Chapter 32
Lilya – Four Years and One Month Old
Y ulianna
“Get out of my way.”
My eyes fluttered open.
“No, Ms. Mikhailov is sleeping,” Vlad said.
“She’s Mrs. Ivankov,” Christov said as I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
“On paper only,” Vlad answered, and I smirked.
Vlad’s contempt toward Christov had only grown since the poisoning incident. Still, he needed to restrain himself. While I had no worries about his safety—he could pick Christov up and break him over his knee—I couldn’t risk Christov ordering Vlad from the house.
“What did you just say to me, guard?”
Of course, he made a distinction in social status. Rolling my eyes, I pulled on my housecoat and opened the door.
“What do you want, Christov?”
He was in Vlad’s face, but Vlad didn’t blink as he stared back. I snapped my fingers.
“Hello. You wanted me. Here I am. So, tell me what you want, or I’m going back to bed.”
Christov grumbled but stepped back and looked at me.
“My father passed away suddenly tonight. My mother has arranged the funeral for the day after tomorrow. I expect you to come and pay your respects. Be ready to go by nine.”
He didn’t even give me a chance to respond before he turned and marched away.
Oh shit.
I touched Vlad’s arm, and he followed me into my bedroom. Once the door was closed, he did something completely out of character and hugged me. It was only then that I noticed that I was trembling.
“I need to speak to Eddie and see when he can get us out of here. I don’t think we can wait any longer.”
Vlad nodded, confirming my fears.
“I agree. I’ve been hearing rumblings of his mistress melting down and demanding that Christov get rid of you.” Stepping back, he gripped my shoulders. “Try to go back to sleep. I’ll be right outside.”
I took a deep breath to steady myself and glanced at Lilya’s door.
“Actually, can you sit in the doorway between the two rooms?”
“Of course.”
Walking over to the bed, I grabbed my phone.
Y: If we need to run, how fast can you make it happen?
E: What’s wrong?
Y: It’s a long story. I’ll tell you the next time I see you.
E: You’re worrying me…but I could get you out in two weeks. I just took over a new area, but there has been some resistance to the transition. Most of my soldiers are either taking care of that or making sure other locations don’t destabilize. I’ll be able to focus my resources on protecting you as soon as the dust settles.
Y: Two weeks it is. I love you with all my heart, Eddie. Always remember that.
E: Please tell me what’s going on.
Y: I will, I promise. I’m tired and need some sleep, but I’ll be dreaming of holding you.
E: Sweet talker. Okay…I love you more, my goddess.
I smiled.
Y: Impossible.
Two Days Later
A war could be sparked by nothing more than a dark glance across a crowded room.
That was exactly how I’d felt today. We’d agreed it was best to leave the children at the house, but I hadn’t expected Alina to come with us.
Without Sabastian and Lilya’s chatter, the silence was heavy. Alina glared at me from the other side of the car, her eyes filled with misplaced hatred. If she wanted to blame anyone it should be Christov. We were in this mess because of his choices.
The funeral was beautiful but long, and Christov played the perfectly dutiful son. My fears were confirmed as we stood around his father’s grave. Dirt hadn’t even covered the casket when Christov grabbed Alina’s hand in front of everyone. It was a silent statement, a signal of the end, and just like that, the peace we’d established was wiped away. We were at war.
They were gunning for me now…my time was running out.
One Week Later
Thank goodness Lilya was spending the day with my mother because I really needed to get this straightened out. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I paced my room, trying not to lose my cool. My accountant was giving me a headache, and it wasn’t even his fault.
“What do you mean my account is empty?”
“Yulianna, your father stopped giving you weekly deposits after you married Christov. Christov doesn’t give you any money. The account is drained.”
“What about the money from my businesses and investments? Where is it going?”
“You haven’t been able to concentrate on your businesses, and they’ve been hemorrhaging money for the past year. I can pay your guards and Frida for one more month. You have options, but it will take some effort. You must focus on your profitable companies. If you tried to liquidate everything you’ve acquired, it would be a loss. Your investments are doing well, but again, the plan was to hold it for another five years, so it’s locked up.”
Shit.
I was doing so well. It wasn’t Lilya’s fault, but since she was born, most of my day was spent with her. After all the craziness Alina pulled, I refused to have anyone from Christov’s staff do anything for me. I made our meals, cleaned this entire wing of the house, took care of all my own paperwork, and when I could, I slept an hour here or there. Living like a single mom and trying to build a corporation was apparently not as easy as I thought it would be. I was such a fool. I couldn’t even remember the last time I opened a business report.
“Do I have anything left in my trust?”
“Yes, that hasn’t been touched. But do you really want to use it? That’s all you have left in easy-access cash.”
Did I dare tell Mr. Russik why I needed the money? It was a risk, no matter how loyal he’d been so far. Any word of me running from Christov could cause a series of events I didn’t know how to contain.
“Not yet, but be prepared to use it. I’ll think of something,” I said and walked out of my bedroom. Lilya would be home soon, and I should probably grab a snack.
Heading down the stairs, I had just locked my phone when my foot caught on what felt like a line. Then, I was falling forward. The wooden steps filled my vision, and I didn’t have time to react. Instinct took over, and I got my hand on the railing just before I would’ve crashed face-first. I slid and tumbled on the way down hitting my ankle, hip, wrist, and head at odd angles. Sprawled on the floor, dazed and confused, I cried out.
What the hell just happened? I looked up the stairs but didn’t see anything.
“Aw, did you fall down and hurt yourself? Too bad you didn’t break your neck,” Alina said as she stepped into the far end of the foyer.
How the hell?
She couldn’t be standing there now if she pushed me at the top of the stairs a moment ago. I had no idea how she’d done this, but I was sure it was her fault.
Alina took another step toward me. A rustling noise drew my attention to her hand. The crazy bitch was holding a plastic bag. Jesus, she was going to suffocate me. Well, if she thought I was going to be easy to kill, injured or otherwise, she had another thing coming.
“What the hell do you want Alina?”
Quickly testing my body to see if anything was broken, it seemed my ankle was the only issue. When I tried to roll it, pain radiated up my leg, but I hoped it was just a sprain.
She opened her mouth to answer when the front door opened. Her demeanor shifted immediately as my mother walked in with Vlad and Lilya. Alina ran toward me, her face suddenly a mask of fake concern.
“Oh my god, Yulianna, are you okay,” she asked dramatically.
“Mommy,” Lilya cried as she ran to me and hugged me tight.
Vlad and my mother were equally concerned and dropped down beside me.
“What happened,” Vlad asked, checking me over.
I looked at Alina but bit my tongue.
“I tripped. That’ll teach me to pay attention to my phone instead of the stairs.”
“Oh, thank God you’re not seriously hurt,” Alina said.
Who was she trying to fool?
Not even Lilya looked convinced by the act.
“For a second there, I thought this was another attempt. I mean, after the poison and the other issues you’ve had, I just….”
“Attempt?” I crossed my arms and glared.
“You know what I mean,” she said and looked around. “Don’t make me say it.
“If you mean murder attempt, then sure. If you are trying to insinuate that I would take my life, then you’ve lost your mind,” I growled.
Vlad stood and glared at Alina. She swallowed hard and backed away. This was the eighth different incident, and I wasn’t about to see if I had nine lives.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that.”
Like hell, you didn’t.
She scurried off as we all watched at her.
“May I pick you up,” Vlad asked.
I shook my head and pointed to the top of the stairs.
“Go see what you can find first,” I whispered, and Vlad turned and jogged up to the landing. Then I looked at my mom. “Can we stay at your retreat for a bit?”
“Yes, of course you can. I’ll speak to your father about you and Lilya moving back home. This is insane.”
I grabbed her arm.
“No. I know what he’ll say. Besides, I’m pretty sure they are trying to make me look unstable,” I said.
My mother’s face twisted with fury before she looked up to where Vlad was kneeling. He pulled out a knife and cut something that I couldn’t see.
“Fishing line,” he said when he rejoined us at the bottom. “Clear, you never would’ve seen it. Deadly if you hadn’t been so agile.”
I certainly didn’t feel agile. Vlad looked at the doorway where Alina had disappeared. I could still feel her evil eyes on me from wherever she was hiding.
“You can’t stay here.”
“I know,” I growled.
It was a good thing Alina left the room, or I might’ve ordered Vlad to do whatever he wanted.
“I have an idea,” I said, but I didn’t offer any more information. “Let’s just get out of here. My phone flew under that table.”
Vlad grabbed it from where I pointed before picking me up, and my mom grabbed Lilya.
As soon as I was in the car, I messaged Eddie. I was done. I didn’t care that it would be better if he made a few more moves to become the Don of Dons and neutralize Christov. It was time to go.