I don’t want to wrap my brain around the possibilities. They are too disgusting to consider, and I wouldn’t wish what Kai and Michail and probably so many other men have endured. Rape was never just a woman’s issue.
My hands tremble as I close the closet door. Emmanuelle is standing against the wall a few feet away, no doubt filling in the blanks from Kai’s side of the conversation. “Help me get him back, Kai. I know I don’t deserve your help.” I kept the details of my arrangement with that damn bitch councilwoman, Henrietta, to myself. She was supposed to free him, let him get on with his life. I took her word as the head of her council, and I learned my lesson the hard way.
Tears are falling again, and I tilt my head back and look up, trying to stifle them. “I don’t deserve your help, but I need it. I need my family. I can’t lose him, Kai.”
There’s no doubt in my mind I’ve confirmed how close Michail and I have really gotten over our forced time together. But it’s a reckoning I can deal with after we save him.
More static cuts through the line, and then Kai rushes to speak in another whisper. “Head to the secondary council meeting space in one hour. Bring your fucking fiancé and his friends. They can help.”
I click off, relief a flash of ice in my blood. It cools me down, calms me, lets the parts of my brain running on pure adrenaline gain control again.
Emmanuelle pushes off the wall. “What do you need?”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him to fuck off. That I can do this alone. Kai will help, and he’s the only one I trust. Except, it’s a lie. I might hate him for dragging me out of there, but now, on the other side of things, I see he did me a favor. I’d have likely died in that room if he hadn’t hauled me away.
“Kai says to meet him at the secondary council location in one hour.”
He tilts his head, studying my face. “And you know where that is, I assume?”
I nod and tuck the phone into my knife-filled pocket. “Gather your guys. They can come too.”
For a heartbeat, he stays and stares at me. I worry he’s going to refuse, extricate himself to go back to his own council and his own people. He doesn’t need to be involved in this, not when we both know our relationship is a sham.
Then he turns and heads down the stairs two at a time with his long legs, and I’m left alone with way more feelings than I’m comfortable with. The urge to get a drink and relax beats at me, but I can’t risk it. Not with Michail needing me. Not with Kai counting on me. Not with Emmanuelle waiting for me.
My clothes are bulky as I descend to the first floor. When I get to the foyer, I remove a few of the knives and keep the ones at my ankles and one on my forearm. Seeing as I’ve been trained for politics, I’ve never really had to defend myself. There were always guards, or others, who would intervene if something happened. But growing up with Julia and Kai means I know how to use the weapons I’ve loaded myself with. I’ve kept my skills sharp, as Julia likes to randomly attack me to keep me on my toes when she’s in town. I call it lurid. She calls it sisterly bonding.
I grab some water, watching the clock. Not long now before we can leave. I hate every second which passes with him in her clutches.
One of Emmanuelle’s guards enters the kitchen. He’s changed from his suit to a black-on-black outfit similar to my own, except cargos instead of leather. I study all his pockets. “Smart, you can carry more weapons in those.”
He gives me a toothy grin. “True, but my ass doesn’t look nearly as good in these as yours does in those.”
I roll my eyes and follow him back out to the foyer. He has no interest in me, any more than I have in him, but soldiers walking into battle need something to connect over. Emmanuelle waits by the door in his own black-on-black ensemble. I guess we have a color scheme tonight. Julia, with her all-black wardrobe, would be so proud.
If Emmanuelle hadn’t mentioned he was into Andrea, I might have tried to hook him up with my sister. Once we end our fake engagement, of course.
I clench my fists, stretching my fingers and wrists, while Emmanuelle keeps an eye on his watch.
The second we can leave he turns and walks out, expecting all of us to follow. He can think he’s in charge all he wants as long as I can bring Michail home in one piece.