ANYA
“I need the password for the intranet. I have homework. The funeral is this week. I can’t fall behind.”
He moves to a small desk, scribbles on a note-size piece of paper, takes four long strides, and hands it to me.
The tension crackles like static electricity taking me by surprise. He’s impressive and intimidating. I attempt to take the paper gracefully, but out of fear of our fingers touching, I flinch, and the paper flutters to the floor.
“You’re clumsy,” he grumbles as he bends to pick it up. “We’ll try this again.” He hands the paper to me once more.
I take it from him, careful not to touch his fingers, and clutch the paper like it’s a life raft.
The password is a vehicle to my independent life within these walls.
I turn to leave, wondering why my hand tingles. For some reason, I want to please him even though he is rude, just like Papa.
He’s short on patience and no doubt he assumes I am a silly schoolgirl. I learned that Papa didn’t like to be interrupted early on, so if I wanted something, I asked for it when he was distracted. He’d say yes more often than not to get rid of me, and there was less time for him to hand out criticism.
In a Russian world governed by politics and vicious allegiances, Nikolay finds himself plunged into a life with new dangers following his father’s death. He immediately honors his arranged marriage to merge two powerful families before a cold-blooded traitor in the mafia family claims another victim.
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