I smiled at her.
Rachel opened the door.
I looked at her one last time, my hand moving to her cheek. Something wet hit my thumb, and it took me a moment to realize it was her tears.
“Goodbye, Mikhail.”
I paused. “Goodbye.”
I walked through the door first, not looking back.
I climbed in the car and took the back seat, my gaze moving to the front door. Damien was heading toward us, but Nikolay stayed behind as Mom talked to Catalina.
“Are you okay?” Damien asked once he got in the car.
“No,” I answered softly. “But I will be. Thank you for coming with me. For being here. For rescuing me and for giving me a purpose. Just—”
I closed my mouth when my voice cracked. He reached back and placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Always,” he promised.
I nodded, smiling a little as I remembered how he had said that to me when he rescued me from the brothel.
Catalina and Nikolay climbed into the car then, and Catalina sat in the back with me. We took off without another word.
“Damien,” I said twenty minutes into the drive.
He turned back and looked at me. Nikolay did too.
“Can you do something for me?”
“Anything,” he said with no hesitation.
“Can you spread a rumor? Can you … can you tell the world Mikhail Volkov is no longer looking for that woman? Tell them he found her body.” I paused. “She’s dead.”
He nodded, understanding reaching his eyes.
It was best she never entered my world.
However Ricci was hiding her, he’d succeeded because had he not told me where she was, I would never have been able to find her. I knew that now.
He—he loved her, so he hid her.
I turned my attention to Catalina. Would I love her enough to hide her?
I didn’t know.
I turned back out the window. Movement at my side caught my attention, and before I knew it, Catalina had climbed into my lap.
“Get back in your seat, kotyonok. It’s not safe.”
She shook her head and tightened her arms around me.
I met Nikolay’s amused eyes up ahead. Fuck, how did I not see how stubborn she could be?
“Kotyonok.”
“No,” she said softly. “You want me to leave you like this when you’re hurting, you’ll have to forcefully remove me. But I’m warning you now. I’ll fight back.”
I let out a small sigh. We both knew I wouldn’t do that.
She relaxed when she knew she had won.
I sifted my fingers through her hair for the remainder of the drive, my thoughts drifting.