“Elder sister,” she answered, finishing my sentence.
Her English was so smooth that I didn’t catch the Russian accent until her last statement.
“Wow,” I murmured, admiring her gorgeousness.
“Wow, what?” she asked, curious.
“Nothing,” I answered, clearing my throat. “It’s just that you’re stunning—and now I’m wondering which side of the family Romandidn’tget his looks from.”
She laughed, the kind of genuine laughter that made her shoulders shake. “You’re charming,” she said amidst chuckles. “I see why he likes you.”
The words struck me like an arrow to the heart, and gradually, the small smile on my face began to vanish. “Yeah…” I drawled lazily, “he does like me.” The sarcasm in my tone couldn’t be any more obvious.
Maria paused, watching me with an unwavering gaze. “Come.” She tapped the vacant space beside her. “Sit with me.”
I walked over to the couch and sank into the cushion, the leather crunching beneath my weight.
“My brother can be…stubborn and unpredictable,” she began, her gaze locked on me. “And due to the nature of his work, he’s forgotten what it’s like to be human.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I whispered under my breath.
“He’s a handful, I know—I’m his sister,” she said, her voice so soft and tender. “He’s not as terrible as you think he is. It’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth.”
I stared back at her in silence, wondering whether she already knew our history, including how he kidnapped me and how this marriage was just some sort of punishment.
She drew a deep breath, her manicured hands clasped on her lap. “He wasn’t always like this, you know.” A radiant smile lit up her face, and her eyes sparkled under the light. “Roman used to be such a sweet boy, incapable of hurting anyone.”
Her expression softened, hinting at the pleasant memory replaying in her head. It was obvious that there was an untold story behind that smile, one that must’ve birthed the man I knew today.
Curious, I asked her, “What happened?”
“Life happened,” she answered, the grin on her lips slowly fading. “When you’re born into a family like mine, kindness is considered weakness, especially when you’re a man.”
I noticed that her voice deepened as she spoke—almost like she detested recounting the Tarasov history.
“Roman’s childhood was taken from him at a tender age, and he was forced to grow up fast,” she continued, a faint scowl etched on her face. “He wasn’t even allowed to be a boy—and my God, did he shield his family from horrors no child should endure!” The frown on her face melted into admiration on the last statement.
The gentleness of her tone as she shared these fragments of Roman’s past thawed something frozen inside me. I didn’t think anyone with the Tarasov last name was capable of being kind, but she proved me wrong.
She exhaled sharply. “Scarlett, is it?”
I gave a curt nod.
Maria shifted her weight, her eyes boring into mine. “My brother is broken,” she murmured, “but he’s not beyond redemption.”
My throat bobbed as I swallowed hard.
“I’m not telling you this so you’ll love him,” she said. “I just want you to understand why he’s the monster that he is today.” She let the words sink in a little bit. “You seem like a smart girl. I’m sure you’ll know what to do with this piece of information.”
Nope. I had absolutely no idea what to do with it. These were just fragments of the real story, and they wouldn’t be of much help to my situation. But nevertheless, I appreciated her telling me this.
“Thank you,” I said, my lips curling into a faint smile.
Our little conversation left me unsettled, especially because I hadn’t imagined Roman as anything other than a monster. I forgot that he was also human and was, at some point in his life, an innocent child like the rest of us.
From what Maria just shared with me, there was pain carved into this man—the kind that turned him into the cruel beast he was. As much as I hated it, the image of him in my head was starting to fracture, sympathy seeping through the cracks.
The fact that my perspective of him was gradually changing terrified me more than I cared to admit. A part of me was willing to try and understand this man—get to know the human being beneath the mask.
