She’s entrancing. There’s no other word for it. The Ana I met in Russia at Viktor’s safe house was beautiful and sweet and sad. The Ana in the first video Sofia showed me was gorgeous and fun and sexy, but this girl is something else altogether. She’s radiant, elegant, every step graceful and perfect, flowing through the steps of the ballet as if it were written specifically for her. It’s as if shebecomesthe music, overshadowing everyone around her, so that it’s impossible to look at anyone other than her.
I’ve never seen anything like it. If I’d thought I was in love with Ana before, the girl in the video captures my heart in a way that I couldn’t have imagined I could feel. And if I’d wanted to save her before, knowing that this elegant, graceful, perfect creature has been caged somewhere by a man who doesn’t deserve her makes me just this side of murderous.
“She’s beautiful,” I whisper, but the word doesn’t do her justice. There’s no word in the English language, or any other, that could describe Anastasia Ivanova dancing.
“That’s what she lost,” Sofia says softly. “It was everything to her. More, even, than my violin was to me. She gave everything to it. She would have given so much more, would havebeenso much more, and then—”
“What happened?” I look at Sofia, feeling a fierce, intense anger rise up in me. “What happened to her?”
“That’s not for me to tell you.” Sofia bites her lower lip, wiping away her tears with her free hand as her makeup smudges. “Ana needs to tell you that if you find her. Which—youwillfind her, won’t you? Please. Out of everyone, I can tell that you care the most. Luca—he wants to find her for her sake as well as mine, but he can’t leave now. And Viktor can’t either. I know that you’re risking just as much, but you—“ she shakes her head, squeezing her eyes tightly shut for a moment. “I think you love her, as ridiculous as that sounds. And so maybe you’re the best one to go, no matter what.”
I’d already been committed to finding her. But if I’d been certain of it before, I’m even more so now. I have to find her, that girl in the videos, and I have to put her back together, somehow. I want her beyond all reasoning, but most of all, I want to be somethingtoher. Her savior, most of all.
“I’m going to find her,” I tell Sofia firmly, my gaze fixed on hers. “I swear to you—”
“Liam?”
The door opens, and Saoirse steps out, her long emerald green dress blowing around her ankles in the breeze. She looks beautiful and faintly sad, and part of me feels guilty for the instant irritation that flares up in me at the sight of her. It’s not her fault that I’ve become obsessed with another woman in a way that I never can be with her, but she’ll bear the brunt of it anyway.
“Saoirse, now isn’t a good time—” I start to say, but she shakes her head firmly, walking towards me with her gold clutch purse gripped firmly in one hand.
“Sofia, I need to speak with Liam, please. If you’ll give us a moment.”
Sofia’s eyes widen a little, but she nods, giving me one more pleading look before hurrying back inside, leaving Saoirse and me alone.
“Liam, we need to talk.” She looks at me, her delicate chin lifted, and I can tell that she’s not about to be swayed. Still, I try anyway.
“I agree,” I tell her quickly. “But maybe now isn’t the best time.” I start to turn away from the railing, but Saoirse stops me with her hand on mine, her green eyes fixing mine with a look that says she’s not going to back down.
Even if I don’t want to deal with it, I can respect it. So I stop, letting out a long breath as I turn back to face her.
“Alright, Saoirse,” I say quietly. “What is it?”