“Will you tell me about this?” Nikolai whispered as his fingertips traced the scar that ran down my stomach. I considered it for a minute. I hadn’t realised that I’d never told him the full story. I supposed there was still a lot we had to learn about each other and I looked forward to it.
“Only if you tell me what went down with Finch…” I smiled coyly as I replied.
“You know what happened, I found him spying on you. We went back to my hotel, and he told me about our father.”
“Not that. Before… the night before I left? We’d been arguing and you came in and took him outside. What happened? You were angry when you came to find me later on.”
“You don’t have to protect him. You weren’t arguing, I saw him hit you.”
Ahh.That explained just about everything.
“I was furious. I told him not to come back around here again.” The way his eyes wouldn’t meet mine told me that those weren’t the exact words he had used that night.
“Anton owed money to the wrong people. I was only a kid and on the way home from school one day those wrong people picked me up. They held me for two days while Anton came up with the money.”
And there. That was it. It had been one of the worst times of my life and I hated thinking about it, every single time my mind took me back to that dark place. I felt the same things I did back then, scared and completely helpless. Nikolai’s arm tightened around my waist, pulling me into him. The touch pulled me from my memories and reaffirmed that here in the now, I wasn’t alone.
“I’d felt so alone. I was helpless, dependent on Anton coming up with the money. When he finally called them, we met him at the racetrack, they were suspicious of him from the moment he walked in. Turned out they were right to worry, Anton pulled a gun, men flooded the stands all with guns.”
“Who did this?” His fingers lightly brushed my stomach again.
“One of the guys that had taken me. Everyone was shooting but instead, he grabbed me and used me as a shield. He had a knife pressed to my stomach. I got shot, we fell… I woke up in the hospital a day later.”
“You’ve been through so much, Ana.”
“I don’t really like talking about it, it was a horrible time.” After that incident, life seemed so dark. I refused to go to school for weeks, I withdrew from what little social life I’d had, I wouldn’t even speak to Anton.
I didn’t go into any more detail with Nikolai. I’d always felt so ashamed that back then, as a child, I was so heavily depressed that I didn’t want to live. Nikolai didn’t need to know that. Not right now.
“Nikolai, where is Finch now?”
He sighed, his warm breath tickling my neck. “We’re not sure.”
I didn’t press any further than that.
Nikolai’s breathing evened out soon after. I wasn’t a religious person but still, I prayed for Finch and his safe return. No matter how much we didn’t get along if anything happened to him… Nikolai would hate himself. I didn’t want that.
* * *
We’d barely left the bedroom for three days. Emerging only for sustenance, Nikolai and I were content to be wrapped up in each other. Nikolai had given Heather the week off, so we’d had the house entirely to ourselves and I had been loving every minute of it.
“I remember mentioning that I wanted your brothers around for a family night...” I began as I pulled on my socks and shoes. It was the first time I’d been fully dressed since we got home, but every movement had proved to be a challenge. Nikolai was still in bed, he hadn’t made any effort in our quest to get up.
He’d been proving to be the world's sexiest distraction. I loved it but I wish he’d stop and let me get ready.
At that moment he was trailing his fingers up and down my spine, through my shirt leaving behind a tingling trail in his wake. He hummed thoughtfully which told me all I needed to know. I stood suddenly and turned to face him with a stern expression. “Nikolai?!”
“I heard you. We will have a family night, how’s next month?” I knew he was only teasing, so I let him off and shook my head. He flashed me a devilish grin, one that I knew to be dangerously tempting. It was his lure and it worked to hook me every time. But not again, I had too many things to do to be distracted.
“Tonight.” I nodded before slipping my shoes. The room was a bit of a mess, so I started some light cleaning, picking up the discarded clothes that had been flung all over the room.
“Fine, I’ll give them a call,” Nik finally relented. I was glad I had my back turned, his pouty voice made me smile and bite my lip to contain my amusement.
I heard dialling and peeked over my shoulder to see he actually had his phone in his hand, pressed against his ear.
I left the bedroom and let my roaring stomach drag me to the kitchen. While waiting for the coffee maker, I went in search of Achilles. I was sure he would’ve been hungry. By the time I’d found and fed him the coffee pot was beeping at me and Nikolai was seated at the breakfast bar.
“You’re dressed.” Wow. I was impressed, and making fun of him. “We’ve got things to do, there is literally no food left in this house. And if we’re having your brothers over they’re going to demand feeding.”
“What you’re saying is… we need to go to the shops?” I nodded with a smile. Moving around the kitchen was natural, second nature and I’d missed it so. “Do you want me to ask Heather to come in for a few hours? I’m sure she’d be happy to come whip us up some dinner.”
“No. Don’t you dare. I want to cook.” I hadn’t done much of that lately and it was just another thing on the long list of things that I had missed.
“If you’re sure.” He rounded the island and captured me in his arms. A soft kiss was pressed to my hair before he was gone, almost as quick as he’d appeared. “I’ll meet you outside in the truck.”
I sighed as I watched him walk away. I knew the euphoria would surely wear off soon enough, but for now, I was wistfully happy. Everything was perfect.
