Page 124 of Sinful Betrayal
I storm into the closet and notice it’s been completely stripped of her things and the counter in the bathroom is no longer littered with makeup and various bottles.
She’s gone.
I toss the bag of pregnancy tests down on the bed and sink down beside it as I try to think of what to do.
Do I call Alexei and tell him that there’s a possibility Nina might be pregnant?
He’s going to be pissed about the situation either way, and I need to get out of my head. Having another perspective onthe situation might help me to think more clearly because it’s apparent that I can’t be trusted to make good choices when Nina is involved.
I pull my phone out of my pocket to dial my eldest cousin.
“Anton!”
I sigh at the sound of my mother’s voice.
I really just want to be alone, but then I hear her call my name again, and I know I can’t ignore her.
Switching my phone off and tucking it back inside my jacket, I get to my feet and head out of the room, abandoning the bag of pregnancy tests on the bed.
“What is it,Mamulichka?” I head down the stairs, though I stop dead in my tracks at the sight of the front door hanging off its hinges. “What the fuck?”
I hurry down the remaining stairs and storm over to the door.
I must have been so lost in my own thoughts when I got home earlier that I didn’t even notice.
My mother is standing, staring out at the drive, shaking her head repeatedly as she mumbles to herself.
“Mamulichka?” I place a hand on her shoulder. “Mamulichka, what happened?”
Every fiber of my body is screaming at me to go into fight mode.
“The men did it.”
“Men? You mean my guards?”
Was there a fault with the security system that I was unaware of that meant they couldn’t use the keypad to unlock the door? Surely, I would have been notified if there was a problem…
“The men who took her.” Mama stares out of the window, her eyes glazed.
“Took who?” I press. “Nina?”
“What are you going to do about Katerina?” She turns to face me.
I force myself to take a deep breath and remain calm.
“Katerina isn’t here,Mamulichka.” I try to keep my voice steady.
“I know, they took her.”
My patience is slipping, likely from the amount of alcohol in my system, but my mother doesn’t deserve to take the brunt of my frustration. It’s not her fault that she’s confused.
“Mamulichka, what are you talking about? Did you see something?”
My mother nods her head and then gives me that look she used to give me when I was a child and had been caught stealing sweets out of the cupboard.
“You upset her. I raised you better than that, Anton.”
I run my hand over my jaw as I try to process everything.