I think for a second, trying to pull up that specific memory. “I remember shutting the door and locking it,” I finally say. “I’m sure of it, because I remember thinking that Nikolai would want me to.”
“And why is that?” Chief Belov eyes me, pencil poised above the pad.
“Because he was afraid Sean might try and come after me.” I realize I probably shouldn’t have brought that up a second after it’s out of my mouth. I don’t add in the details that Nikolai also almost choked Sean to death or that he threatened to kill him. I keep that little tidbit to myself.
Chief Belov turns his eyes to Nikolai, and I notice the stare isn’t near as kind as the one I was just getting.
“Care to elaborate, Nikolai?”
“He was harassing Moira one day, so I stopped it,” Nikolai says. His voice is calm and confident, and I wonder how in the hell he can remain so unaffected. I feel nervous as hell and I know for a fact I didn’t do anything wrong.
“And how did you do that?”
“I broke his nose,” Nikolai says with a laugh. “You can ask your son-in-law. He was there.”
“Yeah, I bet he was,” Chief Belov says, and it comes out sounding like more of a groan.
Poor Officer Johnson looks like he’d rather be writing parking tickets than stuck in this room with us. I’m guessing he wouldn’t be a very intimidating interrogator. I give him a sympathetic smile. I know firsthand how frightening Nikolai’s presence can be.
“Why was Sean even there?” I ask, trying to break the tension in the room.
Instead of answering me, Chief Belov asks, “What do you remember after you locked the door?”
I think back and say, “I went into the office, and I got onto the computer. I started printing out coupons. I remember standing up and walking to the printer.” I search my mind, trying to remember what happened next, but it’s all just fuzz. There’s nothing there until waking up in the hospital. I shake my head, trying to clear it. “I don’t remember anything else. There’s just nothing until I woke up here, confused, coughing, and with a giant knot on the back of my head.”
Nikolai cups the back of my neck, stroking my skin, and I don’t know what in the hell I’d do without him. I can’t imagine going through all this alone. I grab onto his forearm, giving it a soft squeeze.
“You have no memory of how you got it?” Chief Belov asks. He tries to make it sound like an innocent question, but it feels like there’s more to it than just what’s on the surface.
“No, I don’t. What was Sean doing there?” I ask again.
Chief Belov puts his notebook away before meeting my eyes. “We believe he started the fire, and we also believe he knocked you out before he did so. Our belief is that he was hoping you wouldn’t wake up in time to get out. It looks like he was trying to escape when the ceiling collapsed on him, pinning him to the ground.”
I feel like someone has just knocked the wind right out of me. I look up at Nikolai, expecting him to be filled with rage, but all he does is lean down and kiss my forehead, looking at me with eyes that are filled with love. It doesn’t make any sense that he’s handling this so calmly, but I don’t say anything. Instead I think about the fact that Sean tried to fucking kill me. That bastard! He had no idea that he was actually trying to kill me and my unborn baby, but I’m guessing not even that would’ve stopped him, especially since he would’ve known it was Nikolai’s baby.
“You’re taking this remarkably well, Nikolai,” Chief Belov says, saying exactly what I had been thinking.
“He tried to kill my fiancée,” he says, and despite the situation we’re in, my heart does a little flip at him calling me that. “He got what he deserved. My only concern is making sure Moira is okay, and me getting all pissed about that piece of shit isn’t going to help her.”
“How mature of you,” Chief Belov says dryly, and I can tell he’s not quite sure what’s going on, but it’s obvious he doesn’t trust Nikolai very much at all. There’s a tension-filled truce between them that I’m guessing has everything to do with Sergei. Neither Grandpa Belov nor Uncle Kolya wants to rock the boat too much.
When Nikolai doesn’t say anything, Chief Belov looks back at me and gives me a genuine smile. “Thanks for answering our questions, Moira, and congratulations on the upcoming wedding and baby. It was very nice meeting you.”
“Thank you. You too.” I return his smile. I can’t help but like the guy. He’s clearly not Nikolai’s biggest fan, but he’s not being a giant dick about it and yelling threats or trying to pin anything on him. I’m guessing they’re not going to be going in for a hug anytime soon, but they can at least put their feelings aside and be civil.
When Chief Belov turns to leave, I see Officer Johnson give a sigh of relief and practically run from the room after him. That poor kid is probably not going to last too much longer. After they’ve gone, I look up at Nikolai, studying his calm, gorgeous face.
“You knew about this.” It’s not a question, so he doesn’t bothering answering, just holds my gaze, watching my reaction. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It didn’t seem worth upsetting you over.”
“Did you know he was in there?”
“Yes.”
I ask the question that’s been eating away at me since I first learned about Sean, even though I’m not quite sure I want to know the answer.
“Did you kill him?”