Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
For a second, I’m almost grateful, but why should I be? He’s the one who lied to me. He’s the one who made me believe my mom would be happy to see me.
“Her name is Anna,” Theodore says. “Your Anna, Molly. Your baby girl.”
“Sh-she has to go.”
My mother turns and walks away, almost running, honestly. I stare at her back. For a moment, I wonder if I’m about to cry, panic, or have a meltdown. It’s like somebody has injected me with a numbing agent. There’s nothing. There’s just emptiness. She slams a door, and then Theodore looks at his son, me, and then back at his son.
“I told you,” Aiden snaps. “It’s too much to spring on a person. She needed a warning.”
“I didn’t think—”
“That’s the problem, Dad,” Aiden snarls. “You don’t think.”
Aiden walks toward me, leaving his dad to gape at me. He reaches out as if to touch my arm. I say in a cold voice, “Don’t touch me.”
He takes a step back. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”
“She just needs time to calm down,” Theodore says.
“Maybe she does, but what are we supposed to do? Wait here until she’s ready? Ania, it’s time to leave.”
“I don’t care what we do,” I tell him honestly.
We return to the elevator, and I stare at the wall. I feel the panic trying to rise inside me, a small voice screaming, but I can push it down. Aiden is looking at me. His gaze is moving up and down like he’s searching for something and trying to figure out a way to make this better.
“Are you taking me home now?” I ask.
“Molly might just need time. You heard what happened to her. She’s going to be shocked.”
“You said she knew.”
Ding, the golden doors open onto the marble lobby. The sun has come out, and the lobby is flooded with light. It seems depressing somehow, all this light. Aiden walks by my side as I head for the door. I don’t realize how desperately I need fresh air until I’m standing on the street, sucking in big gasps. Then Aiden’s hand is on my shoulder. I try to push him away, but I need him there. Otherwise, it feels like I’ll fall.
“Why did you say that?” I mutter as he leads me down the street toward his car.
“I just … Hell, there’s no excuse.”
“Not an excuse. A reason.”
“I wanted to make you smile,” he says simply.
I don’t reply. Is he trying to mess with my head? Why would he do something so cruel and follow it up with something so warm and meaningful? When we reach the parking lot, he opens my passenger-side door. I sit down, hands on my knees, squeezing down to feel something, the pain of my fingernails, anything but sadness.
“Dad’s calling me,” Aiden says. “Do you mind if I answer?”
“Why would I care?”
It’s not even a question, just a numb statement. I wish Dimitri were here. He’d know how to make this better. He always knows how to make everything seem less horrible. He’d smirk, look in control, and know exactly what to do. Then Mikhail would make a joke, and everything would be okay.
“Put it on speaker,” I say.
“Are you sure?”
“Please.”
He sighs, then answers the phone. “Dad, I’ve got you on speaker with Ania.”
“Anna, I want to say—”
“Ania, Dad,” Aiden snaps. “This isn’t your fucking fairy tale. Using the name Molly wanted won’t turn back time.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”
Aiden sighs. “I’m sorry, too.”
Despite the fierceness, this brief exchange tells me a lot about their genuine love for each other. After a pause, Theodore says, “You were right. I should’ve told her. I just … She’s talked about how eager she is to see you, Ann—Ania.”
“Reality is always tougher,” Aiden says. “After what happened to her …”
“Does she think the Sokolovs can touch her now?” Theodore says, but it’s a rhetorical question in his eyes, I think, now that my father is dead.
“They can get to anyone,” I say, thinking of my brothers.
“Pardon, dear?”
I don’t bother repeating myself.
“We need to give her some time,” Theodore goes on. “Once the shock has passed, I’m sure it will be the reunion we all wished for.”
“Hmm,” Aiden replies.
After a pause, Theodore says, “Keep your phone nearby.”
Aiden hangs up, then runs a hand through his close-cropped hair. The movement reminds me so much of Mikhail with his floppy hair. “That was a mess.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you …” He stops himself. “Let’s swing by a diner or something.”
He was about to say hungry, I guess. I haven’t even got the energy to tell him no. I need to plan a way to escape, especially after that little display. I can’t even think about the way my mom ran away from me. I need a plan. I don’t have my phone, but what if I just chose my moment, ran from the diner, asked to borrow somebody’s phone, and then called my brothers? That’s possible.