Did you take her?”
“What? No.” Kira frowns. “She’s upstairs. Can’t you hear?”
Yes, I can. Loud and fucking clear.
Which is how I know Sima didn’t run from me.
I won’t pretend I know what she’s thinking all the time. That I can tell, every second of every day, where her mind is at.
But I do know one thing: She would have never run without her daughter.
I force myself to go back to a few nights ago and remember what she said to me then.
“Would you do it again?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Because you trust me?”
“Because I know you better.”
That’s right. She knows me better now. Better than to think I’d lock her up again, or do anything in the world to harm her.
And I know her better, too. Enough to know that she didn’t fucking do this.
She wouldn’t run away. I feel it in my gut. This isn’t her.
She meant what she said to me that night. I know she did. I believed her, and I believe her now.
The more I think, the less it makes sense. The idea of her just walking out doesn’t fit. Something happened to her. And whoever’s responsible doesn’t know what they’ve just done.
I push off the doorframe and grab my phone. My fingers are steady now, my thoughts cold and clear.
“I’m going to look for her.”
Kira blinks, surprised. “Petyr, there’s no point. You know how good she is. If she decided to leave—”
“She didn’t,” I snap. “She’d never do that. Not without Lilia.”
Or without me, I think but don’t say. Our business isn’t Kira’s to know.
I grab my coat and head out the door. My wife needs me to find her, and I will.
And God help anyone who’s laid a hand on her in the meantime.