Page 108 of Hate You Most

“Yes,” her father finally said, his entire tone deprived of warmth. “To her. And to any other woman who might persuade you to forget your responsibilities to me and to your country.”

“She’s my rival, Papa. We are on different sides, going after the same medals.” She forced the words out and hated how they sounded the moment they left her lips. Dakota wasn't just her rival and Viktoriya didn't know how much longer the lie was holding.

“She is a liability.”

Viktoriya inhaled slowly. She forced the air into her lungs in a way that still felt like she had control. “That’s not true.”

“It is entirely true,” he said. “And you are not to be seen with her like that again.”

Viktoriya was losing control, she knew that.

“And what does ‘like that’ mean?” she asked.

“You know exactly what it means.”

She did, she knew exactly what it meant—but they had never openly discussed this and right now she needed her father to physically say the words.

“No,” Viktoriya said, more firmly. “I don’t.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Longer this time.

“You will stay away from her,” he said. “From her, and from any Woman who might encourage this kind of behavior. You will not place yourself in situations where your…temptations become relevant.”

The words settled between them like something toxic. Viktoriya felt the way they twisted something deep inside her that she had only just begun to understand, let alone accept.

“My temptations.” She repeated her father’s words. It felt wrong.

“You know what I am referring to.”

She knew, but she had to push him just a little bit further than he was comfortable with.

“And what exactly is that?” she asked.

The silence on the other end was near deafening. For just a split second, she wished she'd never asked, never pushed the conversation into the deep and shark infested waters—because there was no way she was coming to the surface with all her limbs intact.

Her father sighed loudly at the other end of the line. She had never heard him sigh before. “Why couldn't you just be normal? Why couldn't you just have done as you'd been told and married Lev? Instead you've done nothing but disappoint your family and your country. Now, I am the one stuck with a defective and lazy child that doesn't do as they're told.”

“I'm not,” Viktoriya tried, but her voice cracked. “I'm normal, Papa. I promise you—I'm normal.” Fuck. Her pillow was getting damp. She was crying, she hadn't realized. She wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of her bare hand.

“At least your sister still listens to me. She's going to make us all proud one day, a good Russian girl.”

“Papa…”

“Do not pretend,” her father said. “We had an agreement.”

The words didn’t make sense. What agreement?

Viktoriya frowned slightly, her grip on the phone loosening just enough that she had to adjust it again.

“An agreement?” she asked, as her voice wavered.

“Yes.”

Her chest tightened. “I don’t remember that, Papa.”

“I know. Your memory is not my concern,” he said. “The agreement still stands.”

Viktoriya wanted to keep her voice steady, but her heart was pounding against her ribs in a way that almost made her dizzy. Her wife was laying just an arm's reach away. She wished she could just turn around and cry into her arms, but that meant explaining what her father had said.