Page 145 of The Harbinger
“I wanted to see if you were alright.”
My hand shook with an unrelenting tremor, yet I refused to falter. With unwavering determination, I closed the door, ignoring his command.
“Which one is it? Wanted to see where I was, or if I was okay?”
“Both.” I strode towards him, and he let out a sigh.
“Ivan’s been with me since the day I left the gulag. Did you know that?”
I shook my head and slid into the chair quietly across from his glossy desk.
“Of course you wouldn’t.”
“Is the gulag prison?” My heavy tongue nearly stuck to the roof of my mouth as I pulled the question from the endless list I’d mentally constructed. He nodded, and I continued before I lost my nerve. “And why did you go there?”
“Theft.”
Was that how he’d gotten such opulent things? By stealing them? “How long were you in?”
“Five years.”
Five years for stealing? “What did you take?”
“My papa’s car and about three million Rubles.”
Choked laughter escaped me, and I instantly regretted it when his deep, penetrating gaze locked onto mine. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, heat rising to my cheeks as I looked away.
“We see how well apologies work around me, Mia.”
My head hung low, my knee rhythmically bobbing up and down. Although my feelings for this man were unsettling, he had instilled a healthy fear inside of me that couldn’t be removed—not even with the numbing effects of cocaine.
“Why for so long?”
“Because of the dead woman upstairs.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I instinctively looked up as if I possessed the power of X-ray vision and could spot her lifeless body through the floors. “Your own mother had you put in prison?”
“It was her way of taming the rebellion out of me.” He tipped his drink back, then filled it with a fancy bottle of Vodka. “Something we seem to have in common.”
“That’s terrible. What kind of mother would do that?”
“She was no mother. Only a prophet who couldn’t control her own child. It made her look bad.”
“She locked you away because you rebelled against her?”
He nodded. “So, you can imagine the irony of executing one of my men for their disobedience, which ultimately involved her.”
My stomach writhed with unease, threatening to consume me whole. The mere thought of Ivan’s gruesome face made me wince, and hearing him admit to killing someone as if it was a casual stroll in the garden only added to my discomfort.
“E-execute?”
“I couldn’t simply ignore his disloyalty, could I? He had endangered your safety and ignored the rules.” He twirled the bottle cap before placing it on the table. “I’m a stickler for rules,” he added, taking a sip. “Although I must admit, you seem exempt from following them. I wonder how much longer that privilege will last.”
A bead of sweat trickled down my spine, and I instinctively rubbed the thick scar on my skin.
“You seem different.”
My head jerked upwards, and I stared at him with rapid blinks, taken aback. “I’m just a bit surprised, that’s all.”