Page 43 of Sinful Betrayal

“I appreciate that.”

Jen offers me another smile before disappearing into the bedroom, and I get to work making some tea.

Once again, my mother and I sit in silence, and I eventually excuse myself, promising her that I’ll be by for lunch.

As I close the door to her wing of the house and head back out into the foyer, I’m hit with a wave of grief that almost knocks the wind from my lungs. I sink onto the stairs and brace my hands on my knees as I stare through the windows at the front lawn, wishing that I could turn back the clock.

She’s getting worse, and my brother doesn’t even have the decency to pick up the phone and check in, let alone visit in person. The last time we spoke, and I dared to bring up the subject of our mother, he said there was no point in visiting as she didn’t know who we were anyway.

That was almost eighteen months ago.

I sink my nails into my palms and try to take a few calming breaths.

Sometimes, I think of my cousins and the close relationship they have with one another and wish that Nikolai and I could be like that.

Well, we were… But then our father died, and it was like Nikolai couldn’t bear to be around anyone that reminded him of the fact that he was gone,particularlyour mother. When she startedlosing her memory and began asking for him all the time, it was too much for him to handle.

But despite the pain and grief of it all, I could never abandon my mother like that, no matter how many times she forgets who I am.

11

NINA

There’sanother woman in the house.

From the way that Anton dressed and bolted out of the room at the sound of her voice, I felt a rising sense of panic as I considered the fact that whoever it was might not be welcome.

For a second, I wondered if this was another surprise from my father.

Cursing myself for being so paranoid, I climbed out of bed, threw on his discarded shirt from last night, and ducked out of the room.

I know I shouldn’t have eavesdropped on Anton, but I couldn’t help myself. So, I hovered around the corner at the top of the stairs.

I don’t know what I was expecting to find, but it certainly wasn’t Anton’s mother.

Why didn’t he tell me she was living here? And where has she been that I haven’t seen her yet?

And she was asking for Nikolai.

That’s a name I do recognize. When I was researching the Koslovs before I came over from Russia, I looked into Anton’s immediate family.

He lost his father almost a decade ago and there was very little information on his mother after that, which makes sense. I also know that his younger brother, Nikolai, has been almost completely absent from the Koslov Bratva. There’s hardly any trace of him, which makes me wonder why Anton’s mother was asking for him.

Has he come back?

I’m sure my father would be eager to learn of Nikolai’s whereabouts. He did consider going after him as payback for Maxim’s death as an eye for an eye has always been my father’s preferred method of revenge. But when we failed to track him down, he settled on taking out Anton instead.

Though now I’m starting to wonder if maybe it wouldn’t be better if Nikolai would materialize…

Except he told her his brother had called.

Is he lying to her? Why?

After our conversation last night about truths and lies, I know that Anton doesn’t take lying lightly, which means there must be a pretty good reason for him to be doing it to his mother if he is.

What are you hiding, Anton?

He must be trying to keep her calm, which makes me think she’s confused. Perhaps she’s ill, which could explain why she’s living with Anton.