Page 54 of The Stalking King

“You know I do,” I snap. “After all we’ve been through, I can’t doubt you. You know that.”

He nods sagely. “Good—yeah, that’s good to know. I was beginning to worry there.”

“We’re blood,” I say. “We’re all each other has got. Now, go.”

I text Lia as Nikolai walks away.

Maksim: Don’t do that. We need to talk in person.

Lia: Did you know this could happen? Or are you behind this? Is it that bad, Maksim? Did you get so angry that he stole your precious phone that you decided you had to do this? Did you do it yourself?

Maksim: Slow down. We can’t discuss this over the phone. But no, Lia, this wasn’t me.

Lia: But you know who it was. This is how your world works. I’ve had my head buried in the sand, but that’s over now. That boy had my brother’s face, Maksim, his freckles, his presence. The news is saying he was in debt and he was just doing his best. This is plain wrong.

Maksim: What time does your shift end? I’ll pick you up. We’ll talk about this.

A long pause. My foot taps on the floor. I feel the bartender looking at me, but he quickly averts his gaze when I look over.

Lia: I’m only agreeing to this if you agree to the total truth. Otherwise, I’m going to force you to kill me too.

I close my eyes, breathing slowly. The thought sickens me. The idea that she’d ever think I could do that. I’d burn this whole city to the ground, take my own goddamn life, before harming a single hair on her head.

Maksim: The total truth. I swear.

CHAPTER 21

LIA

Iwalk across the street, strange feelings pouring through me. My life has been simple for the past few years. Not easy, but uncomplicated. Work, help Mom, work, repeat. Now, I’m fighting a smile as Maksim steps from his car and opens the passenger-side door. My instinct is to banter with him, make a funny comment, something.

The urge to kiss him is real. I can still feel last night, all the closeness, the heat, the passion. I remember the shower afterward. Most of all, I remember how he held me, kissing the top of my head, snuggling me close. I felt like life was perfect and it was only going to get better.

Then I saw the news.

I step into the car without saying anything. He sighs, then walks to the driver’s side.

My thoughts go to Daniel, that poor young man. I know he’s not Evan. I get that. But the similarities are too close to ignore. I see Evan in many patients, and I think that’s one of the reasons I work so hard. But this one hit different.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“My penthouse,” he replies. “We can talk there.”

I fold my arms. “Okay.”

He takes my hand and squeezes it. I let him hold me for a few moments before I snatch my hand away. In the texting, I demanded to know if he was the one who was behind Daniel’s murder. I didn’t mean it. I don’t really think he’s capable of killing an innocent man… do I?

I think I just wanted to make him angry, or maybe guilty. Judging by his broodiness, I succeeded.

The doormen nod to us as we walk into his wide marble lobby. His Wharf-side building is the epitome of luxury. As we ride the elevator up, he stands close to me. My body hums despite my mind’s firm conviction to maintain distance between us.

I’d prefer to have this conversation over text. I feel like we can be ourselves more when we’re writing, but he’s not going to discuss anything criminal over the phone. Maybe that’s why he’s taking me to his apartment. He knows no one can listen to us there.

A reflexive smile touches my lips when I walk into his place. In the entranceway, he has some shelves with sambo trophies on them. There are photos of him and Nikolai, wearing a kimono with shorts, both of them grinning with their arms wrapped around each other.

He walks up beside me, looking down. He dares to smile. I quickly wipe mine away.

The rest of his apartment is spartan, with little decoration, though there are more photos of him and his brother on the walls. There are a few of his mother too. None of his father.