Brie couldn’t help smiling, despite the serious nature of her call. “I feel the same.”
“I know better than to ask how you are doing when you’ve just been through hell. So, instead, tell me how are moye solntse and moy gordost?”
Brie glanced at Hope and Antony playing on the floor and grinned at them. “They are the most perfect beings in the world.”
He chuckled. “Da, they are.”
Brie let out a nervous sigh, building up the courage to ask. “Rytsar…why aren’t you here?”
The Russian was silent for a moment, then he let out an agonized groan. “It is torture not being with you right now.”
“Then come,” she begged.
He answered somberly, “I told you. I cannot.”
“Why?” Brie demanded, unwilling to be left in the dark any longer.
“I promise I will reveal all when the time is right.”
Brie growled. “Sir said the same thing, but it’s not fair! I deserve to know the secret you are keeping from me.”
“Nyet. It is my right to keep it from you until I deem it appropriate.”
His refusal only frustrated her more. “I’ll go crazy not knowing! You know I have a vivid imagination.”
“I know you do…” he stated humorously. “I’ve read your fantasy journal.”
She pursed her lips. “Don’t try to distract me.”
Rytsar paused for a moment before asking, “Would you agree that your Master knows you well?”
Brie sighed. “Of course.”
“And I know you well.”
“You do,” she agreed reluctantly.
“Then I need you to trust us both.”
Brie did not care for his answer and protested, “I think you should kneel on rice as punishment for keeping things from me.”
“I would willingly do so, radost moya, but I would still refuse to tell you.”
A wild thought flew through her mind and she blurted, “Rytsar…are you secretly engaged?”
He broke out in uproarious laughter. “Is that what you think?”
“I don’t know…” she stammered, equally embarrassed and grateful that it was not the case.
“I will not play twenty questions with you,” he stated firmly. “You must know the only girl who has captured my heart is moye solntse.”
Brie smiled grudgingly at his answer.
Rytsar’s voice grew serious again. “When the time is right, I promise I will tell you. Until then, you must trust that your Master and I have only your best interests at heart.”
“I’m so not satisfied by that explanation—at all,” she complained.
“As a sadist, I admit that pleases me.”