Page 43 of Unhinged

My mother gives her a scathing look through narrowed slits. “Why don’t you just tell me you two fucked without telling me? And it’smother, princess.”

“Because I think it’s weird you want to know your son just fucked his prisoner,” Anissa answers with another smile. “Ew.”

I should’ve locked her in her cage.

“As far as clothes go, surprise, surprise—your mammoth of a son doesn’t have clothes that fit me.” She shrugs. “I could’ve put on the clothes I wore on the way here when he kidnapped me, but they’re covered in blood and dirt and—” She covers her mouth, eyes wide. “Oopsie. You probably don’t want to know the rest.”

My father’s drink clatters to the table. He stares at me wide-eyed.

“Is there a reason you’re here?” I ask, my voice tight.

“We heard you were back in town,” my mother says, eying Anissa up and down. I know that look. She’s planning something. “Shedoeslook a lot like her sister,” my mother says, a wicked gleam in her eyes.

Jesus fucking Christ.

“My sister?” Anissa blanches as she turns to me, eyes wide. “I have a sister? What is she talking about?”

My mother looks at her, all fake innocence, just like Anissa herself. “She didn’t know? You really don’t know the reason Rafail hasn’t come after you?”

“Jesus,” I mutter. But now that the cat’s out of the bag, there’s no point hiding it.

“I heard he got remarried,” Anissa says, coming to the bottom of the stairs. She walks to an overstuffed chair and sits, tucking her feet up under my shirt like some kind of teenage brat. She’s fucking adorable.

I blow out a breath. “My brother betrayed our family. Did you know that?” My mother flinches.

Something like sadness flickers across her face, but it’s gone just as fast, replaced with that ice mask she wears so well. “I didn’t.”

“His betrayal involved a woman named Polina Romanova. Does that name sound familiar?”

She shakes her head, staring at me.

“My brother convinced Rafail he foundyou, after you ran. So Rafail took her—or who he thought was you. Turns out, it wasn’t you but someone who looked exactly like you. Because she’s your sister.”

For the first time since I started stalking her, Anissa actually looks shocked. Guilty, even. I don’t blame her. It’s a hard fucking pill to swallow. She stares and doesn’t respond. I think it might be the first time I’ve seen her dumbfounded.

There’s a lot more to that story, but I’ll tell her when we get there. Not now. Instead, I turn the force of my gaze to my mother. “That’s enough for now.”

“Why do I feel like everything you’ve told me might’ve been a lie, except this?” Anissa asks, her voice quiet.

“Because it’s not.”

She swallows. Vulnerable.

I hate my mother.

“And when do I get to meet my sister?”

“Tonight. When you meet Rafail.”

She blanches. I don’t blame her.

My father clears his throat. “So you’re all coming to the Kopolov house tonight? Zoya cooking?” he asks, always trying to score a free meal.

My mom’s jaw locked the second I mentioned Gleb’s name, and it hasn’t relaxed since. She’ll never forgive me for what I did.

Neither will I.

I take another sip of my drink and shake my head, watching Anissa’s reaction. “No. Rafail and Polina are coming here.”

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