They Won’t Let Me Go

Damien's face darkened."Is this some game to get my attention?" He sneered. "Stop the drama, Elara. This is childish.""A tantrum?"I repeated the word, tasting it."You're right. I'm not a child. I'm old enough to know what stupid looks like.""Enough," his voice was a warning. "Leo needs you. You can't just abandon him over a momentary impulse.""Needs me?" I turned, looking him straight in the eye. "Or does he need his nanny?""What are you talking about?""The truth," I said, walking to the safe and entering the code. "Eight years ago, my father sent me here. He was desperate for your protection, for business. The deal was simple—I take care of your son. In return, you protect my family."Damien's expression shifted. "That wasn't all of it.""Of course not." I took out a key and a copy of a ledger. "I also had to be her. Her ghost. Wear her clothes, her perfume. Copy that goddamn smile.""Elara—""But you never made it official, did you?"I placed the key and the document on the d

"You saw that."Damien was leaning against the doorframe. I had no idea how long he'd been standing there.His face was calm, as if everything had gone exactly as he'd planned."Saw what?" I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth."Your father. For who he really is," he said, stepping into the room. "Don't you get it? No one out there gives a shit about you. Only I do."I almost laughed."Care about me?""I've already had my people contact the best art brokers in Europe." He pulled a list from his pocket. "A genuine Monet, a masterwork of Impressionism. And a Rembrandt portrait, once owned by royalty. Rarer and more valuable than your grandfather's painting."I stared at the list, at the names of masterpieces and their prices."I don't want them.""And Sophia?" he said, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "I found her for you. She keeps Leo happy. So you don't have to. See? We can make this work."A balance. He thought this was a negotiation."Damien, you still don't get it." I pu

The day after Elara left, an unnatural quiet suffocated the estate.Damien stood before the scorched maw of the garage, his face a mask of stone in the gray dawn.A disobedient woman was gone. Nothing more.The Volkov estate never had a shortage of women.In the dining room, Leo poked at his eggs with a fork, a childish look of victory on his face."That bad woman is gone," he said to Sophia, who sat in the main chair. "Good riddance."Sophia, in a tight silk robe, gave him a flirty smile. "Of course, sweetie. From now on, I'll take good care of you and your daddy."Her "reforms" were swift and tasteless.Day one, Elara's simple linen curtains were replaced with gaudy crimson velvet that swallowed the light and made the air feel thick and cheap.Day two, the old butler who'd served the Volkovs for thirty years was fired for "sticky fingers." Sophia had him replaced with some slick-haired "cousin" she knew from the club scene.Day three, Damien lost his temper with her for the first tim

"Leo needs me?" I let out a cold laugh. "A month ago, he wanted to put a bullet in me."Damien's face tightened. "He's just a kid. He didn't know what he was doing.""He's eight," I said, not moving from Julian's side. "Old enough to know right from wrong.""Elara." Damien pulled a velvet box from his suit pocket. "Let's talk."He opened it. Inside was a diamond ring the size of a goddamn iceberg.Not Krista's ring. A new one. Blindingly bright and worth a fortune."Marry me," he said. "For real this time. You won't be a stand-in. You'll be my queen. The queen of Chicago.""No.""I also brought this." He motioned for a guard to bring forward a thick folder. "A prenup. A ten-million-dollar trust fund. A condo in downtown Chicago. And shares in three of my companies."Ten million.He still thought I was the same girl he could buy."I said no."Just then, Leo jumped out of the car. His eyes were red and puffy. He'd been crying."Elara," he walked toward me, timid. "I'm sorry. I... I shoul