THE GATEKEEPER

My eyes flood. "I'm so sorry she left you. I wish I'd known, Mika. I swear I would have come to get you."

He takes a step back, and I make an effort to rein in my emotions.

"I'm sorry," I say again.

"It's fine." He's back to awkward. "You're not taking me back to Russia, though."

"No." I glance at Vlad and Alessia. "You have a new family now. I'm so glad."

Lara, the little girl, taps my leg to show me a children's book. The lettering is Cyrillic. I smile at her. "Do you speak Russian?" I ask in my native tongue.

"I can read this," she boasts, answering in Russian.

Mika rolls his eyes. "She has it memorized. She doesn't read yet." He beckons to Lara, who brings him the book. He cracks it open and points at an elephant. "Who's that?"

Oh God. It's so normal and absolutely precious. Mika has a mom and a dad and a little sister, and they are storybook sweet. I thought I would need to swoop in and rescue him, but he's flourishing here.

"We'll be here all week," Alessia says. "I'm from Chicago, and half my family lives here. I thought we could maybe show you around the city, so you can spend some time with Mika. We could take the kids to Shedd Aquarium this afternoon," Alessia says. "I was going to see if my sister-in-law and her two kids wanted to come, too."

I bob my head. "Yes. Absolutely. I'd love to." I blink rapidly to hold back my tears. I don't want to make Mika uncomfortable. "That is so kind of you."

And then I realize I can't.

Not while my stomach is in knots and my heart is torn in two.

Now that I know and have seen with my own eyes how happy and adjusted Mika is, I need to fix everything that's broken with me.

Starting with Maykl and possibly ending with Stepanov.

"There are some things I need to take care of, first."

Vlad nods like he knows what happened yesterday. He probably does since he was waiting for me to show up last night.

"May I get your cell number and be in touch as soon as I can join you?"

"Absolutely. Give me your phone." Alessia has that easy manner of being warm and familiar with me, even though we're strangers. Like Sasha and Kat were with me.

I haven't had many friends-female or male. Most of my life was about surviving my family situation. Anya was my best friend until she wasn't, and I never really recovered from losing her.

I hand her my phone, and she enters her number and returns it with a smile.

"Great. Thanks. I, um...I need to go, but I look forward to spending time with you later."

Mika lifts his hand in an awkward farewell.

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I wave back. "Thank you both," I say to Vlad and Alessia. "For flying out here and meeting me. It means so much."

"Go on," Vlad says. "We'll see you again soon."

I'm already backing toward the door. "Yes. Thank you."

I practically run for the elevator. Now that I have a purpose, now that I've figured out what needs to be done, I can't wait another second.

I take the elevator downstairs, and the doorman hails me a cab for the short drive to the Kremlin.

I rush through the front doors, hoping to see Maykl behind the desk, but he's not there. There's an armed guard stationed just inside the door. Behind the desk, an older man surveys me with narrowed eyes. "I'm here to see Maykl," I say to him in Russian. "Can you tell him Kira is here?"

"I know who you are." There's accusation in his gaze, which I fully deserve. "Maykl is with our pakhan. Answering for letting you go free, no doubt."

I square my shoulders and lift my chin. "Tell your pakhan I'm here to surrender. I want to help get Stepanov. I should have killed him yesterday."

The old man picks up his cell phone and texts something. A moment later, he beckons the guard near the door. "Take her to Ravil."

I follow the guard into the elevator to the top floor, where a giant man awaits. He doesn't speak but beckons me to follow him into a gorgeous penthouse suite and down a hallway to an office.

As you reach the final pages, remember that 000005s.org is your destination for the complete story. Share the joy of reading with others and spread the word. The next chapter is just a visit away! Inside, a blond man sits behind a desk. He's younger than I expected, perhaps in his early forties. Maxim sits in a chair opposite the desk, and he pulls out a seat for me.

"Where's Maykl?" I ask, suddenly afraid for him.

Did he suffer some kind of punishment for letting me go? If so, I will never forgive myself.

"Sit." Ravil has mastered the art of imperiousness.

I work to calm my racing pulse as I sink into the chair beside Maxim. I'm still in my woolen coat because it doesn't feel right to take it off. I don't know how long I'm staying. Or if I'm welcome to get comfortable. I drop into the seat and wait for him to say something, but he just studies me, so I speak. "I want to help you catch Stepanov."

"Oh, I won't be catching him," Ravil says. "I'll be killing him."

I ignore the goosebumps racing across my arms. Making the hairs at the back of my neck stand.

I don't condone murder. That's why I couldn't shoot at Stepanov when I had the chance. But I don't feel particularly judgmental over his desire to end the man who tried to kill him and blow up his building. If they hadn't had advance warning, every occupant of this building might be dead right now.

"I can call him and ask for help. If they're not watching the building, they may not know which side I'm on."

"Why would you do this thing?" Ravil asks. There's nothing friendly about his visage. His expression is stony, his gaze cold.