“You look deep in thought. Thinking about that man again?”
I turned to Gertie, giving her a tired smile. “No.”
She grinned. “Of course you aren’t, and I am gonna get a facelift this year. You know it’s not wrong to like your husband.”
I sighed. “It’s completely wrong to do so. There are things about him.”
“That you like,” she answered for me. “Face it, dearie; there’s just something about that man that turns you right-side-out.”
I smirked. If she only knew how many times Artem had turned me on my head. He had done things to me that, well, no one else had.
He had pissed me off, but he had also forced me to be strong. I had found out more about myself in Artem’s presence than I ever had. “But he’s all wrong for me. We can’t be together. He’s hurt me.”
She arched a brow. “Has he really? I see a tough woman in front of me. I’m not saying I condone anything he has done to you, Emma, but I’m just saying to think about what he’s really done.”
What had Artem really done to me? Well, he had kidnapped me, forced me into marriage, and nearly gotten me killed.
Okay, I had nearly gotten me killed by trying to run away from him, but if he hadn’t taken me in the first place, then I wouldn’t have been in that situation.
Those things, I wasn’t sure if they would be forgivable, really. Artem would have to do something spectacular to have me turn around and start to trust him. Sex wasn’t enough. It would never be enough, not for me.
Besides, I didn’t know if he was even interested. Sure, I had seen him that one time (though that was still up for debate), but he hadn’t come after me.
The phone on the wall rang suddenly, and Gertie pushed up from her chair to get it, lifting the phone off the receiver. “Hello?”
I watched as her facial expression changed and she darted her eyes toward me. “Um, yeah, she’s here. Hang on.” She then held out the phone toward me. “It’s for you.”
I nearly dropped the mug I was holding, placing it carefully on the counter with my trembling hands. “Who is it?”
Gertie shrugged. “I’m not sure, but they asked for you by name, sweetie. Maybe it’s that husband of yours.”
I wiped my sweating palms on my jeans as I crossed the room and took the phone from her. What would I say to Artem? More importantly, what was he going to say to me? Was he going to ask for me to come back, or was he going to give me a heads-up that he was coming to get me himself?
I so wasn’t ready for this! “This is Emma.”
“Emma.”
My heart lurched in my throat. “Daddy?”
“Yes, it’s me,” my father stated, his voice rough. “I’ve found you.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, nearly falling to the floor with happiness. My father was on the phone. He had found me, and he would be coming for me. “I thought I wouldn’t hear your voice again.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No,” I said, swallowing. “I’m fine. I am well taken care of.”
“Good,” he answered. “You need to run, Emma. You need to get away.”
I leaned against the wall, wishing that he could reach out and wrap his arms around me. “I’m trying. He hasn’t come after me. I think he’s given up.”
My father gave a short laugh into the phone. “A man like Krylov does not give up. He will never stop searching for you, Emma. He does not like to lose things.”
I tried not to cringe at the way my father portrayed me as a thing, just glad that I was talking to him again. “Can’t you come get me?”
“I can’t,” my father replied, sighing heavily. “The moment I step anywhere near you, he will kill me and then kill you, as he will not have any reason to keep you alive then. No, I have some people in Alaska that owe me some favors. I will reach out to them, Emma.”
I twisted the phone cord around my fingers. “How’s Mom?”
“She’s as good as can be expected,” he said. “She will be better once you come home.”
I felt the tears start to build in my eyes. “Tell her I love her and that I am doing fine. He hasn’t hurt me.”
“Good, good,” my father stated. “Because I will fucking kill him the moment I see him for what