Chapter 25: What Happens in Venice Doesn’t Always Stay there
Adriana
The nightmare slams into my sleep, torturing me with vivid details of the night my family fled Moscow.
Hagar stalks into my bedroom, taking my hand. There’s fear in his black eyes and I know right away that for someone as big and strong as Hagar, a former soldier in Russia’s Special Forces unit, to show his fear means something serious is about to go down. I always considered him a gentle giant, Mother’s right hand man and chauffeur, and on this night he’s my deliverer, the person who’s taking me away from a life of security and falsities based on the things my parents have led me to believe. I’m twelve years old, but even at such a young age I fully realize that this will be the last time I see my doll named Darya or
