I blinked, trying to gather my thoughts. “I’m not leaving the estate.”
He laughed resonated through the room. “Who said we need to?”
18
Elena Falcone
“How does my hair look?” I asked Nikolai.
He was laying on the bed, playing with some toy trucks Roman had given him. Niko was all dressed and ready for bed, but I hadn’t been able to get him down yet. “Like farts!”
I put a hand on my hip. “What did you just say?”
His tune changed quickly. “Bootiful,” he cooed.
“That’s what I thought.” I checked my reflection in the mirror and fiddled with the strands of hair once more.
It was trivial and stupid being so vain at a time like this. I had forced myself not to borrow anymore of Roksana’s clothes, sticking to a pair of jeans and green sweater, but still found myself prettying up my face and hair.
Men, I bitched to myself. They make women go crazy. For what? So, we can raise their children by ourselves and live on the run for three years?
Not men–man.
I hadn’t ever thought about anyone else from the male species the way I had about Konstantin. All the parts of me I had seen as poisonous or ugly to look at had been loved and cared for by him. Even when he had figured out just how much blood I had on my hands, how many secrets I had, he had still loved me ferociously.
I looked at Nikolai.
Thank God he had, I thought. Or else I wouldn’t have my son.
There was a knock at the door.
“You have to be good for Roksana,” I told Nikolai as I went to open it. “Okay? I need you to be a good boy.”
Nikolai scrambled off the bed, bringing his toys with him. “I am a good boy, Mama.”
“That could be debated.” I answered the door to Anton. Before he could open his mouth, Evva’s voice interrupted him.
“Anton!” She came running down the hallway. “’Ello, Auntie Lena.”
“Hi, Evva. Niko, come on.”
Seconds later, Roksana appeared at the end of the hallway. She smiled warmly at me as she approached.
I frowned. “Have you got all three of them?”
“Oh, it’s no trouble.”
Nikolai squeezed past my legs. “Evva!”
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” I asked Roksana. “They can get fast, especially when you have to chase three.”
She laughed elegantly. “Artyom will come help me once he’s done with work. I’m hoping they’re all tired enough that if I put on a movie and give them some warm milk, they’ll fall asleep fast.” Roksana smiled secretly at me. “Then you and Kostya can have as much time as you like.”
My cheeks reddened. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. You might have said you don’t love him, but actions speak louder than words, Elena.”
I stuck up my chin. “I was telling the truth.” No, you weren’t. “I don’t...I feel how I feel. I don’t see why I should have to be punished for that.”
“If Konstantin had been with other women while you weren’t here, you would be okay with that?” she asked.
Anger gripped me hard and brutally. “Who?” I demanded.
I would find them, and I would poison them slowly, those stupid–
“He hasn’t looked at another woman since he laid his eyes on you,” Roksana laughed. “But thank you for proving my point.” She put her hands to her hips and looked down at the children. “Now, who is ready for an awesome movie night with Auntie Roksy?”
“Me, me, me!” they all cried.
“Be good,” I warned Nikolai as they left. He threw me a charming grin in response.
If the house went up in flames later tonight, I knew who to blame.
At exactly 5 p.m, there was a second knock on my door.
For some strange reason, my stomach was filled with butterflies and my palms were sweating.
This man has seen you naked, I told myself. What else is there left to be nervous about?
Konstantin stood in the hallway, dressed in a crisp suit. His tattoos peaked out over the thousand-dollar shirt, his past inked onto his skin. As usual, there wasn’t a single thread out of line, not single scuff on his shoes.
I looked severely underdressed.
Konstantin smiled down at me, the madness inside of him nowhere to be seen. “You look beautiful.”
“I just threw this on.” A lie: I had spent two hours with Danika trying to perfect the sexy-but-not-trying look. “You look fine, I guess.” Another lie.
His smirk was private. “Aren’t we filled with compliments tonight?” He held out his arm.
I shoved my hands in my pockets to stop myself from touching him. “Where are we eating? Your study, the dining room?”
“Neither of those places.” He dropped his arm, not hurt in the slightest at my rebuttal. “Come now, Elena. Dinner awaits.”
“I think you mean interrogation awaits.”
“Do you see Danika with us?”
I considered it. “Fair point.”
“Besides,” he mused, “you’re going to willingly tell me all your little secrets, Elena. There will be no interrogation needed.”
I hated that he was so confident...and probably right.
Konstantin led me through the manor and outside. The chilly air nipped at my exposed skin, but I refused to admit to being cold. I would rather have frozen to death, quite frankly.
We walked through the twisting makeshift paths of the garden, venturing further and further away from the manor. I thought we would continue into the forest, but Kon took a sharp left turn and brought me behind a ravishing collection of overgrown bushes.
An old pavilion sat in the middle of the garden. It had been painted white many years ago, but now brown wood could be seen through the braids of wisteria that grew around it. A table and chairs had been set up in the middle, candles brightening the area in the falling darkness.
“It’s going to be freezing,” I said because I really didn’t know what else to say.
Konstantin laughed. “I have provided blankets, don’t worry.”
“People are easier to interrogate when they’re uncomfortable.” But he was right, there was a basket of blankets beside the table.
“As I said earlier, this is not an interrogation.” He offered a hand to help me up the stairs, but I declined it.
“I can walk up three stairs, Konstantin,” I snapped.
“I know you can, but you shouldn’t have too,” he responded. “I am taking you to dinner, escorting you to a meal.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll let you pull my chair out, how about that?”
Konstantin did pull my chair out but as soon as he sat in his own, I stood up, pulled it out, and then sat in it myself. He just shook his head.
“What was the point of that, Elena?” he inquired.
“Stubbornness.” I sniffed. “My mother used to say it was my worse and best trait. Made me predictable, she used to tell me.”
“I think she might’ve been onto something.” Konstantin presented the meals in front of us, lifting the covers off the plates. “Dmitri said he was going to make an old family recipe.”