12. Aria #3
I can hear shouting behind us and footsteps pound across the grass. I can hear a voice calling for backup.
We’re so close. Ten more feet to the wall. Five more feet. One—
Strong hands grab me from behind, lifting me off the ground. I scream, kicking and thrashing, but it’s useless. Someone has me, and another guard is scooping up Daniel, who’s crying now.
“Let me go! Let me go, you bastard! Daniel!”
“Mama!” Daniel is sobbing, reaching for me. “Mama, I’m scared!”
Then Maksim is there, striding across the lawn in sleep pants and nothing else, his face carved from stone. His eyes are molten fury when they meet mine.
“Bring them inside,” he says, his voice deadly calm. “Now.”
The guard carries me into the house despite my struggles. The other guard follows with Daniel, who’s crying so hard he can barely breathe.
Maksim takes Daniel from the guard, and my son immediately buries his face in his father’s shoulder, shaking.
“It’s okay, solnyshko,” Maksim murmurs, his voice gentling for Daniel even though his eyes are blazing when they land on me. He runs his hand through Daniel’s hair. “You’re safe. You’re okay. No one’s going to hurt you.”
“Mama was scared,” Daniel sobs. “She said we had to run. Why did we have to run, Maks?”
“I don’t know, buddy. But we’re going to figure it out.” Maksim looks at the guard holding Daniel. “Take him to his room. Stay with him until he falls asleep.”
“No!” I lunge forward, but my guard still has me. “Don’t take him from me! Daniel!”
“You don’t get a say right now.” Maksim snarls. “Vlad, go.”
Vlad carries Daniel away, my son’s cries echoing through the house, calling for me.
Then it’s just Maksim and me and the guard still holding me. Fury radiates off Maksim in waves.
“Let her go,” he tells the guard.
The guard releases me, and I stumble, catching myself against the wall.
“Get out,” Maksim tells the guard. “Everyone out. Now.”
The house clears, leaving us alone in the foyer. Maksim stares at me, his chest heaving, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“You tried to take my son.” His voice is dangerously quiet. “You tried to steal him in the middle of the night and run. Again.”
“I had to—”
“You had to what?” He’s yelling now, all that control shattered and I jump. “You had to traumatize our son? Make him think we’re in danger? Make him cry himself sick because his mother is running from invisible threats?”
“They’re not invisible!” I scream, tears tracking down my face. “Alexander knows! He knows I was there that night! He threatened Daniel! He threatened the baby! He’s going to kill us!”
Maksim jerks like he’s been slapped. He stares at me, eyes wide in disbelief. “What did you say? When did he threaten you?”
“Today! In the garden! He told me he knows I was at the warehouse! That I heard everything! And if I tell you or Nikolai, he’ll kill Daniel!
He’ll make me lose this baby! He threatened my children, Maksim!
” I’m babbling, frantic, even though I know I just made the worst mistake of my life by telling Maksim that I know what he and Alexander did.
Oh my god, what if Maksim kills me for this? Who will protect Daniel? The baby?
“Alexander threatened you,” he says flatly. It’s emotionless which is somehow more terrifying than the anger. “Alexander Morozov. That Alexander.”
“Yes! He—”
“And you expect me to believe this? After you just tried to run? After you’ve been lying to me?” He’s shaking his head as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing. “You’ll say anything to justify what you did. But I can’t believe you would make up any story to paint yourself as the victim.”
“I’m not making it up!” I sob, desperate for him to believe me. “He knows, Maksim! He’s known this whole time! He told me to keep quiet or he’d hurt our children!”
“Enough,” Maksim snaps and the coldness in his eyes takes my breath away. “I don’t want to hear another word about Alexander. You tried to kidnap my son. You violated every promise, every shred of trust. And now you’re making up conspiracies to justify it.”
I nearly double over. He doesn’t believe me. “I’m not—”
“I said enough.” He’s in my face now and I’ve never seen him like this before.
He’s furious and unforgiving. “You want to know what happens now? Security is doubled. You don’t leave this house without me.
You don’t go anywhere near Daniel without supervision.
” He leans in and he’s so close, his breath is on my cheeks.
“And if you try to run again—if you so much as look like you’re planning to run—I will have you committed to a psychiatric facility until this baby is born. ”
I gasp, the wind knocked out of me. “You can’t,” I wheeze.
“Watch me.” He turns and walks toward the stairs. “Go to bed, Aria. We’ll discuss your lies in the morning.”
He’s gone, leaving me alone in the foyer, shaking and crying and more terrified than I’ve ever been.
Because Alexander will know I tried to run.
Which means he knows I’m not staying quiet.
Which means my children are in danger.
And Maksim doesn’t believe me.
I’m completely, utterly alone.