When Mirella tried to wake her, she knew something was wrong. Her body was stiff. Irina was already cold.
A confounded Lev told me he never intended on this happening. He hated Irina, but he didn’t want her dead. He just wanted child services to remove Lidiya from Irina’s care so she could come home.
Igor Alkaev called Lev soon after to tell him that Irina had passed away. Igor was devastated. Lev was genuinely shocked.
That wasn’t part of the plan.
The police contacted Lev, and he told them he would be there as soon as possible to collect Lidiya. He asked that Mirella stay with the child until he was able to fly down so Lidi would not be stressed by the situation.
When Lev asked to speak to Mirella, he was advised that she was being interviewed and that Lidiya was currently playing with a child services officer.
Lev panicked.
He was going to lose his daughter.
Lev asked me to go with him to get Lidiya, and I told him that even if he didn’t want me to go, I would have. Four hours later, we were flying out to bring Lidiya home. Either that, or for Lev to be arrested.
My chest squeezed the entire way over. I knew in my heart that if Lev was the cause of Irina’s death that it was accidental. You just couldn’t fake the shock Lev wore on his strained face. I planned to be there by his side the whole way. I chose to believe Lev didn’t have anything to do with Irina’s death. Thinking otherwise was too damn painful. And until such a time that the police had evidence to suggest that he did, I would be there, holding his hand.
He didn’t speak the entire way there, just held onto me like a lifeline. When we reached the police station, it was close to three a.m. Lev was asked for ID and, once his identity was confirmed, a kind policeman escorted us through. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Leokov.”
Lev replied quietly, “Miss Alkaev and I were not close. The only thing we had in common was our daughter, but thank you.”
The policeman nodded in understanding. “Still, it’s awfully distressing when someone takes their life.”
I squeezed Lev’s hand tight and asked, wide-eyed, “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
The policeman blinked, surprised. “I apologize. I thought you’d already been briefed on the situation.”
Lev shook his head. “I was told she died of an overdose.”
The man nodded. “Yes, we believe so. We found three empty pill containers close to the body, as well as a note. We believe this was a suicide caused by intentional overdose of prescription medication. But the family has requested an autopsy. Toxicology reports normally take four to six weeks, but the cause of death has been listed as suicide.”
I looked up at Lev. He looked down at me.
We had a silent conversation using just our eyes.
Oh Lord.
Oh, thank you, God.
He had nothing to do with this.
Lev was innocent.
We were led to a small room where we were told to wait. We waited in complete silence, and when the door opened, in came Mirella holding a sleeping Lidiya, followed by a woman in a suit. Mirella tried to smile, but she looked tired. She handed Lidiya over to Lev and he held his sleeping daughter tight.
The woman, who introduced herself as Detective Maria Palmer, asked Lev to tell her a little about his relationship with Irina. Lev told her that he didn’t have a relationship with Irina Alkaev.
She nodded in understanding. When she asked if he knew Irina had been undergoing counseling for depression, Lev replied he didn’t.
Detective Maria Palmer had told us Irina’s death would not be treated as suspicious, that they had reason to believe Irina had been planning this for a while. When the police had searched Irina’s computer, they found an open search engine titled ‘easiest ways to kill yourself’.
She looked down at Lidiya and shook her head sadly. “My deepest condolences to you all. You’re free to take your daughter home. We don’t want to cause any undue stress. If we have any questions, we’ll call.”
Lev thought about catching the next flight home, but I advised against it. Instead, we got a hotel room at the airport, and once inside the suite, he laid Lidiya down on one of the double beds, covering her. Lev then turned to Mirella and asked quietly, “Did you do this?”
Mirella shook her head wearily. “No.”
“How did this happen?” he questioned.
“I don’t know,” she responded. “Irina must have been planning this for a while. She was clearly unwell.”
“Then what happened to the drugs you planted?”
“Confiscated, along with all the others.” Mirella looked up at him. “The bag was untouched, Mr. Lev. I swear.”
He sat on the bed with a sigh. “Shit. Then I didn’t kill her? She really offed herself?”
Mirella spoke softly, “Yes, I believe she did.”
I sat down on the bed next to him, resting my head on his arm before turning to kiss his shoulder. “What now?”
He looked from Mirella to Lidiya then back to me. “Now we take Lidiya home and give her the life she was meant to have.” He looked up at Mirella. “You coming?”
Mirella smiled weakly down at the little girl sleeping on the bed. “Where Lidiya goes, I follow.”
The next morning, we flew home. Lidiya held onto her daddy the entire way.
Chapter Forty-One
Mina
Nas and Sasha greeted us at the door, hoping to get some Lidiya love, but sadly, she’d fallen asleep in the car.
Mirella took her to her room to nap in peace, and Sasha hugged his brother, clapping him on the back tightly. “Everything okay?”
Lev sighed. “Yeah. I think so.”
Nas asked gently, “What happened?”
Lev looked down at me before turning to his brother and sister. “Irina swallowed a bunch of pills.” He huffed out a breath. “Left a note saying I’m sorry.”
Nas gasped softly and Sasha’s brow furrowed. “She killed herself?”
Lev nodded. “Yeah, the cops aren’t treating her death as suspicious, so I guess, yeah, she did.”
Sasha got down to the main point. “And Lidiya?”
Lev sighed tiredly. “She’s home for good.”
Nas smiled sadly at that. “I know you wanted her home, but I’m sure you didn’t want her to come home this way.” She wrapped her arms around Lev’s waist. “I’m sorry, Lev.”
He gave her a light squeeze. “Thanks.”
When Nas released him, Sasha squeezed his shoulder. “We got you. You need anything, you let us know.”
With their kind offer, they left, and taking Lev by the hand, I led him upstairs to our bedroom, locking the door behind us. I pulled Lev toward the bed and he took the hint, lying down. I curled into his side and waited.
He stroked my side a long while before he whispered, “I thought I killed her.”
I kissed his tee-covered chest and spoke softly, “You didn’t, sweetie.”
“I know,” he drew in an unsteady breath, “but I thought I did.”
I didn’t respond. He’d tortured himself enough over the passed twenty-four hours. It was haunting him that he could have been the cause of Irina’s death. He needed time to come to grips with the fact that he didn’t do anything wrong.
And I would be there, even in silence, if that was what he needed.
A week passed rather quickly.
Under the unforeseen circumstances, Sasha decided to close the club up until the following Thursday, re-opening next Friday, giving us all time with our little Lidi bear.
She had adjusted well, if the shrieking giggles were anything to go by. We all fought for her attention, but the place she seemed most comfortable was in Lev’s arms, just watching the world from way up high.