Chapter 34
Chapter thirty-four
It’s been hours since Henry left me locked in my room at Blanche’s, and I’m losing it.
First, being confined to a single room is totally different from having the entire estate and house to explore when I was growing up.
Second, it hurts a lot more that it was Henry who did it.
I can understand his urge to protect me, and it’s kind of hot that he got so worked up over me being threatened.
Not sure what it says about me that I think it was hot…
I’ve never seen him as infuriated and inconsolable as he was before he left.
Wild eyes, hands that seared every inch of me they touched…
it was as if he needed to consume me so he could ensure I still existed and wasn’t a figment of his imagination.
I told him before he left that the easiest way to make sure I was safe was to take me with him, and that I would sit quietly on his lap the entire time.
He looked at me hotly, as if considering it, before groaning and saying I was safer here.
We’re all trapped here together, as Henry has exercised whatever power he has as head of the family to call in a crap ton of security.
He’s also ordered Ledger and Jack to keep all of us girls and the baby within their sight at all times.
Even though the threat was against me, Ledger and Jack were shaken up at the thought of anyone nefarious getting close enough to the compound to put a piece of mail in the mailbox.
Currently, Ledger is downstairs eating with everyone and will bring something up for me when he finishes and takes Jack’s place. Sitting on the bed with my arms crossed, I continue my stare down of Jack.
“She really didn’t know who you were? Like not even an inkling of an idea?” I ask, still trying to wrap my head around his and Margot’s love story.
He continues spinning in the desk chair he’s commandeered, but grimaces at my question.
“No, she really didn’t know. I know it’s fucked up.”
“She didn’t recognize your…you know…”
Stopping his spins suddenly with both feet on the ground, he gives me a horrified expression.
“Are you crazy! We absolutely, positively, certainly cannot talk about my dick. Henry would cut it off and keep it as a reminder for anyone who looks at you wrong! No! Not happening!”
He resumes his spinning, and I laugh, happy for just a moment to forget about all the scary things that have been happening.
The pit in my stomach that’s been festering since the break-in has me feeling almost constantly nauseous, especially now that we know whoever did it was likely coming for me specifically.
Clearing my throat, I try to appeal to Jack again.
“Don’t you think only giving me one room is a little excessive? I mean, truly, Jack. What’s the worst that could happen by letting me have the run of the house?” I ask in my nicest, totally not up to anything voice.
Ugh, I don’t want to pull out the big guns, but I miss LJ. I should at least have the girls to chat with if I’m gonna be kept cooped up for God knows how long.
“I got so used to being around everyone,” I say honestly, even if I am trying to manipulate Jack. Desperate times…
“You’ll see them all soon, I’m sure,” he replies, although I’ve gotten his attention, and he’s stopped spinning.
“Yeah, I guess. I just,” I sigh quietly before meeting Jack’s gaze.
Regardless of whether he lets me out or not, he and I have some childhood trauma in common, I think.
“I just never got to have the feeling of truly fitting in somewhere until I got here, you know? I had Sasha and the staff, and that was it. But here, it’s like I know we all care about each other and have each other’s backs. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
Rolling my eyes, I sniffle and then laugh.
“Henry locked me in here, and I’ll bet the girls are downstairs playing board games! Or planning LJ’s first birthday. Maybe his next nursery redesign. Or something for Margot’s wedding! And I’ll miss it up here with you, no offense,” I finish.
“It’s my wedding too,” he grumbles quietly, before sighing. “Alright. You win. Only because I miss Margot so much, though. Not because your little speech cracked my rock-hard, tough guy exterior.”
Laughing, I pop up from the bed and squeeze him in a side hug before he opens the door for me and gestures for me to head out first. Almost skipping through the door, I make a quick turn into the hallway when…
“Ooomph!” A masculine grunt comes from Ledger as the plate he was carrying crashes to the ground. He puts his hands on his hips and regards Jack and me with what strikes me as very disappointed dad energy.
“John Flynn Carter Sinclair. Katarina I-don’t-know-your-Russian-middle-name Sinclair. Exactly why are you leaving this room when our fearless family leader Henry expressly told you not to?”
Blinking up at him, I realize I’ll be turning around and heading right back to prison. Great. The urge to stomp my foot like a toddler is real.
“It’s Pavlovna. The kinda feminine form of her dad’s name. Russian thing but not really a middle name, per se.”
Ledger and I both turn to stare at Jack, who has picked up the sandwich that was meant for me from the floor and is already halfway through eating it.
“What? I know things. You get a Russian sister-in-law, you try to learn some shit. Good sandwich, by the way, brother,” he says, taking another huge bite, unbothered as ever.
Ledger closes his eyes, sighs, then looks down at me.
“Come on, Kat, let’s get you back in your room per Daddy’s orders,” he says, and I choke on air.
Any hope I have of hiding my reaction is gone as I cough, and Jack unhelpfully smacks me on the back as Ledger doubles over in laughter.
“Holy fuck, I didn’t know he had actually taken my advice. That motherfucker,” he wheezes as he ushers me back inside. “I cannot wait to tease him about this.”
I flop down on the bed dramatically and scream into a pillow, glad to be of amusement to the family but upset and bored at being quarantined once again.
“I’ll have to go remake your food since Jack ate it off the floor like a dog…” Ledger begins.
“Rude!”
Ignoring Jack, Ledger continues. “But I do have a bit of good news. You aren’t stuck with Jack and me anymore.”
Perking up at that, I raise my head to see Sasha burrowing under Ledger’s arm into the room.
“My KitKat!” he yells, and I jump into his arms.
If I have to be locked up, at least it can be with my cousin. He smells like comfort and familiarity, and I’m so damn glad to see him.
“I’m so happy to see you!” I say, muffled into his shoulder as I squeeze as hard as I can. Jack and Ledger leave to go bring us more food, and Sasha sits down on the desk chair to face me with a serious face.
“Alright, KitKat. You’ve been keeping shit from me. Time to tell me everything.”
“And so Henry is going to murder Uncle Ivan because he thinks he’s behind all this, and he wouldn’t listen to reason when I tried to tell him I don’t think it’s him.
He wasn’t really listening at all, though.
He kinda went full caveman after the threat to me arrived,” I finish, having caught Sasha up to date fully on all the happenings.
He’s giving me a serious look, almost guilty, and I wonder what he knows that he’s not telling me.
“It’s not my dad, KitKat. You’re right about that,” he sighs, eating another cookie off the plate Jack brought before dramatically spitting it out into a napkin. “Fuck! What is that?”
“Danish wedding cookie,” I reply primly, popping one into my mouth. “I’ve grown fond of them.”
“Ugh, Jesus. More for you, then.”
Swallowing, I ask Sasha a question I’ve been wanting to for some time.
“I just don’t understand why he would push so hard to get me back. He made Henry so mad, and for what? Knowing it could hurt the business, when Ivan and I were never particularly close. I just don’t get it.”
Sasha gazes past me at the wall for a minute before shaking his head.
“He’ll tell you one day, Kat, and probably soon, with all this craziness going on. I’m sure he’ll answer all of your questions then,” he finishes, and I can tell he’s done talking about this for right now.
I stand to pace.
“I’m not happy about Henry going to see Uncle Ivan alone, either. Not that I think he’s a threat, but clearly, our compound isn’t safe. Someone was able to get to Father, and you know how tight Taranov security is, Sasha. The redundant keys, the stupid ID badges to get in and out…”
“Fuck,” Sasha says, running his hand down his face as guilt overtakes his expression. “I actually have a confession to make. When I came to visit you, I actually flew in a couple of nights early to…umm, well, never mind that. But I was at a, um…club, and I think I was robbed.”
I’m out of my seat before I know it, checking him for any injuries, like I would be able to find anything after so much time has passed. “Oh my God! Are you okay? Were you hurt?”
“I’m fine, really,” he says, shooing me back to my seat. “Nothing happened, but I woke up the next morning without my master key. I must have drunk more than I thought I did…”
“Do you have any idea who it might have been?”
“No clue. The only person I really talked to that night was some lady at the bar. And before you ask, no, nothing happened. But that was just barely before Pavel passed away, and I always wondered…”
“Wondered what?”
“Well, what you said about him not being one to commit suicide, and I agree. I don’t think he was the one who ended his life. And I’ve felt this twinge of guilt that it has something to do with whoever took my key that night.”
“Please don’t blame yourself. You would never hurt anyone in our family. I know you wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s not just Pavel now. Someone's been targeting you, and I can’t help but feel like I’ve let you down,” he says, looking down at me with fierce remorse.
“It’s fine—”