Fractured Souls - Page 46

“Because I have an English accent if I do. None of the kids at the foster homes or schools spoke Russian, so during that time I kind of . . . just forgot it, I guess.” He nips at my lip. “What about your brother?”

“Arturo is like all older brothers. Just a hundred times worse.”

“Protective?”

“To a point of driving me insane. He was twenty when our parents died, so he took on their role.”

“You didn’t have any other family members?”

“We had an aunt. Dad’s half sister. She offered to take me and Sienna in, to live with her. Arturo said no.” I shake my head. “I’m worried about him. I think, something flipped in his mind when our mom and dad were killed, and he focused all his attention, outside of his work, on the two of us. He’s thirty-three, but he’s never brought a woman to our house. I know he had several relationships; we even met some of his girlfriends. But none of them have set a foot in our home. I think he was so focused on raising us that he actually forgot he’s not really our parent.”

“Why don’t you want to call him? It’s obvious he loves you.”

“Because I love him, too,” I whisper. “At first, I thought he wouldn’t be able to get over what happened to me. So, I didn’t want to call him.”

“And now?”

“Now, I don’t want to call because I know how much he’ll hurt if he learns the truth. Arturo will put two and two together, even if I don’t tell him everything. He’ll blame himself. I can’t allow that. He has enough on his shoulders, and he’s shielded me from enough storms in my life.” As I say this, something else crosses my mind. “There was a girl. At Dolly’s place. I think she may have been Russian. She was brought in about a month after they took me, but she disappeared a few days before I got away.”

His palm stills on my back. “Do you remember her name?”

“Rada, or something like that. I’m not sure. Why?”

“Could it have been Ruslana?”

My head snaps up. “Yes. It was Ruslana. Do you know her?”

“She was the daughter of one of the Bratva’s soldiers.”

“Was?”

“Her body was found around the time you escaped. A day or two earlier, I think.”

I shudder and bury my face in the crook of his neck. She couldn’t have been more than a year or two older than me.

“Will you be in trouble because you didn’t go to the club tonight?” I ask, trying not to think about the girl with a long blonde braid and how it easily could have been me.

“I’ll go tomorrow.”

“Can I come with you?” I ask.

A kiss lands on the crown of my head. “Of course.”

Chapter 16

Soft tones of a delicate melody reach my ears as I exit the elevator. I walk up to the door of my apartment and pull the keys out of my pocket. Lately, I’ve been pretending that I’ve forgotten my keys so I can ring the bell and hear Asya’s hurried steps as she runs toward the door to let me in. When she opens it, it’s as if she has missed me, even though I’ve only been gone for a short time. It feels good to come home and know that she is waiting for me. So, I keep pretending to forget my keys and ring the bell each time.

But I don’t want to distract her from her playing today. Opening the lock, I walk inside. Asya is sitting in front of the piano, her phone is on the small stand above the keys. She probably found new sheet music online and downloaded it. I should buy her actual sheet music books. It can’t be easy to follow along on that small screen. Trying my best not to make any noise, I leave the grocery bags by the door and walk into the living room. I lean my shoulder on the bookshelf on my right and watch her.

Her hair is loose, and it sways left to right when she bobs her head along with the melody. I can’t see her face from my spot, but I’m pretty sure she’s smiling.

Something squeezes in my chest. Will she take the piano with her when she leaves? Because she will leave, eventually. I won’t delude myself into believing she’d want to stay with me when she has a home, a family, probably a bunch of friends, and plans to attend a music conservatory. Her life might have been placed on hold with what happened to her, but she’ll bounce back. I’ve seen her strength and determination. Her courage. All those things that make herher—the same traits that made me fall so desperately in love with her, they will also take her away from me.

We need to get to the club soon if we want to arrive before the opening and avoid the crowd, but I can’t make myself ask her to stop. The melody changes as she switches to my favorite one, “Moonlight Sonata.” I’m not sure why I love hearing her play that one the most. Maybe because of the first time I heard her play. I’ve even set it as her ringtone on my phone. I grip the back of my neck in frustration. I hope she takes the piano when she leaves. Because if she doesn’t, I’m going to smash it until there is nothing left of it.

“If you get uncomfortable, even a little bit, let me know and we’ll leave. Okay?”

I nod and squeeze Pasha’s hand.