Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 85224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
I have only one target in mind. I need to get to him. My safety.
Alexei.
I stumble into the room full of women, and they all stare at me in shock and disgust. My face is swollen. My mascara running. The whore that they all believe me to be. The imperfect match for Alexei.
I don’t care.
I only know that I need him. Right now. In this moment. And I haven’t needed anyone for a long time.
But when I find him across the room, it is not me he is thinking of. With Katya at his side, her hand on his arm as she smiles up at him with her beautiful and perfect smile. His attention is on her too. With no concern for me.
And just like Dmitri, I realize he has fooled me too.
Because this man is not my safety.
He is just like the rest of them. Only worse. Because I thought he might be real. I thought for a moment, he could have cared.
My knees buckle, and I collapse. Tanaka rushes over to me, swiftly followed by Nikolai. He glances around the room, worried. And then he sees what I saw too. Alexei and Katya together. And he makes a decision.
“Come.” He lifts me up in his arms and gestures for Tanaka to follow.
They take me down the hall and set me on a chaise. Tanaka sits beside me, taking my hand in hers while Nikolai kneels in front of me again.
They both ask me what is wrong, but I can’t answer. I can’t even look at them.
“Get Alexei,” Nikolai instructs Tanaka.
She squeezes my hand and then does as he bids. More tears spill down my cheeks while we wait in the silence.
Nikolai is kind. He does not press me for answers. He simply remains at my side, a comforting presence. Until Alexei is storming down the hall, and Nikolai rises to meet him.
More angry words fly between them, and so do one of Alexei’s fists as he tries to take a swing at him. It is Tanaka who intervenes, speaking to them calmly in Russian.
They are all looking at me now, but Alexei still has not calmed. He speaks to Nikolai again, something that sounds like a threat. But Nikolai looks to me, and replies in English.
“Do what you must. I was comforting her. As you should have been. Instead of playing this game you continue to play.”
Alexei is quiet, his gaze moving to me and back to Nikolai.
“If you wish to punish someone, Lyoshka, then it needs to be me. Not her. She has done nothing wrong, and yet you treat her as if…”
“Do not tell me how to conduct myself. This is my marriage. My business.”
“I am not telling you as a Vor,” Nikolai replies quietly. “I am telling you as your brother. This is not the man that I know.”
The room falls completely silent as his words settle over everyone. Even Alexei seems shocked by his admission although I cannot understand why. Why they don’t want anyone to know they are brothers. Which would make Sergei- the same man Nikolai warned me about- Alexei’s father.
Footsteps echo down the hall, and soon, Katya has joined in on my public shame and humiliation. Her eyes move over me, and she gives me a false sympathetic smile.
“Your wife looks ill,” she says under the guise of being helpful. “You must allow my maid to watch over her so you can come back and enjoy the party, Lyoshka.”
He glances at her and back to me. And there is a flicker of shame and remorse on his face as he shakes his head. He doesn’t meet Nikolai’s gaze again as he comes to lift me into his arms.
“I am taking her home.”
“But you can’t,” Katya insists. “There is still so much more to come. I have worked so hard on the planning…”
“My wife is more important than your party.” He meets her gaze and then moves towards the door. “She is the most important woman in my life.”
32
Alexei
“What have you done?” Magda demands from her position across my desk. “She is wrecked again.”
I toss back the rest of my cognac and meet her eyes. “You knew that would happen. It was only a matter of time.”
She turns to leave, the frustration evident on her face. But then she pauses at the door and points a shaky finger at me.
“This is not the man I raised you to be, Alyoshka. This is not you.”
When she leaves, I move to pour another glass of drink. But she reappears before I can finish, and surprises me by grabbing the bottle from my hands.
“In case I did not make it clear. You need to go to her. Now. You need to fix this.”
This time, when she leaves, she takes the bottle with her. I don’t argue.