Her hand crosses the distance between us, and she grips my wrist in a firm, almost painful hold. “Listen here, you ungrateful twit. We’ve let you have your freedom, but it’s time to come back into the fold.”
I rip my arm back from her grip. “Never. I shouldn’t have come tonight.”
I turn and quickly leave the party. My father gives me another one of his nasty looks as I pass, and Dima raises his glass to me with a broad smile on his face that hardly reaches his eyes.
What the hell is happening here? Are my parents seriously trying to set me up with that man? No way. Never. They are insane.
CHAPTERFOUR
Charity
It’s beena week since the charity event. Somehow Dima got ahold of my address and sent flowers with a note that said he looked forward to seeing me again. As if. I will be doing my level best to avoid him and my parents.
Darlene sets her burger down on her plate and gives me a questioning look. “What is up with you today?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re acting strange. Twitchy.”
I set my own burger down and look over my shoulder again. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”
Darlene scoffs. “I already do, girl,” she teases.
I let out a sigh and decide to let it all out. “I think someone is following me.”
Darlene sits up straight, looking suddenly alert. I instantly feel bad for burdening her with my fears because my best friend was stalked and attacked not long ago.
I reach across the table and grab her hand. “It’s nothing. I’m just being paranoid.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy one bit,” she says, looking around where we are sitting in the middle of the mall food court. “Especially not after that creeper Dima Sokolov. He sounds like some kind of mobster or something. I still can’t believe your mother insinuated your dad is trying to set you up.”
“Can’t you though?”
Darlene frowns then nods. “He is an old-fashioned jackass.”
“He is,” I agree. “I’m just a pawn to my parents. This is just further proof of that.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.”
“Has that ever worked?” she asks.
“Nope. But there’s always hope… right?”
Darlene laughs. “Not likely.” She leans in close and lowers her voice. “So do you have any idea who it is that’s following you?”
I shake my head. “Honestly, I haven’t seen anyone. I think being so close to my hometown has me paranoid. Knowing my parents are so close is just messing with me.”
She chews her bottom lip, looking worried. “What if you’re not? Being paranoid, that is.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” I say, trying to convince my bestie and myself.
“I think you should have someone look into it,” Darlene says. I should’ve known she would take my fears seriously.
“Like hire a private investigator?”
“Exactly.” She picks up her burger and takes a big bite, and I do the same, rolling the idea over in my head. As far as ideas go, it isn’t a bad one. “And I know just who to hire…”