Too much of my self was stuck in the past, when the future was looking so dangerous.
Chapter 10
Melanie
The ride through Palo Alto was quiet and strained. The Range Rover angled itself toward Greco Island and the bay, and my hands and legs buzzed with anxiety as we passed million-dollar homes, the streets choked with Teslas and sports cars. Nervosa seemed preoccupied, but he turned to study me as we got close.
“Are you ready?” he asked softly.
I kept my eyes locked on the view. “I’m ready.”
“I told Cedric that I was bringing a guest, but I didn’t tell him it was you.”
“You almost sound excited for the surprise.”
“I’ll admit to a bit of curiosity. What’s drawing you back here, Melanie?”
I closed my eyes. “The past. Nothing important.”
He laughed softly. I opened them up again and he was still watching me carefully. “I know something about the past.”
“Do you? It seems like you live in the present while shaping the future. That’s what Oligarchs do, right?”
“Some of them,” he said, looking down at his hands. “But I’m not like the others.”
“You didn’t grow up in an Oligarch house.”
“My parents found me playing chess. That’s what caught my father’s eye anyway. He said he’d never seen a young person so good at the game before.”
“Did he play against you?”
“No, not until after he’d adopted me. I beat him.”
I smiled, unable to help myself. A little child beating an Oligarch at chess. It was a funny vision.
“How did it happen? I mean, it’s one thing to see a kid that’s good at chess, but it’s a big leap to adopting him.”
“He came back a few times,” Nervosa said, looking out the window, lost in memory. “He would stand back and watch and watch, until one day he approached and asked if I ever thought about playing in a tournament. I told him that my parents would never let that happen, but he insisted, and asked if he could speak to my mother. I was just a kid, you know? So I said okay, and took him to where my mom was sitting on a bench nearby.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “She had nodded off. Didn’t overdose, but probably close. Father had to shake her until she woke up, and he figured out what was happening pretty fast from there. He had a long talk with my mother, and I’ll never know what they said, but I went to live with them after that.”
“He just… convinced your mother to give you up?”
“I think he told her that I’d have a better life with him. That he could give me opportunity that she couldn’t. Or maybe he threatened to have her killed, or offered her money, or drugs, I don’t know. My father was good at pushing people’s buttons and figuring out what they wanted most.”
“That’s a useful skill for an Oligarch.”
He turned back to me, face calm, but I saw the emotion in his eyes.
“The rest of them were born to comfort, but I was born in a nightmare. These are all I have to remember.” He rolled up his sleeve to show me tattoos. They were colorful and simple: a needle, a pill bottle, a chess piece. He covered them again after a moment. “Father hated the tattoos, but I think he understood.”
“You loved your adopted parents, didn’t you?”
“They gave me a life. I owe them everything.”
“Then you understand why I’d want to meet my family.”
He was quiet, but he nodded. “You’re not telling me something, but that’s okay. This is my half of the bargain, and all I need is for you to uphold yours.”
“I will,” I said as the Rover pulled up a long driveway then through a silver gate.
The house was massive and beautiful. It sat on the edge of the bay, overlooking the water. The walls were smooth and white, and the landscaping was perfectly manicured. We parked and Nervosa got out, but I hesitated.
My uncle lived in this place. He bought it with money taken from my family, wrenched away from my mother. What could her life have been like if she’d gotten her inheritance? Maybe she never would’ve been involved with my father. Maybe I never would’ve been born.
A sad thought. But justice didn’t get maudlin, and I wouldn’t either.
I got out and followed Nervosa to the door.
A pretty young woman answered. She smiled, her teeth bright and white. I blinked rapidly at her, suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity.
She had my nose and the same curly hair. But she was different, with flatter lips, and pretty, sun-tanned skin. Her clothes were simple and casual, but they were elegant and flattered her figure. I guessed she was early twenties, maybe a few years older than me.
“Are you Alex?” she asked, grinning at Nervosa.
He nodded. “You must be Laurel. I’ve heard of you.”