Satin Princess(111)
Lev glances at the men sitting in the backseat behind us. Then he pulls up the partition so we’re more or less alone.
“What aren’t you telling me, Anton?”
“I know her plan,” I say.
“How?”
“I know her,” I say simply. “I just never allow myself to get in her fucked-up headspace. But in order to catch her, that’s exactly what I needed to do.”
“So you don’t have any real proof of this plan,” Lev surmises. “This is all instinct?”
“My instincts haven’t failed me yet.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” he grumbles.
“Not for me.”
I open up the comms system again. “Fredrich, Henri? I want you two to take your teams ahead to the house. Keep me informed once you’ve neutralized the threat.”
“You’re sending Fredrich and Henri up there?” Lev asks.
“Yes.”
“That’s only ten men.”
“It’ll be enough,” I tell him.
“You’re underestimating her.”
“Trust me, I’m not.”
Lev groans in frustration. “Why do you have that look on your face?”
“What look?”
“The kind of look that suggests we’ve won the battle, but lost the war.”
“You’ll understand soon enough.”
“But you’re not going to tell me now?”
I press my lips together. “I don’t have the energy.”
“We are going to get her, Anton,” Lev says, misreading my contemplation. “She’s not going to get away this time.”
“I know.”
“Then make me believe it.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “I need you to have my back, Lev. Today has more surprises in store for us.”
“I always have your back, Anton,” he says. “You know that.”
I nod. “Good.”
“Did we really need to pull over for this conversation?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, we did.”
He doesn’t ask me why. He just sits there with me, waiting for me to give him and the men the next command.
It’s how he’s one of the last people on this earth I can trust.
38
JESSA
I sit here in my bedroom—in our bedroom—running through all the different scenarios in my head and checking a clock repeatedly like my thoughts alone can control time and outcomes.
Have they arrived at Marina’s location yet?
Have they found Chris?
Is he okay?
Is Anton okay?
I don’t even for a moment entertain the thought that Anton might lose. He can’t lose. The world might as well end if Anton loses. Because it would be the end for me. The end for our baby.
Marina wouldn’t let me go, even if I did try to run. She’d follow me, hunt me down until she could kill me herself.
A shiver races down my spine, and I remind myself that Yulian is watching me. He’ll protect me, but I just don’t have the same confidence in him that I do in Anton.
There’s something about Anton that calms me down. I can’t look at him and not feel safe. Whole. Happy.
It’s weird to think that I’ve arrived at this place. Especially considering how our first meeting ended. Just the thought of him made me fear for my life. Now, it feels like he’s the whole point of my life.
A sound right outside my door makes me freeze. I stare at the door, waiting for something. I’m not sure what. When it doesn’t come, I groan.
“Calm down, you crazy bitch,” I mutter to myself. “The next few hours will be unbearable if you don’t calm down. Relax.”
But I might as well be talking to a brick wall for how well I listen to my own good advice. Anxiety and fear are warring for domination inside of me.
When the feeling doesn’t subside, I decide to go and find Yulian. He may not be able to reassure me, but he can at least distract me. But when I try to open the door, I realize it’s been locked.
From the outside.
Feeling the anxiety grow, I grab my phone and open up a new text thread with Yulian. Yulian? What’s going on? My door is locked.
He responds immediately. Stay calm okay?
ME: What do you mean stay calm? What’s going on?
YULIAN: We’ve noticed someone trying to breach the walls on the south side of the estate. I’ve got the men down here with me. We’re checking it out now.
ME: So… I’m here alone?
YULIAN: Of course not. The men are standing guard outside your door. But I wanted to lock you in just to be safe. If anything happens, call me. I’m literally a minute away.
ME: Who’s trying to breach the south side?
ME: Yulian, who is it?
ME: Yulian?
Nothing.
Something about this doesn’t feel right. I’ve learned over the last few months that I can’t trust my instincts, but that doesn’t stop them from blazing to life now. Nothing feels right about this. Anton just left and now, we have someone trying to breach the estate?
Someone. As if we don’t know exactly who it is.