Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lily
Anya got married in a beautiful candlelit ceremony, looking exquisitely happy in her lace dress and dripping with diamonds. I was happy for her because she deserved to be happy.
What I wasn’t happy with was being around so many people. Not that anyone made me feel unwelcome. They all seemed to know who I was, even if I didn’t know them.
And Daniil never left my side, not even for a second.
He’d been there when I fell asleep, and still curled up around me when I woke.
Even now, he reached for my hand every time it felt like the panic was kicking back in.
A small brush of his fingers against the back of my hand, one second, bringing it to his lips the next.
He seemed hell-bent on making sure I didn’t feel alone.
But I was alone. There wasn’t one person in this grand ballroom who had been through what I had. There was no one who could understand.
I felt isolated, as much a prisoner in my own head as I had been in the cellar.
“She looks beautiful, doesn’t she?” I whispered when the silence between us had gone on too long.
“Yeah.” Daniil’s breath blew across my cheek, and I turned my head sharply to find him leaning in close to me. “But not as beautiful as you. Have I told you that today?”
A smile curved up my cheeks. “Once or twice, yes.”
“Well.” Curling his hand over my cheek, he drew my face to his, and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me, and panic tightened my chest. I had to take a deep breath and tell myself that Daniil wasn’t going to hurt me. I was perfectly safe with him.
“You’re so beautiful that it needs to be said a million times more.” His head lowered another inch so I could feel his breath against my mouth. “You are the most beautiful woman in this room. In the entire world,” he added with a nod.
“Even when I’ve just woken up and have dragon breath?”
Throwing back his head, he chuckled. “Especially when you’ve just woken up with the dragon breath. It’s my favorite time of the day.” His voice grew husky. “Waking up with you is a gift I will never take for granted.”
His eyes darted away, and following his gaze, I saw Anya staring straight at us and nodding. Frowning, I turned my attention back to him.
“Is something going on?”
For a second, Daniil looked guilty. “No.” He lied. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Ok.” I sighed. He was hiding something from me again, and so was Anya. The one time I had managed to speak to her, she had squealed like an excited puppy and then fell silent when Daniil had given her a pointed look,
They were definitely up to something, but I just didn’t have the energy to worry about it too much. It was taking all of my self-control just to act like a normal functioning person. The urge to run screaming from the room and hide myself away in a closet was all-consuming.
“Hey.” Catching my face between his big hands, he smiled down at me. “You’re doing so well. I want you to know that. I know this is a lot.”
Yeah, it was. It was a ton more than a lot. “Do you want to dance?” I blurted out.
His eyes widened for just a moment before his smile grew lazy. “You want to dance with me?” He asked softly.
I shrugged. I didn’t really want to dance, but I felt like I had to do something. We’d been sitting in the corner for hours. It wasn’t normal, and I was desperately trying to act normal, even if it was exhausting.
I nodded. “I think I would.”
“Then it would be my pleasure to dance with the most beautiful woman in the universe.” Standing, he offered me his hand with a small chivalrous bow that made me smile the first real grin of the night.
“Could I have this dance?”
Nodding, I slipped my hand into his and let him lead me into the middle of the dance floor. He didn’t twirl me. He just pulled me into his arms and held me tight against his body.
Looping my arms around his neck, I pressed my face against his tuxedo. “You look very handsome today,” I whispered. “I should have told you that earlier.”
Gently, he lifted my face up to his. “Thank you.” His dark eyes swept across my face. “But only if you mean it. I don’t want you to ever say things you don’t mean.”
“I do mean it,” I said with more force. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”
“Good.” He pulled me into him again and swayed back and forth.
He kept acting like I was important to him. He’d even said he loved me more than once. And earlier, when I had been falling asleep, I had sleepily said it back. But did I love him? Was that what I was feeling, or was I feeling it because he made me feel safe and protected?
Of course, I hadn’t needed to be protected before he had decided he wanted me.
Not that I was blaming him entirely. Greg was the one who had sold me.
Not once but twice. And I had agreed the first time because deep down I had wanted Daniil as well.
I’d wanted to know how it felt to be with a man like him.
Now I knew. It felt wonderful but terrifying. But did that mean I was in love with him? Shaking my head softly, I pressed my cheek back to his chest and continued to sway.
I guess it didn’t really matter right now.
There was plenty of time to figure out what I was actually feeling.
This was Anya and her new husband’s day.
All I had to do was get through it with a smile on my face until I could go home, change out of the dress and into my sweatpants, and crawl into bed.
Just a few more hours.
“Lily?”
There was a look in Daniil’s face that made my head snap up. If I didn’t know better, I would say he was nervous about something. What could the untouchable Daniil Popov be nervous about?
“I have been thinking about this for a while and—”
My gut twisted. Was he breaking up with me? Could you even break up with someone who you weren’t officially dating? He kept saying that our arrangement was over and that it had changed. He had said he loved me, but that didn’t mean we were dating. We weren’t a couple.
Maybe he was finally sick of not being able to touch me. But then why would he bring me here just to break up with me? He could have left me at home. I would have been happier at home. Home was safe.
“Ok,” I whispered, and I hated the way my voice cracked. “You don’t need to say anything else. I understand.”
Daniil’s eyes widened. “You do? I mean, I hoped you felt the same, but I didn’t want to pressure you into saying it.” Hooking his thumb under my chin, he tilted my head up and brushed his mouth against mine.
And this time, when he kissed me, I didn’t freak out. I was too confused for that. If he was ending things, why was he kissing me? None of this made any sense.
“God, I love you so damn much,” he whispered against my mouth. “So Lily,” he stepped back so suddenly that I almost tipped forward.
To the left of us, someone shrieked. Not a happy, they are playing my favorite song, screech, but one of pure fear.
A dull, muffled pop sounded, followed by a cry that was cut off. Confused, I turned my head to see what was going on, but I didn’t get very far. Launching himself at me, Daniil tackled me to the ground, his body covering mine, and his hand pushing my face into the dance floor.
“Stay down,” he hissed as even more shots rang out. That was what I was hearing, the sound of gunfire muffled with a silencer. And now that I knew what I was hearing. It filled my ears.
My gut twisted in fear so badly that I almost lost control of my bladder. Someone was shooting up Anya’s wedding reception. Any illusion that I was safe evaporated in a puff of smoke. I wasn’t safe anywhere. I’d never be safe again.
Tears flowed from my eyes and down my cheeks, leaving my makeup in ruins. And the fear was like nothing I had ever experienced.
They had found me. Just like they had promised they would when I was alone and naked in that basement with a metal chain around my neck. When they had hurt me over and over again, they had promised me that they would always find me, and nowhere would be safe.
I couldn’t run, and I couldn’t hide. There was nowhere to go but back to the pits of hell with them.
“Papa.”
The wail of a terrified boy brought me back to reality. Using all of my strength, I forced my head up and away from the sticky floor to find the little boy who had just called for his daddy.
Timothy.
I found him almost instantly, even through the chaos. Our eyes locked. “Timothy.” I shouted his name, but it might as well have been a whisper because the screams and gunshots were suddenly so loud.
“Lily.” He mouthed my name. His face was streaked with tears. Seeing his stricken, terrified face woke something up in me. A fire I thought was long since gone. I didn’t matter. My life didn’t matter. But his did. His and my baby. They didn’t deserve this.
“Get off me.” I tried to shove Daniil off me.
“What?” Confused, he heaved himself up an inch to stare down at me.
“Protect us,” I hissed. “You said you would. So do it.” Crawling from under him, I made my way to his son with Daniil close on my heels. Gathering the small trembling body into my arms, I turned pleading eyes to him.
“Stay together.” Crouching down, he stared into my eyes. “Stay together and stay out of sight. I’ll be back.”
Pushing us under one of the tablecloths, he nodded his head once before he let the tablecloth fall over us.
“Do not come out until I say so.”
I nodded my head, even though he was already gone. I wasn’t going to come out. And neither was Timothy. Huddled together, I tried to shield him with my body.
“It’s going to be ok,” I whispered, even though it sounded like the shots were getting closer and closer together. At any second, I expected the cloth to be yanked up and one of the twins to stare down at me with their wicked grins.
“Lily, I’m scared.” Timothy wailed.
I pressed his face against me. “I’ve got you. Nothing is going to happen. I promise. Just close your eyes, ok? It’s almost over.”
He did what I asked, and I covered his ears with my hands to block out the sound of the slaughter going on around us.
“Everyone is going to be fine,” I said again. All I could do was pray that the universe wouldn’t make me a liar.