“Nikolai told me about the GPS thing,” she murmured and I closed my eyes.Damn Nikolai,but honestly, it didn’t surprise me. We told Elif everything. “You’re playing with fire, Sasha. She’s not like Selina. She’s her exact opposite. If she finds out, you’re going to suffer,” she warned me. I knew it. Perfectly well, Sienna would rip my heart out and throw it to the dogs.
“I didn’t have a choice. She’s slipping through my fingers, Elif. I’m going to lose my fucking mind”. I sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and rubbing my face as Sienna’s scent still lingered in the room.
Lily of the valley and jasmine.
Rage and softness.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Sasha. Be careful, both of you. We’ll talk when you’re back,” Elif said before hanging up.
Yes. We needed to talk, this story about meeting Ganesh’s niece at a party and becoming like a daughter to him made no sense to me. Especially considering the way everyone treated her and looked at her, there was clearly no difference between Anjali and her in their eyes.
How? And why? I was going to find out.
—
I accepted the glass of water Kenji handed me as the final preparations in the garden came to an end. The wedding ceremony was going to take place here, if I had understood correctly. “I hope you had a good night, Ivanov,” Ganesh greeted me as he joined us on the terrace. “Very good. Thank you for your hospitality despite my unexpected presence,” I replied, and he nodded with a faint smile. “I have the feeling we’ll be seeing each other more often than you think,” he answered and I felt the same.
“Did you cry, old tiger?” Kenji asked him with a smirk and Ganesh shot him a look, “I’ll pray that you have a daughter one day, son, and then we’ll talk again,” he replied, which effectively shut the Korean up. “If I ever have a daughter, I think I’ll make sure no boys ever come near her” I said smiling faintly, a daughter with Sienna’s gaze,perfection.
Ganesh laughed, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Kenji tense before pulling out a cigarette. Ganesh stopped laughing and stared at the Korean in turn, a certain tension settling between them. I looked from one to the other, trying to understand the problem, but before I could, laughter and women’s voices echoed from the veranda. We moved toward the wide-open doors as several women entered, including the bride, now dressed, made up, and adorned. But my attention slid immediately to one single person, and my breath caught. When she had left the room, she had been wearing jeans and a simple T-shirt so seeing her like this shook me.
Sienna wore a long, deep green dress, simple and refined. The fabric hugged her curves perfectly, flowing down to the floor in a fluid movement. Over her shoulders, a light veil fell like a cape, embroidered with a fine silver trim that caught the light withevery step. The contrast between the dark green and the metallic shimmer gave the ensemble a look that was both understated and precious. Around her neck, a necklace of pale stones accentuated the elegant line of her collarbone. Her hair fell in soft waves down her back, and her discreet makeup highlighted the depth of her green eyes. She was stunning.
The young women sat down on cushions on the floor, forming a line, and the bride took Sienna by the arm to make her sit as well. She tried to resist but eventually gave in to her friend’s pleading. “This is the Kaleera ceremony,” Ganesh informed me, gently tapping his cane against the ground, “Anjali is going to shake the Kaleeras above the unmarried women,” he explained, nodding toward the yellow bells tied to his niece’s wrists. Several golden threads and leaves dangled from them as she took her place behind the women. “If a Kaleera detaches and falls on a friend’s head, it’s said she’ll be the next to get married,” Ganesh continued, casting me a knowing look with a slight smile. The next to get married?
My interest was instantly piqued. I took a step closer to the entrance as the bride began shaking the bells above the women’s heads. Sometimes a golden leaf or thread detached and fell onto one of them; other times, nothing fell at all. Sienna’s turn came quickly, and the last time I had felt this apprehensive was the day Elif gave birth to Dimitri.
Anjali began shaking the bells above Sienna’s head, and almost immediately pieces fell onto her body. One of the bells detached and slipped into her dress, and all the women burst out laughing, teasing her. She lifted her flushed face, shaking her head and our gazes locked. She knew I was there, from the very beginning.
I felt my blood boil in my veins, a sudden heat spreading through my stomach as she looked at me with her wide green eyes. I wanted her like I had never wanted anything in my life.
Not just physically but all of her. With her qualities and her flaws. With her kindness and her rage. I wanted her no matter what she was trying so hard to hide from me, because all of it was what made her who she was.
And I wanted her.
—
The wedding was slowly coming to an end. The young couple had withdrawn not long ago, and the few remaining guests were chatting and laughing in a calm atmosphere. My gaze stopped for the thousandth time on Sienna, who was talking with Ganesh a little farther down the garden, while I smoked a cigarette with Ashwin and Kenji. She smiled and rubbed his back as he gently shook his head. Since his niece’s departure, he had grown grumpy, he had even struck Kenji when the latter dared to mock him. Kenji and Sienna both held a special place in Ganesh’s eyes; one glance was enough to understand that. “Did he adopt you?” I asked bluntly, I saw Ashwin tense out of the corner of my eye, while the Korean merely exhaled his smoke calmly, “Sienna explained the why and how to you,” he replied simply.
I let out a dry laugh. “We all know that story is bullshit. And you know that I know it. And she knows that I know”. Sienna was far too intelligent to believe I had swallowed that story and she knew me too well. But for now, I had let it slide. Let her enjoy the festivities, we would talk soon enough.
Kenji said nothing, merely shrugging. I knew I would never get any information out of him, especially after what he had revealed to me during our clash at the gate. He distrusted me now, he wouldn’t fall into my traps again. So I didn’t push. I would corner Sienna later. Just then, she pulled Ganesh toward the dance floor as a slow song began to echo through the large garden and a few couples started dancing. Ganesh shook his head but didn’t resist, he followed her, and they began to swaygently. Strangely enough, I felt no jealousy. I understood that he saw her as his daughter. I even smiled faintly when I saw her burst out laughing, throwing her head back, her long hair cascading down her back, her eyes shining.
I pressed the hand holding my cigarette against my chest as my heart tightened in a way I had never felt before, like I would die if she ever disappeared.
“You’d better hurry, Ivanov. She’s quite coveted around here,” Ashwin suddenly said and I frowned, my gaze sliding from Sienna to a few young men who had moved closer to the dance floor, all of them staring at her. A curse in Russian escaped me as I flicked my half-smoked cigarette away and stepped onto the floor. I approached the dancing pair, my gaze catching Sienna’s over Ganesh’s shoulder as she frowned.
“May I steal her from you?” I asked Ganesh, slipping my arm around Sienna’s slim waist. She stared at me wide-eyed, and I couldn’t help smiling at her confused expression. She was irresistible.
“Be my guest, my boy. This old man has trouble staying on his feet anyway,” he laughed, winking at Sienna before stepping away. I turned toward my favorite storm, casting a dark look at the young men who had even dared to think they had a chance, before plunging my gaze into the eyes of the woman in front of me.
I pulled her against me, and I instantly knew what she was thinking. I knew it by the way she bit her lip, I knew it by the way she slid her hand into mine while the other rested on my shoulder.
My thoughts drifted to a warm beach, the moon shining on the horizon and reflecting off the waves, the sound of cicadas filling the air, where a pair of green eyes had enchanted me, and a smile had cast its spell.
Seven months earlier, Philippines
I followed her along the beach, the waves occasionally brushing our feet when we drifted a little too close to the water, but we didn’t mind. It was even a blessing after such scorching days, the climate in the Philippines was nothing like Russia’s. It had been almost three days since we had joined Nikolai and Selina, who had left on their honeymoon two weeks earlier. A rest we had all thoroughly deserved.
