Chapter Eight: Marianna
That was incredible. I can’t believe that I just slept with a man I barely know, one who I’ve agreed to go on this wild adventure trying to find a way out of the mess we’ve both found ourselves in. I can’t deny how amazing he made me feel, how good it was to let go for the first time in forever, but I have to snap out of this. This isn’t my fairytale, this is a nightmare. My best friend is being held captive, and I’m off sleeping with the one person who is supposed to help me get her back, keeping us both safe in the process. Did I make a mistake by trusting Rurik? Or is he going to be the only thing that allows me to find true happiness again?
I woke up curled up on the couch in Rurik’s arms, realizing that the apartment was still empty, and no one had called the cops on us just yet. We both had no idea if the person who owned the place would be back soon, but I tried to convince myself that they were on vacation and certainly not going to walk in on us at any moment. I glanced over to the other end of the room to see our clothes in a pile on the floor, and I got up, wrapping the blanket around my naked body, heading off into the bathroom. I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, horrified at the state of my hair, and my smudged makeup from the day before. I washed up, getting back into the clothes I’d been wearing yesterday, making my way over to Rurik so I could nudge him awake.
“Get up. I’m pretty sure that whatever threat we were facing yesterday is gone now, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try to get my best friend back,” I said, feeling rather guilty for wasting so much time, wondering just how much Larissa must’ve been going through while I was off enjoying myself.This isn’t fair. If the situation had been reversed, I know she would’ve done everything in her power to get me back. Why am I finding it so difficult to stay on track?I asked myself, shaking Rurik so he’d wake up, and I watched his eyes finally flutter open.
“If you think I’m letting you go anywhere, you’re out of your mind, Marianna,” he said, firmly as though I was just supposed to listen to him, forgetting the fact that I needed to make up for lost time, get to Larissa before the Andreyev Family could do any more damage. I was about to rush out the door when Rurik grabbed my arm, pulling me back, and holding me there so he could prove his point. I was acting rash, and I knew it was because I felt like I owed it to Larissa to do whatever I could to get to her, but it was quite possible that in doing that, I was denying any chance I had of actually saving her life.
“Let me go,” I said, trying to fight him off.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. There are countless people out there trying to hunt you down, Marianna. I’m afraid that the news of your connection to the Andreyev Family has made its way into the crime world, and that means that you’re going to be anyone’s fair game right now, as I told you before. I’m going to help you get your friend back, but I can’t have you running off on your own every time you feel impulsive, understood?”
I nodded my head, trying to calm my nerves, and the thoughts that were racing through my mind. I wondered if we were ever going to talk about what happened last night, because as frustrated as I had been that I single-handedly lost all rights to my freedom due to the fact that I’d been found out as the biological daughter of a powerful crime family, I still wanted to indulge in a little danger. Rurik had shown me that I’d stopped taking risks a long time ago, that I’d forgotten what it felt like to feel alive, and I was anticipating that it was going to happen again at some point. I made it pretty clear by the way I was acting that I wanted to avoid the subject at all costs, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t secretly waiting for the next time that he was going to pin me down and fuck me.
I started to feel differently around him, like I could catch him staring at me whenever my gaze was elsewhere, like he was thinking the very same things that I had been, and it was making me nervous. I didn’t like to clam up around anyone, and I certainly didn’t want him to get the impression that he could ever tell me what to do. He had to know that the only reason I decided to listen to him was so that I could get Larissa back and put all of this behind me once and for all. Though, he was far more knowledgeable about how to go about doing that than I realized, because he did save me from the impending gunfire that erupted in the middle of town. There was a part of me that wanted to trust him blindly, but I knew that I had to be cautious.I have to look out for myself.
“Fine, but I hope you have a better plan than staying holed up in this apartment. I know you told me that you haven’t been free of being under close watch by the Andreyev Family in a long time, and I hope that you have some idea of how to navigate the city without the worry that they’re going to find out your every move,” I said, testing him.
“I know Moscow much better than you’d think, Marianna. I grew up here, and I know how to scope out the contacts that are going to get us what we need to make sure that we can fight back against the Andreyev Family when they come for you. The moment they realize that I have no intention of killing you, they’re going to try to do it themselves. Let yesterday be a warning of what’s to come, because you are on a lot of people’s hit lists, and I’m the only thing that’s going to keep you alive,” he replied, and I gulped.
“Where to first?” I asked.
“Breakfast, with an old friend.”
I didn’t thinkthat I’d be so afraid to leave with Rurik, knowing that we were going to constantly be looking over our shoulders, wondering just how long we were really going to be safe. I had no idea where Rurik was taking me, or what his plans were, but I caught him glancing back to make sure that we weren’t followed every few minutes as we got into a taxicab, heading straight out of town. He looked at me and nodded, as though he could read my mind and see just how scared I truly was. Every time I let my mind wander, I would catch myself thinking of Larissa, wondering what conditions she must be living under, if she was even still alive at all. I knew I had to hold out hope, but there was something inside of me that worried we were going to be too late, that the Andreyevs would eventually give up on holding her hostage entirely, deciding that she’s just not worth keeping around any longer.
You can’t think like that, Marianna. You have to believe that you and Rurik are going to find a way to get out of this mess. Larissa would want you to keep going, to keep pushing no matter how difficult things get, and you can’t give up on her. You can’t give up on finding out the truth.I told myself, resting my head on the cloudy cab window, while I shut my eyes for a few moments. I was so overwhelmed, and I had far too many questions swimming around in the back of my mind, leaving me to believe that if I were to ever meet my biological parents, that I would still want to know why they turned out the way they did. I wondered if I was going to turn out anything like them, and that thought alone frightened me. I knew that getting deeper into this would mean that I would probably have to do questionable things that I would’ve never seen myself doing before, especially before I saw just how dangerous this life truly is, but I didn’t want it to consume me.
The last thing I needed was to lose myself in all of this, forget what I truly want out of life, and I’m not sure that I’m cut out to spend the rest of my days running from enemies that would chase after me solely for the connection I shared with one of Russia’s biggest crime families. Though, I couldn’t help but question everything that Rurik had said, all of the terrible things he’d had to do to stay afloat when they took his rights and freedom away. I wanted to know more, I wanted to understand them, understand what caused them to be the way they are today, but I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get the chance. Rurik’s only goal seemed to be to get rid of them, to wipe them clean from the crime world so he wouldn’t have to worry about them coming after him, but if there’s one thing I learned from the short time we’ve been together, it’s that there will always be someone waiting to take their place.
Rurik hadn’t told me much else about his family, and all I had to go off of was the fact that they also were heavily involved in crime. I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t have wanted to contact them right away the minute the Andreyevs loosened up the leash they had him on, but I suppose I was going to have to ask him at a later date. I could see the determination in his eyes, how badly he wanted to be rid of the Andreyev Family for good so he could finally start rebuilding his life again. I understood that part of him, but there was also the fear that he was still capable of things I couldn’t even begin to imagine, like killing another human being. I watched the way he moved, the way he pulled out his gun when we were being shot at by strangers, people that wanted to take revenge out on me, and I still had no idea who they were, but there was no denying the fact that he’d done some terrible things in his past. I wondered what lengths he’d had to go to in the past to make Mr. Andreyev happy, and I knew that the moment he opened up that can of worms, I’d never be able to forget about it.
Rurik liked to play it off like he was still a calm and collected man, but I could see how much he was truly scrambling for normalcy behind those beautiful eyes of his. He wasn’t fooling anyone, and I just had to make sure that I didn’t let him get under my skin, because the last thing I needed was for him to fool me too.He wants me to trust him, and he’s going to have to give me a reason to do that, one other than simply saving my life, before I can let my guard down. I need to find out what his true intentions are and I can’t allow myself to get too wrapped up in his allure. As hard as it will be, I have to learn to focus, I have to find out the truth and get to Larissa before it’s too late. That is where my head should be, and I have to stop letting him sway me.
We pulled up to an old family-owned diner that was just outside of town. It smelled heavenly upon walking in, sliding into one of the booths in the back while Rurik got in with me. A waitress came around with two menus, and Rurik asked for a third. It certainly wasn’t the kind of place I expected to meet the person that was going to help us get to the bottom of unraveling the Andreyev Family, but if there was one thing I could see about Rurik, it was that he knew how to charm the people around him. He already did a number on me, leaving me questioning each and every little thing about him, but I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before I found out every single detail that I’d been longing to know.Who are we here to see, Rurik? What’s going to happen with this little plan of yours?
