I look around frantically, my heart racing in my chest. Luke comes up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder. “Calm down, Claire. I’m sure we’re going to find him. He couldn’t have gone far.”I can’t hear a word he’s saying. I’m too nervous and my heart is beating rapidly in my chest. I start walking around, my head turning in one direction and then another with no pause. I’m walking aimlessly through the crowd, hoping to spot him. This can’t be happening to me. I only looked away for a second. “Claire,” Luke says. When he realizes that I’m not paying any attention to him, he starts calling out Dimitri’s name. My worst nightmare has come to life. I can’t believe that I was so negligent. I should have trusted my instincts and never taken my eyes off them. Better yet, I should never have come here when it was so crowded. “Dimitri!” I call. People all around me are looking. I don’t care if I look and sound like a madwoman right now—this is my five year old son we’re talking ab
Igor I tip my head back and down the glass of whiskey. It burns all the way down, but it’s a burn that I’ve gotten used to, perhaps a little too much, over the years. We’re going on six years since Clara disappeared on me. I haven’t heard a single thing about her since she left. Sometimes, I catch myself wondering if she was ever in my life. Perhaps the time I spent with her was merely a figment of my imagination. Maybe she was never there. This fantasy comes to an abrupt end when I take a good look around me. When she left, we were in shambles. I’d invested the last of my family’s fortune in buying her, and I was counting on the money from her inheritance after our marriage to turn things around. When she left, everything changed. Even so, I’ve managed to keep everything afloat and now, I can gladly say that we’ve built everything we have from nothing, and at the end of the day, we didn’t really need her money. Our luck changed when she left. But that doesn’t mean that it no
I make my way down the stairs slowly, the only force driving me toward the door being the fact that my boys are alone downstairs. Igor can’t see them. I reach the living room and see them sitting next to each other, watching television. They turn to look at me simultaneously, and Alex asks, “Mommy, what’s—?”I place my index finger on my lips, indicating for him to be quiet. I then gesture with a wave of my hand for them to come forward, which they do without question. I take them all the way to the laundry room, which is right down the end of the only corridor on this level. I open the door and they file inside. I can tell they’re confused by the way they’re looking around, and I don’t want to alarm them but I have no choice. “Stay here,” I say under my breath. “Mommy will come get you soon.”“Why?”“I’ll explain everything later,” I promise. “I’ll just close the door for a minute.”Meanwhile, whoever is out there rings the doorbell again. I don’t close the door all the way, and
The morning comes and Boris decides to go out and get breakfast. Yes, he spent the night. There’s an extra room upstairs, which he so happened to occupy because by the end of our ‘dinner’, it was just too late for him to drive to his hotel. I was the one who made the suggestion, and I saw nothing wrong with it. I still don’t. It really doesn’t mean anything. I’ve just stepped out of the shower, and my whole room smells like my shower gel—jasmine and cardamom. I get dressed quickly and go to wake the boys up. After I get them ready, we all go downstairs just as Boris is walking through the door carrying paper bags. “Morning,” he says with a vibrant smile. “I’ve brought some things.”“You didn’t have to,” I say, because it’s true. He really didn’t. “I wanted to,” he tells me, setting everything down on the counter. He takes off his coat and I move toward the kitchen. Alex and Dimitri usually only have a bowl of cereal in the morning, so that’s what I make for them. Boris is in the
I close my eyes because I feel a sudden jab of pain behind them.Things got bad incredibly quickly, and presently, I don’t know how to put a stop to all of this. Igor still has the gun pointed at Boris, who’s on the floor with his hands up. I have this irrepressible urge to run as far as my feet can carry me. I think I’m going to be sick. But I can’t abandon this situation, regardless of how much I want to. Boris is my friend, and he helped me escape even if it only lasted for a few years. And my boys are upstairs. I have to swallow my fear and face this. “Igor,” I say again, his name foreign on my tongue. “Just drop the gun and we can all talk about it.”He shakes his head, his eyes on Boris’ face. “For years, I was searching for you, wondering where you could have been. This bastard here was acting like a friend, helping me out. And all the while, he knew where you were. And the two of you were here, together.”“We weren’t together,” I say, shaking off the feeling that this is a
We’ve been quiet since he uttered those words to me, and I have to say that they affected me more than I ever thought they would. I wish I could say that I was doing everything I could to protect them from him, but although I knew that he’d betrayed me in the worst possible way, that didn’t mean he would have been a bad father. Even so, I say to him, “I did everything I could to protect them from you.”“From me?” he asks incredulously. “Why the hell would you need to keep them safe from me? What threat did I ever pose to your life?”“You know exactly what you did!” I exclaim. “You lied to me! You lied right to my face about absolutely everything!”This makes him pause. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. “I was going to tell you about it.”“Right,” I say, digging my nails in my palms. “After you were going to marry me and ensure that all that money was going to be yours once that happened. You were never going to give me a choice.”“Would you have not married me if you knew
My heart sinks accordingly, and I ask the heavens above if this nightmare of a day is ever going to end. It completely slipped my mind that Luke would be coming over. He sent me a text earlier on. Now, he's here and I have no way of keeping Igor away from him. I can tell by the troubled expression on my friend's face that he's beyond confused by this. He glances at me, and I pleadingly ask, "Please, just go.""Who's this guy?""She told you to leave," Igor says, getting even closer to us. "I'm not going to leave her alone with you," Luke says, sounding outraged. "You're crazy if you think that.""Igor," I say through my teeth, "I need time to speak to my friend. Could you go back upstairs until I'm through with this?""Is that all he is to you?" Luke doesn't give me a chance to reason with him. "What's it to you what she is to me?"Igor advances, but I've grown tired of this and so I put a hand out and grab his arm as forcefully as I can. "Stop it!" I yell. "If you don't stop this
I fist his shirt in my hands, and we’re standing impossibly close to each other. Our lips are still locked, and he’s kissing me with a blend of anger and raw passion. I wonder what my mouth tastes like to him. Does he taste the bitterness the last few years left in it? Can he taste all the terrible words that are right on the tip of my tongue? Can he tell how much I hate him?Igor breaks the kiss, and his breath fans my face. “It doesn’t matter how much I hate you, or want to hate you. I’ll always want you.”His lips are back on mine and strangely enough, I have no protests. I don’t push him away. Despite the way I feel about him, I can’t seem to want this to stop, even if it goes against all common sense. I shouldn’t be here, kissing him in my own living room after the havoc he caused. This makes no sense. We’re moving backward, and before I know it, the backs of my legs hit the couch and I go down. Igor is on top of me, his hands moving from my face to my body. He caresses me
I watch the waves crash into the shore while the ocean breeze rustles my hair. I take a deep breath, drawing the salty air into my lungs and holding it in hopes that it’ll become a part of me. There’s nothing as therapeutic as this. The sun is deliciously warm today. Most days, it’s burning hot, but today, it’s just perfect. I’m lounging in the hammock in the porch of our beach house. I do this every morning as soon as I wake up because it helps me dispel my troubled thoughts. Whenever I think about all those traumatic events of the last couple of months, I feel like I’ll never truly move on from them, but when I come out here, my hope is renewed. Things will get better at some point. As long as I’m seeking help and am surrounded by my loved ones, I’ll be perfectly fine. I close my eyes, take another deep breath, and then reopen them when I hear someone approaching. I turn my head to look at the door and see Igor leaning against the door with a cup of tea in his hand. It’s for me
IgorGetting home is my only priority at the moment, and as soon as I step through the elevator, I feel relieved. The first person I see is Anastasia. She rushes toward me with tear stained cheeks. “Igor. For the love of God. Don’t do anything stupid.”“Where is she?” I demand. “Where’s Clara?”“You can’t kill Leo,” she says, following me all the way up the stairs. “Remember the promise your father made you make. You’re supposed to stick together no matter what. You’re supposed to forgive each other.”I ignore her and start opening doors while calling her name desperately. I have to see her. Fuck, I have to hold her. I have to make sure she’s okay before I go looking for that traitorous fucker. “Igor!” Anastasia exclaims, trying to get my attention. A door on the other end of the corridor opens, and she peers out. I race toward her, and when she sees me, she rushes toward me. I drop my bag and gather her in my arms. “Clara,” I say her name. Like a prayer. “My love.”She’s sobbing.
There were more endless hours of waiting. At this point, I've started losing hope. I've already cried and screamed, and now there's nothing left of me to pour out into the world.I’m missing Alex and Dimitri like crazy. I fear I’ll never see them again. I’m starting to actually acknowledge the fact that I’ve been beyond stupid for not having told anyone in the family about my suspicions. Yes, Boris knows, but has news of my disappearance gotten out yet?What’s even going on out there? What’s being said?It’s impossible to know what Leo made up. He could’ve said that he never saw me, and then I’d be screwed. I didn’t encounter anyone when I reached the penthouse; it was just him. I’m hungry and thirsty. My back is killing me, and the pain behind my eyes hasn’t subsided yet. I close my eyes for a few minutes each time, but I open them when I feel myself falling asleep. I don’t want to be caught off guard. I want to see whatever it is that he’ll do to me. The door opens, and I sit upr
IgorI grip my phone tightly in my fist. “What do you mean she’s gone? Gone where?”“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Ivan replies, flustered. “Ivan,” I say through my teeth. “You’re not making any sense here. You’re telling me that the driver dropped her off in the garage, and she went up. But nobody saw her in the apartment. And it’s like she’s vanished into thin air?”“Yes, that’s about it.”I sag against the couch, then decide that there’s no way I can sit when this is happening. I run my fingers through my hair, feeling more frustrated than ever. “Is it possible that she stepped out for a bit without telling anyone?”This is reminding me of when she first went missing all those years ago. I was so lost, and hopeful, too. I kept imagining her walking through the door, saying that she just went shopping or something. I had no idea that she’d already found out about everything and left me, feeling betrayed. This is reminding me of that day, that’s for sure, but this time,
To my immense surprise, a smile curves Leo’s lips instead of the opposite. He’s supposed to be terrified that I know his secret, but instead, he’s smiling at me. “Have you lost your mind?” he asks in the most unconvincing voice that I’ve ever heard in all my life. “Is that it?”“You won’t fool me,” I announce. “I know it’s you. You’re behind every single bad thing that’s happened to this family for some time now. You’re not a friend, Leo. You’re a foe. You’re an enemy. You’re the one who ordered someone to hit Igor’s car, and then, you shot Luke in hopes to clean your tracks. And then, when Igor survived the crash, you paid that shooter. And just when we were going to look into, he shows up dead in his apartment. How’s all of this supposed to be a coincidence?”There’s that smile again. Honestly, it scares me. I know what he’s capable of. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be afraid. “Those are some really filthy accusations, Clara. I’ve sacrificed a lot for this family. I’ve risked
I exit Boris’ building with my heart in my throat. The situation is getting out of control. If Leo truly is behind all of this, then I have my work cut out for me. I’m supposed to be working with him (and Ivan, of course) to find out who is behind all of this. Now, I’ll have to work against him. The five security guards are all around me, forming a half-moon shape. Technically, I’m protected from anyone who might want to attack me, but I don’t feel safe. How can I, when I’m living in the same house as the person who wants to destroy Igor? It’s him who’s behind all of this, and the faster I come to terms with this, the more sense everything makes. We’re just stepping outside when a car screeches to a halt in front of the building. Before I can even register what’s happening, they’re pushing me back, trying to shield me from what’s happening. They draw their weapons, and I realize that my head is spinning, and things are happening in slow motion right before my eyes. “Take her bac
“I wouldn’t recommend seeing him,” Ivan tells me. “He’s bad news, and we all know what his intentions with you are. He’ll probably ask you to marry him.”“He’d receive no for an answer,” I state firmly. “He says he might have some information for us. Wouldn’t it be wise to hear him out?”“‘Might’ isn’t a good enough word. He ‘might’ve have nothing valuable to tell us.”“But what if he does?” I ask. “I know he would never hurt me.”“You’re the Head now,” he says with a sigh. “You’re free to make whatever decision you please. For us, that’s sacred, and we don’t take it for granted. Not going is only my advice, but if you wish to go, you’re free to do so.”I sit back, and put my fork down. I think deeply of what he’s saying. Should I go? Would Boris be helpful? I think he will, so I say, “I think I’ll go.”“I’ll arrange a car and a group of security to accompany you, then,” he concedes. “In the meantime, I’m going to start looking into—”We hear the elevator, and soon enough, Leo joins u
I wake up in the middle of the night, sweating, and with Luke’s voice echoing in my ears. This is the first time I’ve dreamt of him since that thing happened. I keep hearing the gunshot, too, and it echoes in my mind. I wipe my eyes, and then sit up. My mouth is parched, so I have to get some water. I don’t have any in the room. I should probably bring a bottle with me from the kitchen so that I don’t have to go downstairs again. I open the door as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake anyone up. Before I head downstairs, I check on the boys first. They’re just next door, so it’s easier for me to keep an eye on them. They’re both sleeping peacefully, so I close the door carefully and then creep downstairs. I step into the kitchen and open the fridge. After finding a glass, I pour water in it, and tip my head back as I down all of it. I immediately feel better; more refreshed and awake. The noise in my head is a lot less, and I feel I can sleep again if I tried. It’s only two in
The boys love Hubert. Then again, if I have to be completely honest, I don’t know who wouldn’t. He’s the most caring person in the world. I’ve told him that I don’t want the boys to know about Igor’s ‘death’ just yet. He isn’t dead, so to tell them something and then have to admit to them that it had all been a lie would be too much. They’re only five years old. This is a matter that would have even adults spiraling. Hubert doesn’t know the truth yet, though. I really feel bad. I can tell that he’s having a hard time coping, but he’s too much of a professional to ever let it show. After dinner, the boys were filled with restless energy, and they were curious about this new place that we would call home. Hubert showed them around, and told them everything he felt they needed to know about the place. It was just the four of us, along with the cook and the maid, both whom I hadn’t seen yet. That was last night. This morning, it’s honestly pretty much the same; the only difference is