“S…sorry.” Her throat bobbed as she turned her back to me.
I stood there frozen for a quick second, wondering how this gorgeous morning with her turned so shitty so fast, then rushed to put on my clothes.
“I’m done,” I said, swiping a hand through my hair. “You can turn around.”
From how red she looked when she turned, I felt a sliver of pride swell in my chest. Yes, my siblings were outside, and it was clear I had to come out with the truth now, but even through the haze of my pressing reality, I realized that Beatrice Lebedev liked what she saw.
“Sh…should we head out?” She averted her gaze. “God, this is a nightmare.”
“Yeah.” My throat was dry. “It looks like my siblings and I need to have a word. I’m sorry…I didn’t know they were coming.”
She nodded and still didn’t look at me as she walked to the door. I joined her, opening it so she could step outside first, then following.
To my shock, my mortified siblings were still standing outside, like they still didn’t know what to do with themselves.
“You know where the living room is,” I hissed at them.
“We just wanted to say we brought breakfast,” Alena said, clearly trying to ease the awkwardness. “But we can come back later if you need.”
“No.” I shook my head, glowering at them. “It’s alright. We might as well head down.”
An awkward silence fell over the hallway again.
“This is Andrey.” Anton, our youngest brother, looked at Beatrice and gestured his head at Andrey. “Alek, Anton, Alena, and Anja,” he introduced each one to Beatrice. “And I’m Artyom,” he said, giving her a grin.
“But you don’t have to worry about remembering all our names.” Artyom gave her a cold smile.
In that moment, I realized what my siblings thought. According to them, they’d walked in on some kind of morning after a one-night stand. While I would have loved to have kept Beatrice a secret, knowing my siblings wouldn’t take well to calling a Lebedev sister-in-law, I also knew I needed to give Beatrice the respect she deserved.
Besides, sooner or later, the truth had to come out. It was best to rip off the band-aid now.
“Actually,” I said, talking Beatrice’s hand in mine. I felt her stand taller, her fingers momentarily limp with shock at the touch of my hand. I curled it tight around hers, watching my siblings look frazzled. “I’d like you all to stay for brunch so we can get acquainted. I’m sure you’ll want to get to know my wife better.”
I watched them all collectively pale.
“Y…your wife?” Andrey’s voice was cold as he narrowed in on her.
“He’s joking, right?” Alena exchanged a look with a very shocked Anja. “Tell me he’s joking.”
“I…don’t think he is.” Alek shook his head, his eyes glued to where we held hands.
“I most certainly am not,” I said, standing taller, drawing a circle around Beatrice’s wrist. “Beatrice and I were going to tell you soon enough.”
“Nice to meet you,” Beatrice said, her voice remarkably steady. But I felt her nervousness from how hard she now squeezed my hand under the scrutiny of my siblings’ gazes.
“We didn’t know you were seeing someone, brother.” Andrey looked pissed. “Let alone that you’d gone and married her.”
“Well.” Alena let out a nervous giggle, true to her character and need to break the tension. “How about we all settle down in the living room and hear all about it. I’m sure we all have questions for…Beatrice and Arko.”
“Yes,” Anja backed her sister. “Let’s do that.”
“Sorry.” Andrey shook his head, still in disbelief as he gave Beatrice a scrutinizing look. “What did you say your full name was again?”
“Beatrice Lebedev.” I heard her shaky voice, and the room’s temperature dropped a few degrees.
The silence that followed was deafening. Then all hell broke loose.
“Lebedev?” Andrey’s voice rose an octave. “As in, Caspian Lebedev’s sister?”
