Page 43 of Ruined By Sin

"I know, sweetheart." He sounds more remorseful than comforting. It's like he’s given up hope that he can get to me. It breaks my heart. I can't stay here any longer. If I have to plead for my family, Timur will kill me too. They're killing everyone.

"I don't know if I can?—"

"You have to try, baby." I imagine if this were my father, he would be on his way to get me right now, not trying to talk me into working harder. "Talk to Timur. Make him see that Morin is the one driving this, not the Mirovs. If you can get Timur to question even one thing Morin has told him, it could be enough to slow this down."

"Uncle, I'm scared."

"I know you are. But you are strong and you are smart, and you are the only person in a position to do anything about this. Hold on for us."

The kitchen door swings open and Dryden walks in. I lurch off the counter, frozen in fear as his eyes go from my face to the tablet in my hand. Then he glowers at me and crosses the kitchen, ripping the tablet out of my grip so fast, I don't even have time to close the call. Victor's face is still on the screen when Dryden flips it around and looks at it.

"Who is this?" Dryden barks at the screen.

"Kira, hang up," Victor says, and then Dryden ends the call and slams the tablet face down on the counter.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He turns to me, shouting, and trembling, I back away. I don’t know what his orders are or if Timur is close to here to protect me from this man. The last one tried to kill me. "Whose tablet is that? Who were you talking to?"

"Nobody. It was nobody."

"Don't lie to me. I saw a man's face. Who were you calling?"

"It was a wrong number. I was trying to call my father and I got the wrong?—"

"You're not allowed to make calls. You know that. Timur gave me specific instructions and you just—" He stops himself and runs a hand over his face. "Do you even know who you're dealing with?"

The problem is I do know who I'm dealing with. An entire family of liars and murderers. And I don't want to deal with this anymore.

Shoving him back, I push past him and hurry down the hallway so fast, I slam into Sonya as she's leaving my room. The robe in her hand falls to the ground and drops to the floor at my feet, and I brush past her into the room.

"Kira," she sighs, "what's gotten into you?" But she sees Dryden stomping up the hall as I climb into bed and cover myself.

"Get out of her room," he snarls, and the maid stands her ground.

"Why are you shouting at her?" Sonya refuses to move, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Because she was using your tablet to make a call. Now get out before I tell Timur you were helping her."

I lie there trembling, watching Sonya oscillate between looking at me and then looking at him. She picks up the robe and walks over to the bed, lying it across my hips, though I'm covered with the blanket.

"I'll come back to check on you in a little bit, sweetheart. Try to rest." She smooths my hair with her hand then walks out.

After I hear the door lock click into place, I hear their muffled shouting as she stands up for me, and it's the first welcoming thing I've felt in weeks. At least one person is standing up for me.

But when Timur finds out what I've done, I'm not sure what he'll do. He may see my side of the story, or he may think Morin is right and that I'm a problem.

I pray to God that's not the case.

21

TIMUR

It's late when I stalk through the door, exhausted and feeling stressed. Police kept us way past the normal time we'd be out after a fight and demanded access to our security footage, which I had three men on within seconds of shit hitting the fan. We managed to stash the actual footage then wipe it before implanting regular feeds doctored to look like they were live tonight and not prerecorded earlier this week.

It's all protocol, but we've never had to enact that protocol until tonight. I'm just thankful it works.

Unfortunately, as I shuffle toward my bedroom, I pass Dryden, parked outside Kira's room on a kitchen chair he dragged in here. He's nodded off, head leaned back against the wall, mouth hanging open with light snoring vibrating up his throat.

I haven't had him parked on her door in over a week. she's had more freedom and almost free reign of the house, though I’ve kept men outside the house in case she tries to sneak out. Still, something had to have happened to make him feel the need to sit here.