I hung up and leaned over the balcony for a better view. The man’s face stayed hidden from my view. But something in his stance and in the way Rodion had reacted sent a cold ripple through me. Was it Dmitri?
Rodion strode to his car, slid inside, and drove away, leaving behind a heavy tension clinging to the air.
Chapter Thirty-six
Alessia
Finding a job had becomeimpossible. Every path I tried seemed to slam shut in my face. If Rodion hadn’t happened, I could have been working in an accounting office. But now, even getting an interview felt like chasing smoke.
Scrolling through old emails, I ached to see the interview I had missed months ago. A bitter laugh caught in my throat. I skipped it because of Rodion. My world had crashed into his and never recovered. A part of me was grateful I met him, yet the cost was my career, left to rot in the background.
Grateful but uncertain. Were we anything or just temporary? He vanished for two days without a word. If we meant anything, wouldn’t I have crossed his mind? Wouldn’t he care enough to check if I was still alive?
I needed to talk to someone before I lost my mind. Clara curledup in bed, lost in Carina’s book she’d borrowed from me. We were friends, but not enough for confessions. Across the room, Mara was scrubbing off her makeup after she returned from serving Rodion’s relatives. We barely exchanged greetings, let alone secrets. As for the rest of the girls? Strangers.
I reached for my phone. Carina had been ignoring me, but she was still the only lifeline I had. Trapped in this mansion, I wasn’t working anymore. The staff treated me differently now, as if I no longer belonged among them.
Halfway through typing a message, I noticed Mara shifting, her brush slipping from her hand. She was staring at the doorway, her face drained of color. Clara got out of bed and stood, clutching her pajamas.
I looked at the door, and seeing Rodion startled me as well. He stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets, and his eyes on me. My heart tripped as I slid off the bed.
“Boss,” Clara whispered, her voice taut with fear.
Rodion stepped inside, and I tugged at the hem of my shorts, torn between stepping back and standing still. He stopped right in front of me.
“Hi?” The word escaped me.
His cologne mixed with the faint scent of cigarettes wrapped around me. He studied me in silence for a long beat before speaking. “Dress warmly.”
“Sorry?” I blinked at him.
Behind him, the door closed with a heavy thud. Clara and Mara had slipped out, leaving us. “Are we going somewhere?” I asked.
“Yes, you need a jacket,” he said, his tone leaving no room for questions.
“Oh. Okay.” My voice wavered. I grabbed my jacket from the wardrobe and picked up my phone. When I turned, he was still watching. “Are you even allowed in the girls’ quarters?” I asked, half-teasing.
His eyes narrowed, a flicker of amusement breaking across his face. “I am not?”
“You…” I chuckled. “Never mind.” It was his house, after all.
He stepped closer and zipped my jacket. “If you had stayed in my quarters, I would not have had to come looking for you.”
Looking up at him, my breath caught. I had missed this man. “I can’t sleep there.”
“Why not?”
“Because your relatives are around. You were gone. If they had found me there, what would I have told them?”
He held my gaze as if deciding the best response to give. Instead, he took my hand and led me to the door. I tried to pull away when I saw Clara and Mara lingering outside, yet his grip only tightened. My pulse quickened. Not only because he was back, but because he was making it public. Everyone in this house would see us.
For the last two days, I tried to stay invisible, keeping my head down. His grandmother, Madam Regina, had arrived. I saw her once, standing outside while Rodion fought his brother, Roman. Roman’s name traveled through the halls. I caught only a glimpse of him once, as he slid into a sleek black car, and then he too disappeared. More relatives kept arriving, some from Russia and others from corners of the world, stitched together by blood and power.
Rodion led me down the hushed corridor. Most of the household had gone to bed, leaving only the staff moving as they cleaned up after dinner. Some workers paused, their gazes flicking to where Rodion held my hand. He held me as if making a statement.
We stepped out of the mansion. The guards at the gate bowed in respect as we passed.
“Where are we going?” I asked, though I didn’t care. Anywhere beyond those walls felt like freedom.