“Everyone has a price,” Tetka muttered. “And I can be very persuasive when I need to be.”
She’d lived in the same house as me since I was four, so I was well aware of her forms of persuasion. And they had little to do with her charm or money. “How many people did you have to kill?”
“As many as I had to,” she replied in a gentle voice, rubbing her nose against Elda’s, making her coo happily. “And I will kill many, many more to keep you and these angels safe.”
“What will you do when Bain comes for us?”
Meeting my gaze, she slowly released a heavy breath. “As Nova said, don’t worry about anything. He can come for you all he wants, but he won’t ever find you.”
The flight to Russia was long, but Nova kept me distracted by telling me all about what had happened to her following Sheena’s ambush back in June. How she’d been taken to Colombia with Calista. Cali had delivered a baby girl as well, but she’d been so early and so tiny, she was still in the NICU back in Bogotá. Baby Justice was doing much better these days and hopefully would be home where she belonged soon.
After Nova told me about her adventure, I thought it was only fair I told her about life with Bain.
“He…he really isn’t as bad as everyone thinks,” I admitted. “He threatened me with the sniper on Ryan, but afterward, when I was so sick I was having cramps from dehydration, he confessed he hadn’t actually done it. I…” I swallowed, closing my eyes against the pain of what a fool I’d been. “I gave him a chance. He was so good to me, and we were happy. Until…”
“Until?” Nova asked, her eyes full of sympathy when my tears began to fall again.
“Until I heard him on the phone a few days ago. He went back to Ireland this morning. Back to his mistress.” I nearly choked on the last word, my sob wrenched from my soul.
My cousin wrapped her arms around me lovingly. “Shh, it’s okay. You don’t ever have to see that bastard again. Unless you want to.”
I nodded, soaking that in.
Unless I wanted to.
But the trouble was, I didn’t know if I ever wanted to see him again or not.