“There isn’t much else you can do except what you’ve already done.”
“God, that sounds so hopeless.”
She frowns sympathetically. “Listen, Liya. I know my brother. When he sets his mind on something, he won’t stop until he gets it.”
I shake my head. “So, we should just let him walk into the lion’s den? That’s it?”
“That’s the only way he’s going to learn.”
It hurts to hear her say that. And mostly because she’s right.
Pavel has always been stubborn with plans. While he’s listened to my suggestions in the past, he’s always leaned into doing whathewants.
I’m just the board he bounces ideas off.
I bow my head and squeeze Karina’s hands. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She wrinkles her nose. “I should shower. It’ll help me unwind.”
I nod and give her a tight smile. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“Of course.” She smiles as she heads toward the door, pausing only to say, “Same applies to you, Liya.”
***
A few hours after getting home, I listen to the sound of the house settling. I listen to Pavel wandering the hallways, pacing himself into a stupor about what to do next. I listen to the eerie silence that erupts next.
It’s too much. I have to dosomething.
Or else this will all be for nothing.
I locate Pavel in his office downstairs. I walk in without knocking and lean against his desk, waiting for him to look at me.
He doesn’t look up, but I feel his attention extend to me when he states, “I’m working.”
“You can’t meet with Cardona.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “I didn’t ask for this marriage. Yet here we are.”
Finally, that gets him to look up at me, fixing me with a frigid stare that makes me want to recoil—but I don’t. I dig my heels into the ground and wait.
“I’m meeting Cardona,” he says firmly. “That’s final.”
“I don’t like it, Pavel. It just doesn’t sit right with me.”
He stands up and casually tucks one hand into his pocket. “What does it matter to you?”
My mouth dries up as he stands to his full height.
“There’s no point in listening to you when you’re going to leave after this is all over.” He rounds his desk. “You can either move out of my way—” He takes a menacing step forward and towers over me. “Or I can move you out of my way. Your choice.”
The tips of my fingers are frozen. My chest heaves with a strained breath. It feels like a snake has coiled around my body and won’t let me move.
That’s the only way he’s going to learn.
Karina is right. I can’t stop him.