Misha’s father took the phone from his wife’s hands and looked at the screen.Misha watched her father’s expression become grimmer by the second. And after a minute, he returned the phone to Ruth and glared at Soren, who looked helpless at the moment, like a defendant in a court waiting if the judge would set him free or give him a life sentence. Worse, Soren didn’t know what his crime was. Misha grabbed the phone from Ruth and looked at the screen: YouTube was splashed on it and there was a video which thumbnail was of a man who resembled Soren. No, it was indeed Soren. She clicked Play and watched it. “Get out of my house!” her father ordered Soren, his voice firm.Soren stood up and looked at Misha. “What is it?” he asked her.Cindy stood beside Soren.Misha stood up, grabbed Soren’s hand and pulled him. “It’s a video of you making a punching bag out of another man,” she told him softly while she was leading him to the door, still holding his hand while her other hand held Ruth’s

“Kayla and Brix?” Misha repeated what Soren said. “The Kayla and Brix?”“Yes, the infamous duo,” he answered. “They’re already at the living room as we speak.”“What do they want?” she asked, her voice sounding alarmed.“I haven’t spoken to them but neither looked combative.”They’re treacherous,” she said. “They would look calm in front of you, say nice things, so they will drop your guard down and then they will put out their knives and attack you.”“Wow,” he muttered. “That’s… that’s imaginative.”“I mean, why would Brix go there if they mean no harm? Brix is her attack dog. If Kayla wants just some conversation, she would go alone. If she wants someone punched, he’d bring Brix along.”‘I don’t know,” he said. “I will talk to them.”“Maybe you should call the police first.”“He chuckled. “They haven’t done any crime, Misha.”“But I suspect that they will.”“If they mean to harm me, why would Kayla go with Brix?” he said. “Brix can do the job alone, there’s no need to incriminate he

“WHAT?” SOREN ASKED, although he clearly heard what Ellis said. He was thinking that he just used the wrong word.Rape?That word would never crop out in a conversation about Misha.“Somebody asked me if I know that Misha was allegedly raped in the past.”“Are you serious?”“So you didn’t know?”“I didn’t,” he said.“But is it true?” Ellis asked, he paused and then he added, “You don’t have to answer it.”“No, I will answer it,” Soren said, he wasn’t sure if he’d be amused or annoyed or would be angry. “It’s not true.” If something like that had happened to Misha, he was sure she would tell him about it. “Who told you about it?”“It doesn’t really matter, he only read it on social media, so it’s just a rumor, which is possibly not true,” Ellis said. “I can give you the link if you want.”“Please do,” he said.“I’ll send it to you later. Is Misha aware of it? That some people are spreading nasty rumors against her?’“I don’t think so,” Soren said. “She’s with me right now. If she’s awa

SOREN SHOOK HIS HEAD as the elevator door opened. What was he thinking making love with Misha? They went here in this hotel so they could avoid the flood. They wouldn’t even need a bed as they could spend the next hours sitting on a couch waiting for the rain to stop.Or maybe, he could ask Misha to reveal to him her secret—if her secret was huge, it surely would take hours for him to process it and the rain and the flood would have long been gone by the time.“Do we really need to get a room?” Misha asked him while they were walking at the hallway. “We can just stay at the coffee shop.”“We can’t stay there for three to four hours,” he said. “The owner might think we’re up to something,” he joked.“Then, we transfer to another restaurant.”“I didn’t think of that,” he said. “But too late for now, we already have a room.” He stopped in front of a room. “Okay, here it is,” he said and opened it with the key card. He stepped inside with Misha walking behind her.It was just a single ro