Katya
“No, no, no.” I shook my head and glared at Nikolai, all thoughts of sex and feelings and happily ever after’s forgotten now. “Please tell me that you’re joking, please, Nik.” I begged, ringing out my wet hair nervously and causing salty water to splash below against the deck. The swim had been wonderful, the water perfect. I’d felt peaceful.
And that feeling had gone to utter shit the second I climbed back up on the boat and saw Nik’s face. I glanced around, finding the discarded bikini and grabbing it to put on, but then I stood there stupidly holding it, disbelieving that this could be happening.
It was a sick joke, if it was one, but I still prayed that it was. Because being stranded out at sea and having to radio for help wasn’t just embarrassing, but it also meant that I was going to be in even more trouble than I’d previously imagined.
Nik held out his arms, his expression apologetic. “I don’t know what’s wrong with it. It’s just dead.”
“Fuck, Nik!” I yelled, suddenly angrier with him than I’d ever been before. “How could you let this happen? Do you know how my father is going to react? He was already going to be furious but now. God, Nik, now he’s definitely going to be on the warpath.”
Nik reached for me, eyes beseeching. “It will be okay; I’ll make it right.”
I stepped back from him. “Don’t you get it? Nothing will ever be right after this.” I shook my head at him, watching as his arms lowered to hang limply by his sides and then I turned and walked away. I went down to the bedroom where I’d left my clothes earlier, quickly tossing the wet bikini onto the floor and dressing in my summer dress once more. I heard Nik come down the stairs and head to the radio and as I sat on the bed, putting my head in my hands, I listened to him radio for help. We were dead.Absolutely dead.
*
We didn’t have to wait long for my father, Viktor and a crew of men to turn up in several boats. My father and Viktor were leading the pack in a speedboat and were standing at the head of it, both of them wearing expensive suits and looking furious. Jackets flapping in the wind, gazes stern and hard, and fixed on me. The fact that father had put on a suit in the middle of the day while on holiday for this told me everything about how much trouble I was in.
Oh god, he’d been suit shopping...had he gotten word that his precious daughter and adopted son had run away together, only to be stranded in the middle of the ocean, while he was being fitted by his favorite tailor? Normally, a new suit would soften my father. It was the only kind of shopping he enjoyed.
But even a new double breasted bespoke suit could not save me this time. I noted Alexander and my security detail on the boat behind. It dawned on me then, as I stared at the approaching convoy from the top of Nik’s favorite boat that my freedom was completely and utterly over. There was just no way my father was going to forgive me or trust in anything I said now.
The speedboat pulled up to the back of theOcean Darling, the small convoy of boats following closely behind, and my father, Viktor, and their bodyguards, stepped off it. Nikolai walked down to greet them; his hands pushed into his pockets but his head held high. He held out a hand as they approached and before I could blink, Viktor had reared back and punched Nik in the face. Nik stumbled back, but didn’t fall over, and he righted himself quickly. His hands curled into fists at his sides as he spat out a mouthful of blood on to the pristine white deck and smiled a bloody grin at Viktor.
“I’ll give you that one,” Nik said, sliding his tongue along his teeth, “I mean, I guess I deserve it for the wave.” He continued to smirk.
Viktor snarled and his bodyguards took a step towards Nik but Viktor held a hand up to halt them. “This one is mine,” he bit out.
He took a step toward Nik and I gasped as I ran forwards, every fiber of my being hating to see Nik get hurt. My father put a hand on Viktor’s chest, stopping his forward momentum.
“I’ll deal with him,” he said, cautiously, his gaze flitting to me momentarily, and I saw in that one look how disgusted he was with me. The deep disappointment he had for how I had turned out. “Get my daughter back to the island,” he ordered before looking away from me. His expression was so cutting that I felt the pain of it in my heart.
Viktor warred with himself momentarily, and it was obvious that if Nik had been anyone else he would have put a hole in his forehead for his disrespect. My brother’s boat pulled up at that moment and he quickly stepped off it.
“Katya, get on my boat now,” Alex yelled, his expression serious, “Viktor, take her back to the island. I’ll deal with Nikolai,” he growled.
Our father turned to look, pride shining in his eyes at how his son, his heir, commanded the situation.
Viktor looked between us all briefly before nodding. “You’re a lucky man,” he said to Nikolai, “any other day and you’d be at the bottom of the ocean.” He held out a hand to me, his look stern. “Katya, move, now,” he barked.
I wanted to tell him no.
I wanted to tell him to fuck off.
That I didn’t want to marry him.
That he was too old for me and he was too boring and I had found someone else that I wanted.
I glanced over at Nik and he nodded. “Go on, go. I’ll be okay.”
“That remains to be seen,” Viktor snapped.
I squeezed my eyes closed momentarily before walking towards Viktor slowly, knowing it was all I could do to keep Nik safe now...I had to leave him, or I’d make things worse. But every step away from Nik and towards Viktor felt wrong and out of place.
Viktor took me by the bicep and led me back to Alex’s boat, his hand firm on me. He helped me on board and ordered me to take a seat. I obliged, my gaze never meeting his once, and as I sat down, I folded my arms over my chest and kept my gaze on Nik.
I’d never seen my father, or Alex so angry with Nikolai before, and I worried for a moment at what their punishment might be. Would they beat him? Kill him? Disown him from the family? I swallowed, worry gnawing at my gut.
