I’m still naked from the waist up, rain falling over my breasts.
“I’ll stop,” I say. “Just let me leave.”
Galina spits the washcloth out. “Danger is everywhere. There is no escape.”
I know what she means by this. Igor and his friends are out in the city somewhere. But Igor won’t kill me. He’d have done that already if he wanted to.
Besides, I can protect myself. I need to see Mom and Lila. And I need to buy a pregnancy test.
I feel butterflies in my stomach at the thought of being pregnant.
“Fine.” The armed guard moves aside.
I sigh with relief and scoop my sweatshirt from the floor. Once I’m through the gate, I give the gun back to its owner.
I catch Galina looking at me through the rain-stricken atmosphere, her face spacing out, like she’s seeing that ghost again. She doesn’t blink through the rain anymore. She seems to have forgotten all about the storm. Maybe that’s because there’s an even bigger one on the horizon.
“Be careful, out there, Miss Joy.”
21
JOY
A car rolls through a puddle,splashing me. My sweatpants are now soaking wet, and I still have another three blocks to walk until I’m back at Lila’s apartment.
I spent a fortune getting an Uber back to Venice Beach, and it wasn’t even to my final destination. It’s cheaper riding to the beach than further inland. I couldn’t justify spending another forty bucks getting it back to Lila’s.
The rain still falls, but it’s not as bad as it was when I first left Valerian’s place. I accepted my fate when I was outside holding Galina up at gunpoint. I’m soaking wet. No point trying to get out of the rain now.
I bring my hair to one side, wringing it out. Water slaps onto the sidewalk. By the time I make it onto Lila’s street, I’m drenched again, back to square one, wringing my hair out.
Butterflies attack my stomach as I step up onto the floor where Lila’s apartment is. Being back here feels weird. Like I never left. Valerian forced me to marry him just over a week ago, but it honestly feels like a lifetime ago, like I’ve lived a whole other life.
I stare at the ring on my finger. The butterflies in my stomach really are partying hard.
I hold my breath, knocking on Lila’s apartment door. The door cracks open and a very astonished Lila is standing on the other side. Her jaw is on the floor.
And then I show her the ring on my finger and she pulls me inside, gasping.
“Oh my fucking god.” The first thing she does is bring me into a hug.
But then she pulls away and grabs my hand. Analyzing the ring for herself. “Wilma?” she shouts. “You might wanna get your ass in here.”
“My mom’s with you?”
“The pair of us have been worried sick.”
“Joy?” Mom stands in the doorway to the living area, her eyes streaked with tears. “Where the hell have you been? Why haven’t you been answering your phone since the last time we spoke?”
“By the looks of it, she’s not had time. Too busy running off to get eloped.”
Mom’s eyes flare wide. “Igor?”
I grimace. “Almost.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I grind my teeth. “I’m married to his father.”