Josh’s voice registers in my hearing. He’s singing the tune of the cartoon he was just watching, and I think I’m going to be sick.
“Hey.” Lev brushes hair back behind my ear. “I told you I’m not going to let anyone hurt you or Josh. I’ll kill anyone who tries.”
I look into his dark eyes, and what I see there is not what I expect. Tenderness, genuine tenderness, but there’s an edge to it. Because I know he means what he’s saying. I know he will kill anyone who tries. I know well what he’s capable of.
And I think that’s the hardest part.
“Mommy?”
Lev lifts his gaze to Josh over my shoulder, and I study him for a moment longer, that hard line of his jaw, the set of his mouth. His big, powerful hands resting on my thighs.
And even though I trust that the tenderness I just saw was genuine, I know that if I can, if I get even the smallest opportunity, I need to get Josh and myself away from him.
“Yes, baby?” I say, turning to Josh.
“Did you get Wally?” Wally is the stuffed bear he’s had since he was born.
“Yes, sweetheart.” I reach into my purse and pull the well-loved bear out and notice my passport is in there, too. “Here he is.” I hand Wally to Josh.
Lev closes the door and comes around to the driver’s seat. He starts the engine, and when we drive away, I glance back at the little house and think about how much I liked it. Liked being here. Because I don’t know if I’ll ever see it again. If we’ll ever be back.
A text alert has Lev reaching into his pocket as he takes the turn out of town and heads toward the highway. He reads it but doesn’t reply and tucks the phone back into his pocket.
“What time is our flight?” I ask.
“Late afternoon. We have to tie up some loose ends.”
“What loose ends?”
He glances in the rearview mirror. Josh is busy showing Wally the sights.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of everything,” he says.
It’s a long, tense two hours to Denver as Lev takes calls while driving. He speaks in Russian, so I can’t understand a word he’s saying.
Just outside of Denver, he pulls into the parking lot of a Marriott.
“Stay here,” he says, parking beside a large, black SUV. He takes the keys of the Jeep and meets my gaze across the front seat. “Don’t be stupid.”
A warning.
He closes and locks the doors.
Josh has nodded off, and I watch as Lev transfers our duffel and another one into the back of the SUV, then walks into the front entrance of the hotel. It’s barely two minutes before he’s back, but instead of getting into the driver’s seat again, he opens my door.
“Get out.”
My heart drops into my belly. I glance back at a sleeping Josh.
“What?”
“Out, Kat.” He undoes my belt and closes his hand over my arm.
I slip out of the Jeep, and he closes the door, walks me to the back, leaves me there as he opens the back door and lifts Josh’s seat out. When the hell did he figure out how to do that? Just yesterday, he didn’t know how the straps worked.
“What are you doing?” I start, panic gripping hold of me as I take the other side of Josh’s seat.
“Mommy?” Josh asks, waking up, rubbing his eyes.
“Shh,” Lev says, smiling down at him. “We’re almost there. You’re going to ride in my car now.”
“What?” I’m white-knuckling Josh’s child seat.
“Help me strap his seat in, Kat,” Lev says, warning me with his eyes. He opens the back door to the SUV. It smells brand new.
“Lev?” I start, but he ignores me, puts the seat into the back seat, and places his body between me and Josh as he secures the child seat to the car.
“Wow,” Josh says. “This is nice.”
“Wait until you get on the airplane, kiddo,” Lev says.
Lev turns and closes the door, then walks me the few steps backward to the Jeep.
“You’re not taking him. You can’t take him!”
He takes my right wrist, turns my hand palm up, and drops my keys in them. At that moment, I realize how powerless I am. How stupid. If he wants Josh, I’ve just made it that much easier for him to kidnap my son.
I look up to find his dark eyes on me.
He wouldn’t take my son, would he? Is this my punishment for running away when I was pregnant with his baby? Does he still blame me for that?
“Please don’t take my son from me.” Tears burn my eyes.
“Katya.” He cups my face, wiping the tears from my cheeks, and something about the way he says my name tugs at my heart. “Josh is my family.”
I feel my knees buckle, and it takes all I have to keep upright. “You can’t. Please—”