Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Kitchen
They returned to the mansion without speaking.
Sloan was making soup.
She smiled when Alina entered.
“There you are. Did His Majesty arrest you?”
Alina placed the ledger on the counter.
Sloan’s smile disappeared.
Damon closed the kitchen door.
“Sloan,” he said quietly.
She looked at the ledger.
Then at Alina.
“How much did you read?”
Alina’s stomach dropped.
“You knew?”
Sloan sat down.
“For sixteen years.”
“Who are you?”
“The woman who owed your father her life.”
Alina stared.
Sloan began talking.
Sixteen years earlier, she had not been a cook.
She worked as an assistant in one of Sergei Vulkoff’s businesses.
She discovered records showing Sergei was stealing money and selling information.
Nikolai discovered the same thing.
Together, they planned to expose him to Mikhail.
But Sergei learned first.
“Nikolai told me to run,” Sloan said.
“What about him?”
“He stayed behind.”
Alina’s voice broke.
“Why?”
“To give me time.”
Damon’s expression hardened.
“Did Sergei kill him?”
“I never saw Nikolai die.”
Alina’s head snapped up.
“What?”
Sloan looked at her.
“I saw him taken away.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Hope hurt worse than grief.
“Why didn’t you find me?”
“I did.”
Sloan’s eyes filled.
“I watched you and your mother from a distance for years.”
“Why?”
“Because Sergei’s men were watching too.”
Damon stepped closer.
“Sergei is alive.”
Sloan nodded.
“He never disappeared.”
Damon went still.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you’ve been waiting.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Sloan looked at Alina.
“For Nikolai’s daughter to become old enough to decide whether she wanted the truth.”
Alina laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps deciding when I deserve the truth.”
Sloan looked ashamed.
“You’re right.”
Damon asked, “Why work here?”
“Because this is the safest place Sergei would never expect me to hide.”
Damon’s expression darkened.
“My house.”
“Your father trusted Nikolai.”
“And you trusted me?”
“I hoped you weren’t Sergei.”
The words landed heavily.
Alina picked up the ledger.
“There are coded entries.”
Sloan nodded.
“Nikolai created them.”
“Can you read them?”
“Some.”
They spent hours translating.
The final section contained coordinates.
A location outside the city.
An abandoned estate once owned by a Vulkoff associate.
Damon called Viktor.
“No.”
Alina stood.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“We’ve had this argument.”
“And I won.”
“You think you did.”
Sloan interrupted.
“She needs to come.”
Damon glared.
“Why?”
“Because if Nikolai left something there, it may be intended only for her.”
Two hours later, they arrived.
The property had been abandoned for years.
They found a hidden room beneath the old library.
Inside were files.
Photographs.
Cassette recordings.
And a letter.
Alina opened it.
My little Lina,
She stopped breathing.
No one called her Lina except her father.
She continued reading.
He explained everything.
Sergei had betrayed Mikhail.
Nikolai discovered it.
He was taken.
But the letter had been written months after his supposed disappearance.
Alina’s hands shook.
“He survived.”
Damon read over her shoulder.
The final paragraph changed everything.
If you find this, it means Sergei has started looking for you. Do not trust anyone who tells you I died. I made one last agreement to keep you safe. Damon Vulkoff will understand when the time comes. His father gave me his word.
Alina looked at Damon.
“What agreement?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Viktor called from upstairs.
They ran.
Behind a false wall, he had found another room.
A recent room.
Fresh food.
Clean water.
Medication.
Someone had been staying there.
On the table was a photograph taken only weeks earlier.
It showed Alina walking through the Vulkoff garden.
Behind her, written in black ink:
She looks like her mother.
Alina’s eyes filled.
Damon turned the photograph over.
May you like
A second message waited.
Tell Lina her father is ready to come home.
