Chapter 28: Natalia

The women moved into the sitting room, where the maids brought out little cakes for us to eat.

I was grateful to get away from Mikhail’s brother. I don’t know where he is, but I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. Or should I say leering. There’s a big difference between simply looking at someone and gawking at someone’s body.

He reminded me of Raul’s guards. The way they used to leer at me and undress me with their eyes made me sick.

I couldn’t exactly be disrespectful toward Ivan, but I don’t think I’m wrong in what I saw.

I also didn’t miss the tension between him and Mikhail. It was very obvious.

I can tell Sophia is trying to get us all talking, but the three women with us don’t seem to like me very much.

They’ve been talking about their vacation plans for the Easter holidays, and I’ve been sitting here sipping on a glass of fruit punch.

Mikhail hasn’t been gone that long, but it’s been long enough.

The youngest woman, who might be a little older than me, keeps cutting me dirty looks and glancing at her sister, who snickers as if she’s privy to some secret joke.

I forgot their names as soon as I was told them because of the horrid way they were both appraising me.

Their mother seems slightly nicer, but I think she’s probably being nice because of Sophia.

Another look comes my way. I was pretending I didn’t notice her looking at me, but I’m done doing that, so I look right back at her, glaring, which surprises her so much she looks away quickly.

God, I need air.

I can’t deal with shit like this now.

If we’re leaving soon, I don’t see why I have to sit in here with them treating me like I’m a fucking leper.

I push to my feet, and Sophia glances up at me.

“Are you okay, dear?” she asks. “Forgive us for getting carried away with our traveling plans. It’s been a while.”

“I just need some air. Is it okay to go out on the terrace?” I reply.

“Of course, that’s no problem.”

“Thanks.”

They all watch me as I walk out, and I’m sure as soon as the door closes, I’ll be the talk amongst them.

I don’t care. I can’t care. Their lives are different from mine, and so are their life experiences. When you’ve been through what I have, women being bitches are the least of your worries.

Besides, I’m only receiving the treatment I expected to get coming here.

It’s just good it’s not coming from the one person I worried about the most—Mikhail’s father. Although I don’t know what he’s talking to Mikhail about.

I can’t worry about that, either.

Everything José told me is on my mind.

Nothing is sitting well with me, but I have no power.

The only power I have now is my present behavior.

I have to keep doing what I’m doing.

So, I keep pretending I’m Adriana Alvarez.

The problem is not knowing when things will happen. It’s all so risky.

I could have this whole escape route in mind, but what happens if I’m discovered before that time?

That’s not going to be good for me.

At least I know José was able to buy me more time by getting rid of everything I was worried about in Mexico that could identify Adriana.

Knowing he’d done so eased my mind. Only to a certain degree, though, because the threat of exposure is still very much there, and neither of us knows or will know where that threat will come from.

I just wish there were something more I could do for myself. It’s not fair José has to do everything.

What would I do, though?

What can I do?

And what can I do in this confused state I always find myself in when I’m with Mikhail?

I think I’m at the point where I can accept that I feel something for him.

I know I do.

I can feel it stirring inside me, no matter how much I resist.

The feeling truly hit me last night in full force as I took a peek into his soul and saw the man who lay inside the monster. My heart has been a pattering mess since.

Throughout the day, as I’ve thought of him and my conversation with José, my heart has turned over and locked in confusion.

I want to push it all away, but like the flames of fire, he entices me to him. I keep touching those flames, moving my hand deeper and deeper into them even though I know I’m going to get burned.

“Enjoying the view?” comes a voice from behind me that sends a shiver of ice down my spine.

When I turn to see Ivan watching me, my skin erupts with goose bumps. The pimples scatter across my flesh and tingling my scalp.

It’s amazing. It’s cold enough out here for my breath to hang in the air. I don’t have my coat on, and my shoulders are bare, but I wasn’t cold until this man approached me.

What is it about him that feels so off to me?

He is creepy, but there’s more to him. All the warning bells are going off in my head, telling me to beware and be careful of what I say.

“I just needed some fresh air,” I answer, and he takes that as an invitation to come closer.

There’s a hint of a smile on his face. Not a friendly or humorous smile. It’s one that has a taunting vibe tacked on to it.

He looks different than Mikhail. So different I wouldn’t think they were brothers, but they both have striking similarities to their father. Ivan has light blue eyes, paler skin, and lighter brown hair. Whereas Mikhail has darker features, and his skin almost has the same olive tone as mine.

Ivan is also slimmer built with leaner muscle, while Mikhail has muscles on muscles. The brothers couldn’t be more different.

“Was it too stuffy inside? The women can be a little overbearing in their chatter.” His smile widens.

“They were okay. They were talking about traveling. Since I haven’t travelled much, it was interesting to hear.”

He observes my face and narrows his eyes for a fraction before looking me up and down.

It’s weird to be so analytical right in front of someone’s face.

“Is something wrong?” I ask when he continues to assess me.

“I don’t think so. It’s just that you look familiar, but that wouldn’t make sense.”

My mouth goes dry, and I find it hard to swallow past the lump in my throat.

How awful it would be to come this far only for this man to recognize me. But how would he recognize me?

Raul kept me away from his business associates, and if I saw any of them, they never saw me.

I never saw Ivan at any point. Never.

With that reasoning, I shake my head and gather my strength, but I still search my mind and try to figure out why he’d think I look familiar.

“I definitely don’t think you’ve met me before,” I tell him. I don’t know where I find the courage to speak with such confidence, but I do. “My… father kept me away from his associates.”

“Of course,” he agrees, dipping his head. “Kept you on a leash, so to speak. I guess there was just something in you I recognized, but I must be mistaken.”

The instant he says that, something hits me.

An idea strikes, and I think of where the threat I was worried about might come from.

My mother.

There’s a chance he could have met my mother. Both my parents had dealings with Raul’s associates. I’m not sure in what ways she would have known him, but it seems like it’s possible they met.

The first thing anyone who meets me who’s met her says is how much I look like her.

My only differences are my hair and eyes. Those are my main Mexican features, but when you look at me, you can find the underlying Caucasian features she inherited from her Irish roots.

Jesus, what do I do if he links me to her?

He straightens and seems to shrug off the idea, but I can already tell he’s moved on to something else in his mind.

“How is Mikhail treating you?” He steps a little closer and rests his hands on the stone rail.

“Fine. He treats me fine.”

That smile returns with a wicked glint lurking in his eyes. “Enjoy it while it lasts.” He slants closer to me, and a rake of shivers courses down my body. “I’m sure that will change after the wedding.”

I rivet my gaze to his, realizing I’m back at that place again with that question hanging over my head. What’s going to happen to me after the wedding?

He seems to have the answer I seek.

“In what ways will things change?” I ask in a small voice.

“Let’s not kid ourselves here. Do you seriously believe my all-powerful, conquering villain of a brother is going to tie himself down to the daughter of the man who killed his mother and our sister?”

I note the way he says his mother and our sister. I realize then they must not have the same mother. That’s why they look so different.

I think Ivan must have wanted me to know that, or he wouldn’t have said it. Or maybe he wasn’t aware he did. I feel like he doesn’t waste words, though, like everything he says is designed to hit where it’s supposed to hurt most.

It’s working.

“My brother is not the kind of man who will tie himself to one woman, and he certainly won’t do that with you.”

“What will he do with me?” My heart squeezes, and I try to fight back the burn of tears in the backs of my eyes.

“I’m sure once you stop being his favorite fuck toy, he’ll sell you for a pretty penny.”

Sell me?

Everything inside me freezes in the cold air enveloping us.

Mikhail is going to sell me?

I’m going to be sold. The same terrible fate I feared before. The same terrible fate I thought I’d escaped.

I wish I could believe this man was just taunting me, but why would he do that? Why would he be so crude to rattle my brain if it wasn’t true?

“He’ll sell me?” I can scarcely get the words out.

Ivan reaches out to touch my cheek and lean even closer. The flicker of desire in his eyes confirms there’s no mistake in my prior thoughts about his interest in me.

“Sell you or give you to me. I’ll happily take you, Adriana Alvarez.” He moves to my ear, and his breath whispers over my skin. “Maybe by then you’ll need a hard fuck from someone who can fuck you properly.”

Fear grips me in its icy claws, and I find it hard to move away from his callous words.

It’s the sound of someone clearing their throat behind us that makes Ivan move away from me.

When I see Mikhail standing by the doorframe, my awareness returns, and my first instinct is to run to him.

How could I feel like that, though, if he’d sell me or give me to his brother when he’s done with me?

I’m not safe with anyone or anywhere. That is the only true thing and the only fact I can trust. No matter what he seems to feel for me.

“Keeping my wife-to-be company, brother?” Mikhail asks with a sarcastic edge. He sounds like he’s trying his best to hold it together.

“You know me,” Ivan replies.

Mikhail grits his teeth and starts speaking Russian. I have no idea what he’s saying, but the sharpness and firm timbre in which he speaks suggest it can’t be anything good.

Ivan answers back in the same tone, but a mocking smirk lights up his face.

Mikhail finally sneers and holds out his hand to me.

“Malyshka, let’s go,” he states, with his eyes blazing.

I take his hand again and allow him to lead me away from Ivan.

I feel Ivan’s cold stare on me with every step I take. Even when Mikhail and I get in the car and drive away, I feel it haunting me like a bad dream.

I glance at Mikhail when we get on the open road and wonder how he could call me his in one breath and give me away in another.

Maybe that’s just the type of monster he is.

I need to know what he’s planning.

If it’s what Ivan said, I’m screwed. There will be no escape route for me.