Chapter 13: A Pool, A Private One

The elevator doors slid shut with a soft chime, wrapping them in polished steel and golden light. For a moment, the world outside ceased to exist. It's just the two of them, close enough to feel the heat of each other’s presence, yet bound by a silence neither could break.

Alexandra’s hand still held Roxanne’s, her grip firm but not forceful. She could have let go once the stares of her staff disappeared, but she didn’t. Her thumb brushed lightly against the back of Roxanne’s hand, an absent motion that betrayed more than she intended. It's grounding and dangerous all at once, the kind of touch that lingers long after it ends.

Roxanne’s chest tightened. Her whole body screamed at her to pull away, to reclaim her space, yet she couldn’t. The warmth of Alexandra’s skin seeped into her veins, flooding her with a longing she couldn’t understand, one that frightened her more than it thrilled her.

She told herself it was admiration, maybe gratitude, but when she risked a glance upward, catching Alexandra’s pale green eyes glowing under the soft light, she knew it was something else entirely.

Alexandra held her gaze for a second too long, and in that pause, something unspoken sparked between them. Her expression is calm and composed as always, yet her eyes betray her.

There's softness there, a tenderness she hadn’t shown anyone in years. And beneath that tenderness, a pull she knew she should resist. Roxanne is just a girl, a sixteen-year-old, young, untamed, and off-limits. She repeated the words to herself like a prayer, but they did nothing to calm the storm inside her chest.

“You’ll grow used to this world,” Alexandra finally said, her husky voice low, almost intimate in the enclosed space. “And if you don’t, then I’ll make sure it doesn’t break you.”

Roxanne swallowed hard, her breath catching. The words were meant to reassure, but they sounded like a promise, a vow whispered only for her. She wanted to believe them, wanted to fall into those strong arms and let Alexandra protect her from everything. But the thought shamed her, burned her, because what she wanted isn't the kind of comfort a mother should give.

"I’ll be whatever you want me to be," Alexandra said at last, each word slow and deliberate, as if weighed carefully before being released into the air. The softness in her tone carried a promise, and yet it pressed down on Roxanne’s chest until her heart clenched painfully.

"Not your mother," Alexandra continued, her silver eyes steady, unwavering. "Your friend, your best friend, your older sister, anything you need me to be."

The words twisted inside Roxanne, beautiful and unbearable all at once. "What about a lover?" The thought came sharp and sudden, like a scream rising to her throat, begging to break free. But her lips refused to move, her tongue heavy and useless. She could only sit there, trapped in silence, drowning in everything she could not say.

Instead, she forced a smile, fragile, trembling at the corners. "Okay," she whispered, her voice smaller than she wanted it to be. That single word was all she managed, though her heart ached with a thousand more.

The elevator slowed, the sudden weight of motion pulling them apart even though their hands were still joined. Alexandra released her finally, the faintest flicker of hesitation in her movement. The warmth disappeared, but the ache it left behind remained.

"Let's go." Alexandra then walks out first from the lift.

In front of them is a private gym; only the Romanov's employees and their family can use it.It stretched high and wide, crowned with a coffered black ceiling fitted with elegant chandeliers and carefully placed spotlights that bathed the room in a warm, golden glow.

All the equipment is state-of-the-art, laid out in perfect symmetry. Sleek treadmills and bikes lined one side, while rows of polished weight machines and strength stations filled the other. At the center, free weights were arranged neatly on racks, ready for use, surrounded by cushioned benches and mats.

“We’re not going there.” Alexandra’s voice is calm.

Roxanne had paused in the corridor, her wide eyes fixed on the huge pool just beyond the glass wall of the gym, where employees were already enjoying their break, splashing and laughing under the bright lights. For a second, Roxanne thought Alexandra might take her there, to swim among others, blending into normalcy.

But Alexandra didn’t even slow her steps. She held Roxanne’s hand again, this time firmly, and guided her past the gym doors into a quieter hallway. “Where?” Roxanne asked softly, quickening her pace to keep up.

Alexandra glanced at her, her silver hair catching the faint light like silk, her expression unreadable. “Somewhere you won’t be seen. Somewhere that belongs only to us.”

Alexandra led her into the Romanov family’s private pool; she then pressed her access card to a hidden panel, and a sleek door slid open. A man standing in front of the door.

The guard straightened at once, his back rigid, eyes darting between Alexandra and Roxanne. Alexandra’s words are crisp: “She’s Roxanne Romanov. Make sure everyone knows her and that she has full access to this building, including this pool.”

The man gave a curt nod, lowering his head slightly. “Understood, Madam.”

Roxanne felt her throat tighten, her pulse racing at the sound of her name bound so tightly with Alexandra’s. Romanov. It rolled like a claim, a mark of belonging she had never expected, and for a fleeting moment, she wondered if Alexandra understood what she had just done—how dangerous it was to blur the lines like this.

"But, we’re supposed to be stepdaughter and stepmother! Of course the name would follow!" Roxanne screamed inside her head, though the logic felt thin, trembling, as if she were trying to convince herself more than justify Alexandra’s words.

It isn’t the name itself; it's the way Alexandra had said it. Calm, deliberate, like she is staking a claim in front of others, folding Roxanne into her world not as an outsider, not as an obligation, but as someone who belonged wholly to her sphere.

Her chest tightened, shame and longing twisting together until she didn’t know which hurt more. The walls of propriety shouted at her: "This is wrong. You shouldn’t want this." And yet, the quiet, aching part of her whispered back, "But I do."

The heavy door closed behind them with a soft thud, cutting off the outside world. They are alone now, and in front of them is now a hidden jewel, tucked away from the gym that the employees use, reserved exclusively for the family’s leisure. Enclosed in glass and bathed in natural light, it creates the illusion of swimming beneath the open sky while still maintaining complete privacy.

The water glitters like liquid crystal, its surface catching the sunlight through the overhead glass roof, scattering diamonds of light across the turquoise tiles beneath. Lush greenery surrounds the pool, which makes the space feel like a secluded paradise, untouched by the outside world.