told you?”
I smiled victoriously. “It doesn’t matter who told me. The question is, why didn’t you tell me?”
Her face fell. She looked sad. “It’s complicated, Mina.”
“Complicated in the the-guy-I-love-sleeps-with-other-women way? Or complicated in the the-guy-I-love-has-issues-with-commitment way?”
“Neither,” she hushed, her eyes shining. “In the the-guy-I-love-doesn’t-love-me-back kind of way.”
My smile fell. That sucked.
“That sucks,” I told her, my heartbreak apparent.
She smiled sadly. “That’s life, my dear.”
Chapter Nineteen
Mina
Saturday morning brought a shock to us all.
Lidiya was summoned back to her mother, Irina. What was surprising about it was that Lev let her go.
I didn’t want her to leave. The thought of her staying with a horrible woman who didn’t even want her drove me crazy. It quickly hit me that if this was the way I, an outsider, was feeling, Lev must have already crossed the border of Crazytown. He hid his sadness so well, but I didn’t miss the way he snapped at Sasha when his brother suggested moving Irina close by so Lidiya would at least live in the same state.
The awful woman had already booked flights for Mirella and Lidiya leaving just after midday, and her warning had been that if the two of them weren’t at arrivals at the designated time, she would be catching the next flight down and raising hell at the club.
Frankly, I thought the woman was full of shit, and I aired that view. Nas sent me a look advising me that her threat would likely be seen through. I was stunned. Who was this woman that she had the Leokov family becoming yes men?
As I sat cross-legged on the floor of the living room, Lidiya made a home in my lap, playing with little Mina, unaware that she was about to be thrust away from us in a most rude way. The arm I held her with tightened around her. I found myself mighty protective of this little peanut.
I watched in silence as Mirella’s face fell a degree. She covered it quickly, standing and heading over to Lidiya’s room to pack their things.
“No,” I muttered angrily. I turned to Lev, hugging Lidiya with everything I had. “You’re just going to sit down and let that bitch take her away from us?”
He looked as if he’d aged ten years in ten minutes. He looked haggard and worn. He spoke calmly, “What would you have me do, Mina?”
I blinked at him. This attitude was not going to get us anywhere. “Fight for her, Lev. Tell Irina she can’t have her. Let her come here. What’s she going to do? Show everyone how screwed up in the head she really is?”
“I’ll lose the partial custody I have and be charged with kidnapping my own daughter.” He looked at me, pinning me down with a single glance. “Does that sound like a good plan to you?”
Well, no. It didn’t. But there had to be something we could do.
My heart began to race as I realized that no one would be fighting this. “Nas,” I called.
She looked miserable. “Pick your battles, shorty. You aren’t going to win this one.”
My last resort. “Sasha,” I whispered, frightfully close to tears. “Do something.”
He was already shaking his head then he stood suddenly, glowering at me. “Life ain’t fair, little girl.” He stared at me. “You of all people should understand that.”
I was out on a limb, on my own.
“Lev,” I pleaded. “Please. Don’t let her win. She’s just a woman. How much pull can she have?”
I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
Lev stood. Then he yelled.
At me.
“What the fuck do you want me to say, Mina? That I fall over my feet to please the mother of my child?” He panted, “Yes! I do.” He walked away. “I have my reasons, and I don’t owe an explanation to anyone, certainly not you.”
He said ‘you’ like I was something disgusting. Like I was a nuisance. Like I was not worthy of the explanation that even I knew I didn’t deserve to hear.
It brought my back down to reality.
I was nothing to Lev Leokov.
And yet, he remained my everything.
Sometime after midday, after Lidiya and Mirella were gone, I made my way upstairs with my tail between my legs. I should have known this was a hard time for Lev, and I pushed him over the edge. I was sure it took a lot to do that, and I was feeling like crap about it.
Standing by the open door, I peered inside. Lev, dressed in his usual uniform of a three-piece-suit, lay on the left