my throat. “This place . . . it’s nice. Very warm and . . . inviting.”
It was far from inviting for a girl like me, and we both knew it.
His slow smile could devastate cities. “What about it makes you feel so comfortable? I shall have to rectify it as soon as possible.” He watched with some form of dark interest as another stupid flush rose to my cheeks. If there was a God, he would have surely taken pity on me and opened a hole in the floor to let me fall through. I felt like Duckie in Pretty in Pink, and we all know how that ended up.
“The music. My papa listens to the same music.”
“What a coincidence,” Ronan drawled. His voice was indifferent, but also laced with something that evoked a shiver beneath my skin.
“Maybe you’ve heard of him?” It was a long shot, but with nothing else to go on, I might as well try to find another breadcrumb. “Alexei Mikhailov?”
Squeeze.
“Can’t say I have.”
Disappointment filled me.
“What does your papa do?”
“He’s an investor.”
That was all I knew. Papa never talked about work around me.
“Huh.” After a moment of studying me, Ronan said, “And what brings an American cheerleader to Moscow, alone?”
I glanced at my bag with “CHEER” across the front. “I was a cheerleader in high school, not anymore.”
“So a solid year ago then?”
“Of course not,” I said, like he was completely off the mark. “A year and a half.”
He smiled. “Ah, my mistake.”
After a beat of silence, I told him, “Moscow’s secrets.” The quiet words filled the room. “I came for its secrets.”
He watched me for a long time—so long, my heart slowed beneath the weight of his gaze—and then he stood and came around his desk. “Do you have somewhere to stay?”
I shook my head.
“I will have Albert find you a room.” With that, he headed to the door.
My manners rebelled against accepting his generosity, but a greater part of me was thankful. My head still hurt, and I didn’t want to wander aimlessly around Moscow looking for a ride and a place to stay. Though something else inside, something curious and breathless, wouldn’t allow him to walk away yet.
I got to my feet and blurted, “Do you have a fondness for opera?”
He stopped and slowly turned to me. “How did you guess?”
It took a moment to realize he was teasing me. I opened my mouth to respond but ended up pulling my bottom lip between my teeth to hold in the genuine amusement. His eyes flicked to my lips for just a second, and my pulse dropped into a vat of gasoline and fire.
I swallowed. “Do you happen to know of an opera house nearby?” I wasn’t going home without knowing more about my mother and her family. Maybe I could find some information at her previous place of employment.
“There are several, but the Moskovskiy is the closest.”
“The Moskovskiy,” I repeated, so I would remember it.
“It’s not in the best part of town anymore.”
His restaurant wasn’t exactly in the best part either, but I didn’t voice the thought.
Ronan regarded me for a second, and, seeing the determination on my face, something obscure clouded his eyes. “I will take you. Tonight, at eight.”
Then he left me without another word, and I couldn’t help but think . . .
Maybe Moscow wasn’t so bad after all.
dépaysement
(n.) when someone is taken out of their own familiar world into a new one
“No, really, I can pay for my own room.”
Albert was obviously hard of hearing because his stoic expression didn’t falter as he walked down the hotel hall with my bag in his hand. I trailed two steps behind the giant, struggling to keep up with him.
I knew he understood English. On the way over, I touched the window while taking in the sights, and through the rearview mirror, he looked at me like I’d just slapped his favorite grandma and grumbled at me to not smudge the glass. He’d be handsome if he wiped away that scowl and didn’t shave his head like he was just released from prison. Though, with that attitude, I could only assume he was.
After driving me to a swanky hotel, he handed the straight-faced concierge a wad of cash. The older man didn’t ask a single question before sliding a shiny room key into Albert’s hand. It looked like a drug deal. Or a bribe. I couldn’t be privy to Albert’s illegal activities no matter how things were done here.