10. Chapter Ten #3
My stomach falls to my feet. “But when I eventually don’t return, he’ll wonder where I am.”
“That’s easy. I’m going to make your death look like an accident. He’ll think it’s a tragic story. Nothing more. And then I won’t have to worry about you taking everything from me again.”
“You’re insane.”
“And you’re in my way.”
Maria looks between us. “What’s going on? Who are you?”
“A friend of Lana’s husband. And who are you?” he asks, looking her up and down. Maria wraps her arms around herself.
“A friend of Lana’s.”
“Maxim told me he took you because you were there. I told him to keep you alive. I wanted to see what one of Lana’s friends looked like.”
“We’re not really friends,” Maria blabbers. “We kind of hate each other.”
“Oh. How interesting. So it won’t bother Lana then when I do this.” He raises his gun and aims it at Maria.
Before I can even blink, he pulls the trigger. The bullet lands right between Maria’s eyebrows. She jerks and then falls backwards, landing on the ground with a hard thud. Her blood is splattered on the wall behind her and is now pooling on the floor. All the life is gone from her eyes.
Just like that.
A feral, loud scream erupts through the room. It takes me a second to realize that it’s my own voice. Maria is dead. Lev murdered her without a second thought.
I promised her she would survive.
Lev turns to me with an evil, little smirk on his face. I thought I wanted to kill Ana but I was wrong. I want nothing more than to murder Lev.
“Why did you kill her?” I whisper. My throat already hurts from my scream. “She wasn’t in your way. She had no part in this.”
“Because it hurts you and I like torturing people who have wronged me.” He kneels down beside me and presses the gun to my temple. I hold still and glare at Lev. The last thing I’ll let happen is him intimidate me. Lev won’t get the satisfaction.
An ice princess, I remind myself. Do. Not. Crack.
“I am going to have so much fun with you,” he laughs.
I spit in his face and he jerks back before slapping me across the face. “I can’t wait for Nikolai to find out what you have done and torture you for it. It will be so sweet when you get a taste of your own medicine.”
He glares at me as he wipes my spit from his cheek. “You bitch.” He raises his gun to hit me but his phone rings at that very moment, saving me. When he takes his phone out, I see Nikolai’s name on the front.
He saved me even here.
“Fuck,” Lev grumbles, standing up and answering the call.
“Yeah, boss? Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. On it.” He hangs up.
“It’s your lucky day, bitch. Nikolai needs me right now and I don’t need him getting suspicious.
But I’ll be back later.” He nods at Maria’s body.
“Have fun with her. You’re lucky it’s winter time or she’d already be stinking. ”
I stare into the dead eyes of Maria and let out a scream the second Lev is gone.
And I can’t get myself to stop screaming.
Nikolai
“Lev,” I say after he gets out of his car. I stand in the doorway to my house. “Lana isn’t here. Boris said he went to pick her up from rehearsal and she’s not there. I need you to help me look for her.”
“Of course, boss.”
Did Lana run away from me? I know I’ve been cold to her these past few days but does she really want nothing to do with me?
Or did she try to kill herself again? Did she succeed this time?
“I checked with her parents but they said she wasn’t there. I am going to talk to her sisters though. They might know something and are keeping it from me.”
“What do you need me to do?” he asks. For some reason, he won’t look me in the eye. Lev has never had a problem with looking me in the eye.
“Drive around the city. I made a list of spots Lana could have gone. I’ll text them to you.” I pat him on the shoulder. “Thank you.”
He blows out a rough breath. “Of course.”
I leave Lev behind and drive to Gregory’s house.
“What do you want now?” he asks after opening the door. “I already told you on the phone that my daughter isn’t here.”
“I just need to check. You understand.”
“Gregory, let him in,” Masha says. “It’s cold out.”
Gregory grumbles but does as his wife says. I step into the warm house and offer Masha a smile. Lana looks so much like her mother, it’s almost uncanny.
“I told you,” Gregory says, “Lana is not here. But feel free to check my entire house if you don’t trust me.” It’s a test. Gregory is a prideful man and doesn’t appreciate me being here. If I check his house, it would be a blatant show of disrespect.
“Can I speak to your other daughters? They might know something you don’t.”
Gregory huffs. “You can rest assured that my daughters know what I know. I keep them on a tight leash.”
“Still, I would appreciate talking to them. Just to hear what they have to say.”
“I’ll get them,” Masha says. Unlike her husband, I can tell Masha doesn’t like the thought of Lana being gone.
I stare down at Gregory. His eyes narrow. He must hate that I’m taller than him. Younger. Wealthier even. “This house feels cold.”
“We have the heat on. We can easily afford it.”
“That’s not what I mean. This house…” I look around. Everything is technically beautiful but it all feels so… lifeless. It’s no wonder Lana struggled with her dance. When you live in a house like this, all perfection but no substance, it would make it hard to create art.
Masha returns with Elena and Adriana.
“What do you want?” Adriana snaps, the spitting image of Lana. Her sass is going to get her hurt one day.
“I am looking for your sister. Do you have any idea of where she went? I looked in all the usual places. But you know your sister in a way I don’t.”
Adriana shrugs. “I know nothing.”
Elena keeps her head bowed. With her long, dark hair, it hides her face completely, making her look like a ghost.
“Do you know something?” I ask in a softer tone. At my wedding, I could tell Elena was shy. Caution with her.
“Lana would only come home or to dance. That’s it.”
Gregory scoffs. “See? Even though my daughter is being rude by not lifting up her head and mumbling, she is right. Lana is not here.”
I look at Gregory for a long moment. Elena seems to shrink even more into herself. “All right then. I just had to know. Thank you.” I head for the door but it’s Elena who stops me.
“Wait.” She rushes to my side.
“Elena,” Gregory warns.
“What is it?” I ask her.
She stands there, biting her lip.
“Elena!” Gregory snaps.
“Do you know something?” I ask.
“I just have this feeling in my gut. That my sister is in danger. She would only come home or go to dance practice. There’s nowhere else she’d go, except to get her hair and nails done and occasionally shop. But even that wasn’t all the time. I think something bad has happened.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because… because the day of your wedding, I saw a man talking to Lana. It was after your first dance. She went to change her shoes so she could perform for us. I went to talk to her but I stopped when I saw that man walk out of the ballroom first. I watched him talk to her. He… looked like he was threatening her. I was scared so I didn’t approach.
I couldn’t hear what they were saying but my gut told me to stay out of it. So I went back to my parents.”
“And you didn’t say anything?”
Elena flinches. “I’m sorry. Lana is yours now. There was nothing I could do.”
I sigh. Elena is like a skittish animal. “You’re right. Lana is mine now. Who is this man?”
“I didn’t meet him at your wedding but I did overhear you talking to him.
I think you said his name was… Lev? He stood by you at the altar.
I could tell he was important to you. I didn’t want to interfere in anything.
Lana wasn’t hurt. I just… remained silent.
But if she’s disappeared, I can’t remain silent.
I don’t know if he had anything to do with it. I just know what I saw.”
The thought that Lana could be in danger never even crossed my mind but it should have. I know Claudia had sent someone to kill her. Maybe Claudia’s father sent someone again.
Or maybe… maybe what Elena is saying is true.
“Lev is my right hand man. He wouldn’t hurt her.”
“He had her cornered against the wall. She looked scared. I know my sister. She doesn’t get scared easily.”
“Elena, enough,” Gregory snaps.
She walks over to her father and keeps her head bowed.
I leave the Karetov house but I can’t forget what Elena just told me. Is Lana in danger?
And does it have something to do with the man I trusted most in this world?