Lucya…
Four weeks later…
Even if Alexi and I love each other, the rest of the world insists on interfering with our happiness whenever possible. He has to take several mysterious trips, including one that made him miss the non-Orthodox Christmas, but I didn’t really mind. I knew we’d celebrate the holiday in Russia on January 7th.
At least, I hope he’s in town for it. He swears that this much travel is unusual, his father is calling constantly, with new demands and complaints each time.
My bristle of bodyguards goes everywhere with me, scaring other shoppers at the grocery store and making joggers step off the path when we’re walking through Piers Park.
“You have to stop glaring at people,” I admonished Artur, who is shorter but just as bulky as the other men.
“They were running at us,” he says, “that is an unsafe scenario when we’re guarding you.”
“They were running because it’s exercise,” I laugh, putting a huge soup tureen ofborschton the dining table, next to a platter ofblinis. I love American food and can eat a burger and frieswith the savagery of a teenage boy in a growth spurt. That said, cold nights like this call for Russian comfort food and I’ve lured all four of my security team into eating dinner with me.
My mother’s ringtone on my phone distracts me, and I urge them to get started as I go to our bedroom for more privacy.“Mat', how are you?”
“Busy,” she says, sounding distracted. “I wanted to make sure you had your fitting for your dress for the ceremony.”
“Yes, it’s done, I promise. I wish I could be helping you right now,” I say, my heart sinking at how tired she looks.
She shrugs, “I’m fine. Most of my time is spent avoiding your uncle. He’s demanded to speak with you a thousand times.”
“You know why,” I say coldly.
“I do,” she agrees, “which is why I have to circle the house in the car when I call you.”
“I’m sorry,” I sigh. “Is he trying to make Inessa spy on Dmitri?”
“No,” she says, “I don’t know what happened there, but Rurik doesn’t speak to her at all.”
“Do you think he’s going to… do you think he’s going to try something?” I ask, “At the wedding?”
“I think it’s more likely that Anatoly Turgenev will kill him first,” she says, sounding more hopeful than concerned.
“I am so sorry,Mat'. You’ve carried all the stress and anxiety alone for the last four years. It isn’t right.”
“It was necessary,” she says, “when you become a mother, you’ll understand. Your child’s safety will be more important than anything else, even above love.” She smiles for the first time and it makes me so happy. “And here you are, with the man you havebeen madly in love with forever. Do you still love him, now that you know him better? Or was the myth greater than the man?”
I’ve never been able to hide anything from her, and this bursts out of me, “I love him so much. He told me that he loved me, he put my hand on his heart and said it.”
“I’m so happy for you,” she says, her eyes a bit wet. “Your father was like that, proclaiming his love for me. He didn’t care who was around to hear it.”
“I wish he was here,” I say sadly.
Her sweet face crumples and for the first time, I can see how much she’s aged in a few short years. “So do I.”
We say goodbye with promises to see each other soon, and Pytor knocks on the door. “Miss Dubrovina? I am physically holding David back from your share of theblinisand if you want to intervene before the violence begins, I would suggest joining us now.”
Alexi comes home the next day, looking like a stranger, like the ice-cold man I saw in the alley that night outside the restaurant.
“What’s wrong?” I’m almost afraid to touch him.
“My father died of a heart attack last night,” he says.
“I’m so sorry!” I throw caution to the winds and wrap my arms around his middle. “I didn’t know he had a heart condition.”
“He didn’t,” he says, still emotionless and cold. “This means that Dmitri is Pakhan of the Turgenev Bratva.”
