Page 176 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

“Heartbroken?”

I look over my shoulder at her, eyebrow raised. “Did you see me crying and eating whole tubs of ice cream?”

Elise rolls her eyes. “That’s how people in movies mourn. We don’t do that. Not in our family. We just… keep going.”

Her timid voice breaks my heart. Elise has been through far too much in her short life. We both have. From day one, we’ve been mourning.

Mourning the fathers we lost.

Mourning the mother we had.

Mourning the protection we needed so badly and were never, ever given.

But if it’s up to me, Elise won’t have to mourn anything ever again. Which is why I have to get her out of here. It’s why what happened with Nikolai in the library can’t change my mind.

At the end of the day, no matter what is between us, nothing means more to me than protecting my sister.

“And we have to keep going now,” I tell her, trying to convey as much fierce meaning in as few words as possible. “I’m doing my best to keep you safe. I’m asking you to trust me.”

Elise gnaws at her lower lip.

“I know Nikolai has given us… well, everything,” I admit. “But trust me: there’s more you don’t know. Stuff I can’t tell you.”

If Elise refuses to come with me, I’m not sure what I’ll do. Unlike Nikolai, I didn’t pack a Bratva doctor and a syringe full of sediment in my bags. I can’t knock her out.

Even if I could, she’s too heavy for me to carry. And if she is kicking and screaming, Nikolai will be on us before her door is even open. I badly need her to agree to come with me, but I try to hide my desperation.

Finally, Elise nods. “Okay.”

“Okay?” I ask, relieved.

“Yeah,” she says. “You’re my sister, B. Of course I trust you. But… you have to promise to see a doctor when we get back. I need you.”

Tears brim in my eyes. I nod. “Deal. Done. Absolutely.”

Elise slips on a pair of shoes and pockets her phone and a crystal paperweight from the bookshelf. “We can pawn it for some cash,” she explains when I give her a questioning look.

I wave her away with both hands. “I don’t even want to know where or why you came up with that idea.”

“Should I put it back?”

I shake my head. “No. He has more money than God. He won’t miss a few priceless knick-knacks. But this is the only time I will ever condone stealing. You hear me?”

“I hear you,Mom.”

A few weeks ago, it drove me crazy that Elise sarcastically called me “Mom.” But now, I see it for the compliment it is. It’s a tiny token of love. One she’s been trying to give away for years without success.

I’ll take it.

I take her hand in mine as we slip silently out of Elise’s room and into the hallway. She lets me hold it, to my surprise.

Along the way, we snag an antique-looking trinket dish, some crystal glassware from a bar cart, and a gilded letter opener from a hallway table. If we can find a pawn shop quickly, it should be enough to get us a rental car.

We’re in the back hallway, heading towards the rear of the house where I saw a door into the backyard, when I hear movement.

“Quiet,” I mouth to Elise, tip-toeing around a corner towards the back patio.

I open the door as quietly as I can and usher Elise out. Then I leave it cracked open to avoid the noise of closing it. As soon as Elise and I are at the corner of the house, I grab her arm and pull her to a stop.

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