All These Things I've Done (Birthright #1)(42)

‘Well, I didn’t mean tomorrow. Maybe in November?’ I had a ton of schoolwork to catch up on and I had plenty of my own problems right here.

Leo came in. ‘Hi, Scarlet! Natty said you were here.’ Leo gave Scarlet a hug. ‘You look pretty!’

Scarlet was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, which was very dressed down for her. Her blonde hair was loose and tangled. She didn’t have on any make-up either. Maybe that was what Leo found pretty. Scarlet had an excellent complexion, but it was usually covered up. ‘Why thank you, Leo!’ Scarlet said. ‘To tell the truth, I wasn’t feeling very pretty, but after your compliment, now I do.’

Leo blushed. ‘You always look pretty, Scarlet. I think you’re maybe the prettiest girl in the world.’

‘Hey!’ I said.

‘You’re sister-pretty,’ Leo said to me. ‘Scarlet is prettyyyyyy . . .’

Scarlet and I both laughed, causing Leo to blush even more.

‘Imogen says you should leave now, Scarlet,’ Leo relayed. ‘Annie needs to sleep.’

‘All I’ve been doing is sleeping!’ I protested.

‘She said you would say that,’ Leo continued. ‘She said to ignore you.’

Scarlet stood up and kissed me on the cheek. ‘I’ll come for you on Monday morning so we can go to school together.’ On the way out of my bedroom, she kissed Leo on the cheek, too. ‘Thanks for the compliment, Leonyd.’

Sunday afternoon, my uncle and Nana’s stepson, Yuri Balanchine (aka the head of the family), stopped by the apartment. Uncle Yuri was only about ten years younger than Nana and had a limp that I think Daddy had said was from a war injury. The limp must have gotten worse since the last time I’d seen him, as now he was confined to a wheelchair.

Uncle Yuri visited Nana occasionally, but on that day he wasn’t there to see her. He was there for me.

Uncle Yuri always smelt of cigars and his voice was scratchy from years of smoking. He was flanked by several bodyguards; Jacks, his son by the prostitute; and Mikhail Balanchine, his ‘real’ son and heir. Uncle Yuri instructed them to wait in the hallway. Mikhail piped up. ‘Dad, can I stay?’

‘No, Mickey, you leave, too,’ Uncle Yuri said. ‘I have a private matter to discuss with my niece.’

I sat on the sofa.

‘Little Anya,’ Uncle Yuri said, ‘you’ve gotten to be quite the beauty. Come closer. Let me look at you, my darling.’ I leaned forward, and he stroked my cheek with his hand. ‘I can remember the day you were born. How proud your papa was!’

I nodded.

‘Leonyd – God rest his soul – thought you were the most beautiful baby alive. I didn’t see it myself, but now it’s clear he knew what he was talking about.’ Uncle Yuri sighed. ‘I’m sorry I don’t come to see you and Galina more often. This apartment has many sad memories for me.’

‘For all of us,’ I reminded him.

‘Yes, of course,’ Uncle Yuri said. ‘How thoughtless of me. For you even more than me. But today, I come about another matter. I wanted to discuss the incident with the young man.’

‘Gable Arsley, you mean?’

‘Yes,’ Uncle Yuri said. ‘I wanted to apologize for not intervening last week. The connection to Balanchine Chocolate made most of our contacts in law enforcement run cold. Had I intervened, I worried that you might become a pawn to the DA’s office. The man in charge there is new, and we do not yet know if he is a friend to us.’

He was talking about Win’s father. ‘It worked out in the end,’ I said.

‘I want to assure you that you were never far from my thoughts. You are the daughter of Leonyd Balanchine, and you would not have been left to rot in prison.’

I nodded, but said nothing. These were nice words, but only that.

‘I can tell exactly what you are thinking. Nice words from the old man, but what good do they do me now?’ Uncle Yuri leaned in closer. ‘I can tell you are a bright girl. You have sharp eyes like your father.’

‘Thank you,’ I said.

‘You keep everything inside like him. You don’t give away too much. I admire that,’ Uncle Yuri said. ‘I admire that restraint in someone so young.’

I wondered if he would still be saying that if he’d seen me with the lasagne on the first day of school.

‘I am ashamed,’ Uncle Yuri continued. ‘I feel that this family has failed you. I feel that I personally have failed you.’ Uncle Yuri lowered his head and then he lowered his voice. ‘I want you to know that there are larger forces at play here. Dark things beyond my control. I must get to the bottom of this matter with the chocolate, and then I can work on making amends with you. Your siblings as well.’

He held out his hand for me to shake, which I did. ‘I like you, Anya Balanchine. It’s a shame you are not a boy.’

‘So I could be dead at forty-five like my father, you mean?’ I asked in a low voice.

Uncle Yuri didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure if he had even heard me. ‘Would you mind wheeling me down the hall to Galina’s room? I’d like to visit with my stepmother before I depart.’

On the trip down the hall, he asked me how Nana was faring.

‘Depends on the day,’ I replied. ‘Uncle Yuri, there was talk of my brother coming to work at the Pool.’