Footsteps crunching across the gravel pathway have me biting off my words. I jump up and face theentrance to the alcove just as a security guard—Aleksei, I think—appears from the shadows.
“Sorry, Don Zhukova,” he says, lowering his head. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“So why did you?” I growl. “What’s wrong?”
I just left Belle a minute ago, but the worry that she could be in danger is instant. The fear that I couldlose her rises up in me unbidden and uncontrollable.
“Nothing is wrong. You have a visitor.”
I relax, forcing out a breath between my teeth. “Who is it?”
There’s a small hesitation before he responds. “Your father.”
Arslan always referred to my father as “The Lion.” I preferred the distance that threw up between us.Seeing him as his code word and nothing more was easier th
