Chapter 66

Hannah

“Did…did anything happen? In the car?” I felt terrible asking, but I needed to know in case Emmy needed more help than I could give her. Not that getting kidnapped wasn’t grounds for mental health intervention. It absolutely was.
Emmy’s hand tightened on Ivan’s and I saw him give a quick, frowning glance back at us, as if trying to assess the cause of Emmy’s distress. I gave him a reassuring look, which was weird because I was her sister and he was a Russian mobster she’d just met, but whatever. Nothing about this situation was normal.
Emmy leaned her head back against the couch again. “He... At first all he wanted to do was talk about Katya. How she belonged to him, he paid for her, he waited for her. I was fine with his ranting because it kept his focus off of me. Then he stopped talking for a minute and simply stared at me, as if finally noticing I was there.” Emmy stopped and looked at me, grimacing with remembered horror. “Hannah, the look on his face. I’ll never forget it. He smiled, and it was…twisted and horrifying. I was so grateful for that guy Piter because at least he was there. I mean, he definitely wasn’t going to help me, but I think him being there saved me from something far worse.” I felt a pang thinking of Piter’s dead body. I mean, he hadn’t been a good guy, but he had helped Emmy, even if it was probably inadvertent.
“Did he try anything?” So far, neither of us had referred to Yuri by name. It was almost as if saying his name had the power to conjure him, like the devil. Knowing he was still out there somewhere did little to lessen my paranoia.
“Not…not really,” she replied shakily. “He would stroke my legs, squeeze my knee. At one point he put his fingers in my hair and stroked the side of my face. That was the worst moment because I thought he was going to kiss me or something, but we pulled up to the house, so he stopped.”
Thank god for that.
I shot a quick glance at Nikolai and noted he did not look happy with any of the information he was getting from Drago and his men. In fact, the wrathful vibes I had caught when we were outside were back with a vengeance. His jaw looked like a piece of granite and his clenched fists were white with tension. In fairness, all the men had variations of this expression. I felt helpless watching him deal with this anger, knowing it might end in violence and bloodshed.
I turned my attention back to Emmy. “Do you want to go lie down upstairs? I can call mom and tell her we’re staying with Katya for the night.”
Emmy’s eyebrows jumped in surprise. “On a school night?”
An unexpected laugh burst out of my mouth. “Seriously?” Emmy, quickly seeing the ridiculousness of her response, started laughing, too. Soon, we were falling against each other, giggling hysterically. We looked around and noted every person in the room was now staring at us like we were crazy, but that only made us laugh harder.
Even though what Emmy had said wasn’t really that funny, we had a lot of pent-up anxiety that needed to be released. Our chuckles petered out and we sat there for a moment, catching our breath.
I shot a look at Nikolai to see his reaction to our fit. I would have expected him to be frowning at us, like everyone else, but he wasn’t. He was simply staring at me, his head cocked slightly to the side as though I was a complex puzzle to be solved. I wasn’t sure how to interpret his stare, but at least he didn’t look so pissed anymore.
“Oh my god,” Emmy gasped, wiping tears from her eyes. “What is wrong with us?” she asked, only half kidding.
“Nothing,” I replied reassuringly, rubbing her arm again. “We had a rough day. We deserved a laugh.” I couldn’t help but note that even amidst our laughing fit, she still held hands with Ivan.
Jesus, how did I navigate that?
“So, do you want to lie down upstairs, Emmy?” I asked again.
Emmy shot a slightly panicked look at Ivan’s back and clutched his hand tighter. “I’m fine here, Hannah,” she responded quickly. I could see where this was going, but I had no idea how to deal with it. Contact with Ivan was obviously keeping Emmy calm; however, I didn’t know how he’d feel about being attached at the hand to my sister for the rest of her life.
“Okay, okay.” I patted her leg gently, not wanting to push her.
Katya walked up to me and I realized I hadn’t spoken to her since she walked out of the door with Piter. I hopped up and gave her a tight hug.
“How are you doing?” I asked after pulling back and looking her in the eye.
Katya gave a short laugh. “I don’t even know how to answer that.”
I gave a small chuckle, but then looked at her seriously. “Katya, I don’t know how I can ever repay you for putting yourself in jeopardy for Emmy.”
Katya gave me a sad smile. “Hannah, I wished I could say that’s the first time I’ve had to deal with that kind of danger, but I can’t.” She shrugged. “I’m glad I was able to help you and your sister. At least it meant something to be put in danger this time. Usually, danger in my life is due to some mob-related pissing contest.”
I shook my head, not being able to fathom what Katya had lived through in her life. “I’m sorry, Katya. For all of it. I know Yuri is still out there, but it looks like he might not last long. Maybe then you’ll get some peace,” I asserted optimistically.
Katya shot a quick glance over at Drago and gave me small smile. “Maybe.”
I frowned. “That reminds me, what the hell is going on with you two?” I asked, jerking my head in Drago’s direction.
Katya laughed again. “It is such a long story, Hannah. Let’s make some food, then maybe I’ll have time to fill you in.”
“Okay,” I replied, shooting a quick glance over to Emmy. I was going to ask if she wanted to accompany us, but found Ivan talking quietly to Emmy, probably trying to convince her to release his hand. I mean, what if he needed to go to the bathroom?
I decided to let them figure it out and followed Katya into the kitchen.