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His statement was another shock, so oddly protective when her head was screaer to her For some reason, her stupid brain stumbled on that I won’t touch you as if it were a trip wire that sent heronto her face, pride bruised She should be relieved, but she just felt rejected Again

Words crowded her mouth, but her throat was too thick to voice any of them

“I have security posted at all the doors to keep the paparazzi out” He stepped back “They’ll also keep you in, so you ive in I really don’t need the extra hu to the helicopter”

He walked away to his roo in her head Extra humiliation As if she were in a position to injure hi

Was he hurting? She rubbed where her breastbone felt as if it were coated in acid For a long tiht around herself, confused Frightened, but not by Aleksy By herself

She wanted to trust a man who’d just confessed to murder

CHAPTER TWELVE

CLAIR HAD HEARD Russians talk about their dachas She had gathered they were a type of suh out of the city to offer a garden plot and a return to nature The buildings were often little enerations

If this was Aleksy’s dacha, he needed to work on his definition of shack The minute she saw it, her mind heard, Welcome home

They’d flown over nothing but trees once they’d left the outskirts of Moscow, leaving little to distract froliroomed park The fountains were off, the canals frozen, but she’d realized they were nearing St Petersburg This was a place so beautiful even czars chose to summer here

Far froinning to fall The fresh dust of snow only made the expansive estate they touched down on look fresh and new Untouched