Page 59 of Vows of Blood
He nods slowly, and I don’t have to wonder who he means. His father knows already. Dammit.
“Father thinks I fucked up his assassination,” he says. “At least… at least that’s what I let him think. He might suspect that I was there for some other reason.”
That sounds like bad news all around. “What about Pavel?” I ask. “Pavel won’t tell him, will he?”
“Of course not,” he says. “Pavel and I might butt heads from time to time, but he is loyal. He would never betray me that way. He knows the stakes.”
I take a few seconds to take that in. Then I start to think of my dad, lying in some hospital bed with wires stuck in his body. He’s probably at St. Anne’s. He likes it there even though it’s across town. I might be one of the few people who knows that, so maybe he’s safe… maybe…
“Alexei… I have to make sure my dad is all right.”
“That’s not possible,” Alexei says.
“I’m not asking you what’s possible,” I tell him, standing up. “In fact, I’m not asking at all. He’s my father. I can’t?—”
“Don’t you understand, yet, Isabella?” he says. He doesn’t raise his voice, but the bass in it strikes me in the chest with its intensity. “We are now, officially, at war with your father and his crew. His men will be looking for any way to get back at us for this attack on him. Do you have any idea what would happen to you if you showed up at the hospital?”
I’m just staring at him and my already stinging eyes are starting to water with tears. “He wouldn’t let his men hurt me. I’m still his daughter.”
“And theyknow that.” He closes the gap between us and takes me by the shoulders. “As far as they are concerned, you are sleeping with the enemy. It would be foolish for any of them to believe that you would be loyal to them after being here with me all this time.”
I don’t believe that. I don’t think Icanbelieve that. My father has never been what one might call agoodman, but he’s always still been my blood. He wouldn’t… he couldn’t…
Alexei rubs his hands up and down my shoulders and arms. Their rough texture against my soft skin is soothing somehow. There’s something in the roughness of his touch that always calms something inside me. I’ve never been able to explain it. Maybe it’s the little pinpricks that remind me that I’m alive and that all this is real.
“If you went to him,” he says, “I would have to come with you. And if any of your father’s men catches me in his territory?—”
“I’ll go alone.”
“Not a chance.”
“Then, I can go with Anya. Or Dmitri.”
“If your father’s men catchany of usin his territory, they will do their best to kill us. They’ll shoot first and ask questions later.” He’s looking at me with so much sincerity behind his deep blue eyes. “I’m sorry, Isabella. You can’t go to see him. You just can’t.”
I twist out of his arms, tears running down my face. This whole situation sucks. I almost feel like I shouldn’t have warned him. Maybe he would have gotten out of there faster if I hadn’t held him up…
No. I don’t regret telling him. He’s probably alive because I gave him a head’s up. I wipe my eyes with the heel of my hand, pushing away the tears, and turn to Alexei. “So, if I can’t go to him, then what do I do? Just… stay here in this penthouse like a caged bird?”
“No,” he says. “We are going to have to leave. Tonight.”
I just gape at him. I couldn’t have heard that right. “Leave? Seriously?”
“I don’t know for how long, but after what happened today, they’ll definitely be looking for me and anyone they think is associated with me. We need to leave town as soon as we can, so… grab a bag and start packing.”
I stare at him for a long moment before nodding. “Okay.”
I wander over to the closet as he pulls out his phone. He walks back into the living room and I hear him talking on the phone a few seconds later.
As I start packing my clothes, my stomach lurches again. God, do I even have anything else left to vomit? I hold it in and continue packing. I’m most of the way through when he comes back into the bedroom.
“Anya and Dmitri are going to accompany us,” he says. “Listen, once we’re away, I need you to stay close. No more running and no going anywhere without letting one of us three know first.”
I nod. That’s an easy ask under the circumstances.
“Also, no communication with anyone outside our circle. If anyone other than Pavel happens to call your phone, do not pick up. Understand?”
“Yes,” I tell him. I look down at my hands. They’re starting to shake. He sees it too and walks over, taking them into his warm palms.
