The ride is quiet and long.
It’s a struggle to stay awake.
Eventually, I drift off to sleep, not meaning to let my exhaustion get the best of me.
The car comes to an abrupt halt, and my eyes flash open to see that we’re just outside the gate entrance of our house.
The guards open the metal gates and allow us entrance inside the compound.
Home sweet home.
Mikhail waits outside the front door, his jaw tight and hands bunched at his fists. He doesn’t appear pleased to see me.
I thought I’d feel relieved to see him alive, but my stomach bubbles with anxiety.
Luka brings the vehicle up to the front entrance and shuts off the SUV. I climb out and open the back door for the twins to follow behind me.
“Did the Italian prince break your little heart?” Mikhail quips. There’s a brashness to his remark, his eyes narrow and fueled with something that I don’t quite recognize.
He smacks me hard across my face, sure to leave a red mark on my skin.
I shield Sophia and Liam from him, protecting my children.
“Don’t be stupid, Aleksandra. You want to come home, then you’ll follow my rules. Get inside!” he barks and points at the door.
I escort the twins into the compound, and he’s on my heels right behind me.
“Children, go upstairs to your room,” he says. “I need to have a word with your mother.”
“Yes, Uncle Mikhail,” Sophia says. She latches onto Liam’s hand, and they hurry up the elegant stairwell to their bedroom.
I watch, grateful that they are out of sight before Mikhail says or does anything else that might scare them. I’m not afraid of what he will do to me, only what might happen to the twins.
“Let me guess. You’ve decided you’re finished playing house with Antonio,” Mikhail snarls with disgust.
Exhaling a nervous breath, I ignore his remark. Maybe I should have heeded his warning at Antonio’s and not come home.
I glance up into Mikhail’s cold stare. “You should know, Yuri betrayed the family,” I say.
All I can do is hope that Mikhail wasn’t involved and had no knowledge of what happened. That he’d been in the dark, same as Antonio.
“You know nothing,” Mikhail snarls, and his hand comes up a second time to smack me across the face, but this time, I pull back quicker than his blow. His eyes widen, shocked. “You defy me, little sister?”
“One of Antonio’s men tried to murder me, and he teamed up with Yuri to sell the twins.”
Mikhail snorts at my remark. “Sell the twins? You mean someone wants those pestilent little brats?”
“Don’t speak about my children like that!” I snap, stepping toe-to-toe with him, unafraid. He very well might slap me again for my disobedience.
Mikhail rolls his eyes and ignores my remark. “Don’t think that everything is all sunshine and shit with you coming home. You’ll be sequestered in your room. You can come out for meals, but you are not to attend any lavish parties, no guests, and certainly no leaving the premises. And don’t think you can wander freely without a guard. I don’t trust you, little sister. And make one wrong move, and I’ll let you sleep in the dungeon.”
“Home sweet home,” I mutter. “Will one of the guards be escorting Sophia and Liam to preschool?” Usually, I accompany them, but if Mikhail forbids me from leaving, someone else will have to make sure they are looked after when the twins aren’t in the compound.
“Luka will handle it. Now, get upstairs,” Mikhail grunts.
Nikita used to be responsible for escorting the twins to preschool, with me accompanying him. Luka can probably handle the task, but I’ve never seen him with the twins on his own.
I quietly head up the wooden stairs and down the hall toward my bedroom. It’s early, and I’m beat.