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"That's a good idea," Bastien said He peeled Molly fro her chin so he could look into her tear-drenched face

Sonia wasn't at all surprised to see that Molly looked beautiful even after crying her heart out If Sonia had done that, she would have had a red, splotchy face, swollen eyes and nose and even her est puffer fish in the world had nothing on her She swelled up like a balloon and turned red like a boiled lobster

"You can't go alone, Sonia," Kai said "I'll have to go with you"

She shook her head "You can co for"

"I have to go with you," he repeated

Bastien frowned at her "Da about you too You can tell me your story later Go, and take Molly with you"

Sonia ignored Kai She wasn't going to argue in front of a cop and get hiht Molly by the hand "Co"

Molly shook her head "I don't want to go in there"

Sonia understood She hadn't wanted to enter the Bogomolov home once she knew her husband had planned to s You need anythose lines?"

Molly shook her head again and then sank onto the porch swing Kai hesitated and then walked out toward the left side of the house, toward the nearest neighbors Gray had gone around to the back to cover the field Sonia knew boththeir leopards' abilities to help theht toward an abandoned house two houses down and across the street

"There's a bag undersuch a baby," Molly said

"No worries I'll get everything you need" She hurried inside, dragged the bag froed to find underwear, jeans and shirts, raced into the bathroom, collected makeup, toothbrush, hair tools and found birth control pills She added theh it looked as if Molly hadn't started them yet

She found a pretty dress hanging in the closet, rolled it and added it and then raced back outside "Let's go" She held out her hand "We can get you settled, and I'll put on coffee and so for the boys to have It will be done by the tiets there"

"Are you certain he didn't mean he had to ride in the car with us?" Molly asked She looked around her, fear on her face

"They always coht behind me," Sonia said She whistled and when Kai turned his head, she pointed to her truck

He nodded and had started back when Gray came up to him The two conferred Sonia and Molly hurried to her truck and got in

"Thank you for finding the cameras," Molly said in a low voice "I haven't had a friend like you ever"

"You found thelanced at Molly "I've never had a friend like you either I think we've both gone through similar situations My husband tried to kill me, your boyfriend tried to kill you We're both really, really bad at picking ain I'm involved with a n that flashes danger, danger, danger"

Molly's sed to make her face look like the sun had just come out to shine "I'm not in a relationship with Bastien Foret"

"I think you are I think he thinks you are I think the town ht think you are"

Molly's soft laughter filled the cab of the truck "You're so crazy" She twisted her fingers together in her lap, her sed into this"

Sonia shook her head "Don't say that You haven't dragged me anywhere I haven't been Actually, I've been in worse My father worked for the Russian mob He wasn't Russian, so he was very low level He was a carpenter with a ga, he took jobs for the ht me most of what I know about carpentry He even allowed es when he moved rocks and land from plots to build"

She glanced at Molly to see how she was taking the truth She hadn't allowed herself to think about what her father had set in motion all those years earlier He'd created a debt that had had to be paid They were lucky Nikita Bogo with her father

"Keep going," Molly said quietly

Sonia sighed The pressure in her chest was painful She felt Gatita rising to co It was a lot of money and they made an example of him Then they went to Maht, at first, they were good to us Much later, after my mother died, I found out that my father-in-law forced mi madre to sleep with him She cleaned his house and apparently had sex with hiuesthouse on their property I helped her take care of the house, but she was careful not to leton"

"I'm so sorry," Molly whispered "That must have been terrible for you"

"Sasha, his son, was fifteen years older thancare of me The entire tier sister I loved hi changed I was so scared For her For me For us Sasha took care of every detail The nurses she needed around the clock The bills He got her the best care I loved him for that When I think about those tiood to my mother"

"Of course you loved him," Molly said "I love that he did that for you"

"I was so lost and he was so strong He married me to protect me, he said I knew I loved hiood, I knew in time I'd feel that for hiether He didn't like o, I had bodyguards withafter her every minute "I didn't have friends I didn't even realize just how isolated I was until I overheard that conversation and I knew they were planning on killing me"

"The bastards They were your falared out the windshield "That is one sick, twisted man Or men Both were twisted Did you know they were mafia?"

"No Everyone kept that fromto do with them When mi madre took me to live with theht they were there because we'd been threatened Later, Sasha told me that their family was threatened all the time because they ealthy Russians I believed hi he ever told ain, I was told it was for my safety"

She parked the truck in her driveway and both wo from the bed "You can see why I'm reluctant to start another relationship It's kind of hard to believe what he says"

Molly nodded "It's very understandable Have you told Joshua?"

Sonia unlocked the door and pushed it open, stepping back to allow Molly to precede her inside "No I was afraid if I told either of you, so bad could happen to you if they found me I think I'm safe, but I don't know for certain Still, I know I have to tell hi you just walk up to a man and say"

Molly's soft laughter somehow made that terrible pressure in Sonia's chest disappear "Hey, babe," she said "I forgot to tell you I may or may not be married to a Russian mobster He's out to kill me and he favors boirl for you" Sheto run for the hills, and that's the best-case scenario"

Molly's laughter, which had swelled in volume, ended abruptly "What's the worst?"

Sonia sobered instantly, her heart accelerating "He'll sell the information of my whereabouts to lanced at Molly and then at the floor, a little ashamed that she'd been afraid to tell her for the same reason

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"Sonia," Molly said softly "I was afraid to tell you or anyone else anything I'm still freaked out that Bastien knows And those two uards"

Sonia winced "Don't call them that They're not mine anyway They're part of a security tea the They knohat they're doing when it comes to this kind of proble back kidnap victi and they definitely aren't lying They've done it They also talk about Joshua and how he's so good at slipping into caes out If they can do this, surely they can handle Blake Garritson"

"Maybe Joshua suspects you're in danger, just the way Bastien suspected with me I tried not to look at hi foraround Now I realize, it was all about his gut, his detective instincts that made him look interested"

"Yeah, that was it," Sonia said, s at Molly as she closed the door and locked it, just to be safe Kai would be there soon, and she had Gatita to warn her, but she didn't want to take any chances with Molly's life "Bastien Foret illing to take on both Kai and Gray just because you were crying"