Chapter 150 153

Chapter 150 153
OLIVIA

When I look down at my phone and see Mia’s name, I almost drop the piece of toast in my hand. After the confrontation at her wedding, I didn’t expect to hear from her any time soon.

I wipe the crumbs off my fingers and fumble to answer the call. I’m so nervous that I nearly drop it right into the dish of butter.

“Hi—hello?”

“Hey, Liv,” Mia greets. Unlike me, she sounds calm. Almost casual.

“Hi, Mimi.”

I wince as soon as I say it. For the first time in my life, her nickname feels awkward on my lips.

The silence stretches, so I barrel clumsily ahead. “I have to admit, I’m surprised you’re calling.”

She sighs. “I know you had nothing to do with Aleks being at the wedding. He crashed and you didn’t know about it.”

“Okay, then I have to admit, I’m surprised you believe that.”

“Men like him don’t usually ask before they do what they want, do they?”

I frown. Her tone is beginning to worry me. I’m pretty dang sure she didn’t call just to chit-chat about the nature of alpha males.

She’s leading up to something.

But she’s taking her sweet time getting to it.

“How are you?” she asks.

“How are you?” I fire back. “You’re the one who just got married.”

“Good,” she says. “Still in the city, though. We haven’t gone on our honeymoon yet.”

“I heard that.”

“How?”

“I saw it on TV. You know that most entertainment shows do at least five minutes on you and Hargrove every day, right?”

“Oh. Right.” She sounds rattled by the prospect.

I can relate. Seeing my sister on the news is a trip, and not in a good way. Actually, this whole damn year has been a trip, and not in a good way.

But her vulnerability is gone when she speaks again. “Do you know why I can’t go on a honeymoon, Liv?”

“By your tone, I’m thinking it has something to do with my husband?” I guess.

“Another girl went missing over the weekend.”

My body goes cold. “I haven’t heard anything.”

“Of course not. Because when Aleksandr Makarova takes a girl, no one ever hears anything about it.”

“Mia, he didn’t—”

“I know you believe him, Liv.” Her voice cracks like a whip. “I know you think he’s above all this, but he’s not. He’s just fucking not. It’s about time you disabused yourself of the notion that the man is some Prince Charming cursed with a shitty PR team.”

“First of all, I never claimed he was anything of the sort,” I insist. “But I do know he’s not capable of abducting or raping women. Especially not underage—”

“Olivia, please, just listen,” Mia sighs. It’s obvious how hard she’s trying to remain calm. I wonder if Hargrove is there with her now, sitting beside her, feeding her the words that she’s regurgitating to me.

I grit my teeth. “I don’t think—”

“If you don’t want to believe me, then fine,” she says curtly. “But will you at least believe the evidence that’s sitting in front of you? You can trust your own eyes, can’t you?”

I shake my head. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You know the cops are onto Makarova, right? Well, they might’ve replaced Rob with Steven Kennedy, but the entire Bureau answers to Donnie.”

She says it so pridefully that my stomach churns with disgust. Like that’s a noble attribute for her new husband to have. Puppetmaster Hargrove.

“What are you trying to say, Mia?”

“We’ve received a tip.”

“Okay, and…?”

“The girl that went missing over the weekend? The intel suggests that she’s… right there.”

“Right where?” I ask.

“In the same house you’re staying in,” Mia says, lowering her voice. “He took her and he’s keeping her there.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. All that matters is that this is the slip-up we’ve been waiting for. The cops need to justify a search warrant to get into his compound. And as of yet, they haven’t been able to.”

“Because Aleks is more powerful than they bargained for?” I ask. “Or because there really is nothing to justify that kind of bullshit overreach?”

She steamrolls right over my sarcasm. “I told Donnie that it didn’t matter. Because we have someone on the inside.”

I tense immediately. “Mia, I’m not—”

“Actually, I told Donnie the only reason you’re with that bastard at all is because you genuinely believe he’s not guilty. But if you knew he was, if there was proof… then you would help us save that poor girl. Am I right, Liv?”

Her voice cracks with desperation. She wants us to be on the same side again more than anything in the world.

I thought that’s what I wanted, too. But would I want the same if it meant losing Aleks in the process?

My feelings for him are suddenly achingly clear.

I love him.

I’m in love with Aleksandr Makarova.

And it’s the worst possible realization to have at this moment. Right when I’m on the cusp of finding out if I’ve fallen for a beautiful lie. A gorgeous fantasy made up of smoke and mirrors.

“Am I right, Liv?” Mia asks again.

My eyes are swimming with tears. I blink them back. “Yes. Of course. If there was a girl trapped in this house, then of course I would help get her out. But there isn’t anyone. Aleks wouldn’t do that.”

“Will you just search for me?” Mia asks softly. “Please?”

I’m gripping the phone so tightly that my hand is actually starting to hurt. I close my eyes. My head throbs. “Okay. For you, I’ll search.”

There’s a long pause before Mia answers. Her voice is soft. Barely a whisper. “Thank you, Liv.”

Then she hangs up.

And I walk into the bathroom and throw up my breakfast.

When I’m done, I don’t feel any better. I go to the sink to wash out my mouth and splash water on my face, but it doesn’t help with the new sallowness clinging to my cheeks or the unease in my stomach.

I slump out of the bathroom and almost bump right into Aleks. His eyes pass over my face shrewdly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I mumble too quickly. “You just caught me by surprise.”

“I was just coming to tell you that I’m stepping out for a bit.”

“Now?” I ask.

I’m filtering everything through the conversation I just had with Mia. Is him leaving a good sign or a bad one? Guilty or innocent, innocent or guilty?

“Now,” he confirms.

He cups my cheek. I have to fight off a shiver. He tilts my face up to his and I stare up at this gorgeous man and pray to God that my sister is wrong.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Aleks asks, frowning.