Page 85 of Silent Heart

Kolya…. His real name is Kolya.

Victoria sighed. “My husband’s brother is an odd duck. And coming from our family, that’s saying something. Whateverhappened between you two, we don’t really know the details. Kole is…quiet.”

My chest pinched tight at those words. Kole was different, but that was what made him so special—special to me.

Don’t think about him. Not right now.I fisted my hands, digging my nails into my palms.

“So this is about Cami and the university,” I insisted.

Victoria nodded. “Promise. Life is funny like that, making you two roommates. Of all the people….”

Her smile was genuine. I could read it as plain as day.

“Alright, so how many nieces do you have? We want to win major brownie points, so I think a pony a piece if we can swing it.”

“Two—a two-and-a-half-year-old and the other is a year next month,” Vivian said enthusiastically.

I gave her a dry look. “Can the one-year-old even walk?”

She gave me a sheepish look. “Not yet.”

“Okay—” I blew out a long breath. “We’ll bring two mares and one pony. An adult will have to ride with her.”

“Probably you. None of us have much experience on horseback.”

“Except my brother,” Luka chuckled bounding into the barn. “But don’t worry,” he added quickly, seeing the emotion I couldn’t keep off my face. “He’s not in town to show us all up.”

I rolled my eyes. “We went on a sum total of three rides last summer. That hardly counts as riding experience.”

“Well…I’m not going to risk his ire by revealing his secrets but let me ask a simple question.” Luka rubbed his jaw, laughter making his face bright, even in the muted light of the barn. “Did he seem exceptionallycapablethe first time you took him riding?”

I shut the gate behind Lilac and glared at him. “Not that I want to talk about your brother, but yes, he was capable and a fast learner.”

“Uh, huh. And that didn’t seem odd to you?” Luka smirked.

“Are you telling me that your brother is a big fat liar?” I kept from raising my voice, but only barely. This was too much, this was all too damn much!

“There are two things you need to know about Kole.” Luka held up his fingers to demonstrate the point. “One, he would never lie. But the man has more secrets than the ancient mystics. And two, he would never hurt you, Harley.”

But he did.

I handed the lead rope to Victoria. My voice was hoarse with the emotions I struggled to suppress. “Her name is Lilac. Why don’t you two get to know each other, while I go catch a pony?”

“I can help!” Luka offered excitedly.

I was tempted to hand him the bucket of grain treats. The horses would trample his dumb ass trying to get to the goodies, I could see it play out in my mind’s eye.

But two things stopped me.

I didn’t want my family laughing at the cidiot. And I heard yet another vehicle pull up. This was my escape from family time full of side comments and mean observations poorly concealed under blanket statements. The sooner we left, the better.

“Next time,” I offered and went to bring in the animals from the pasture.

***

“Look at you go, Katya!” Vivian whooped.

It was Vivian, not Victoria. The moment the wild-haired woman found out I knew everyone’s true name, she quickly had me start using hers. Luka apparently gave her the name on thedrive up, and she loathed it. While the fact that they used false identities was beyond weird, they painted a beautiful family picture. There was nothing fake about the way they interacted.

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