Chapter 19 19

Chapter 19 19

The room was oddly quiet, carrying a strange emptiness. Ivan pulled off his vest and sat on the edge of the bed, running his fingers through his hair.

It had been a long day;  addressing the guards, giving orders,spotting the tattoo. Yet beneath it all, he couldn’t deny what truly weighed on him, the absence of comfort, the kind only found in a woman’s arms. 

Staring at the bed, a memory of Katerina lying there flashed through his mind, He cursed under his breath.   “Bitch”

The photos… the ones that would finally prove that Katerina had an affair, were only a few days away. He could almost feel them in his hands, could almost taste the bitter wave of betrayal that would come with them. 

Why Slavik? He wondered for a moment and that created in him a need to confront Katerina. To ask her outrightly why she had chosen another man over her husband. 

The question remained in his mind for a long time. What took her to Mexico? What was she really doing in Mexico?

He sat in silence. After thinking for a while, his mind was brought to his room again, looking around, Katerina was nowhere to be found.

Where was she?

He stared at his wrist watch, it was past midnight. Where had she gone to? He put on back his vest and stepped out of the room. 

When he got to her room, his hand froze on the handle. She could be naked, he thought. So he knocked.

No response…
He knocked again, still nothing.

He pushed the door open. Katerina lay asleep on the bed. He walked closer and realized that she was clutching a book. 

He stared at it, trying to read what was written. The heading made him chuckle; How to prove to  Ivan that Sasha’s innocent.

He stood there for a minute, in between confusion. One minute, every evidence pointed to her being deceitful, the next minute, she was just this fragile, determined woman trying to make sense of it all.

Did she fall asleep on purpose, with the book in her hands, knowing he would come looking for her. 

He carefully tried slipping the book from her, her hand tightened, she held on to it with no hope of releasing. He tugged gently until he freed  the book. Her plans did seem pretty impressive. 

Number 1, find out who Sasha was. 

Ivan’s gaze drifted back to her face. Did she really have amnesia?
It almost did seem so. Yet, her memory loss  didn’t make her innocent. Katerina was no different from Sasha, they were the same person. She had just lived a fake life for five years under a new name. 
And five years of pretending didn’t erase who she really was. 

And for that moment, he wondered if her little quest in finding out who Sasha was, wouldn’t ruin her.

Katerina shifted slightly on the bed, her hair falling across her face. He needed to find out the truth, urgently so. He needed to make sure everything turned out well and didn’t go out of his control.

In the mean time, he couldn’t let Katerina remain in her room. So he gently slipped his hands under her body attempting to carry her. 

She resisted weakly.  “No! I need to rest” That made him laugh.

He remembered a memory he had of her. They had gone clubbing alongside his friends. She got drunk and giggly, and insisted all through the ride back home that she wasn’t tipsy.

He gently pulled out his hands away and started towards the door then stopped. 

He turned back,  gave her a last stare for a moment before giving in. This time he was more careful, slipping his hand beneath her again and lifting her gently. The book fell to the ground, he noticed but he had already lifted her up. He carried her gently from her room to his and laid her on his bed, gently. 

As he tried to pull away, she held onto his vest dragging him down until they were close… too close. His heart skipped abit. Her eyes were closed. He could feel her breath on his face and that called him in. But she soon loosened her grip, her hands sliding away. 

He slowly pulled away at the same moment she adjusted slightly on the bed. She blinked, realizing where she was. 

She sat up, “Why did you bring me here”

Her voice brought him to a halt. Why? He wondered.

He turned to her, the shock all over his face.

She got up abruptly. 

“How did I get here Ivan, all I remember was dozing off… on my bed… not in here” Katerina said.

He could feel the tension in her voice, like she was accusing him.

“Are you okay?”

“Don’t you dare ask me if I am okay. I didn’t ask to be brought here”

“There were clear orders for you not to sleep in that room. You could go there, make your little research and that’s it”

“Ivan, I am not your prisoner, this is not a detention centre, you can’t always have me doing your bidding.” She blurted back. 

“Again I ask, what’s wrong. We were okay this morning” Ivan said maintaining his calm.

“Well that’s what I thought” She said as she walked and crossed him. He grabbed her hand dragging him closer.

“Where the hell do you think you are going?” He asked.
Katerina stood in silence. She brushed off his hand and went back to the door. 

Ivan immediately slapped his palms together which automatically caused the door to shut down. Katerina tried forcing the door open but it didn’t.

“What did you do?” She said, still tugging at the door.

Ivan completely ignored her and pulled off his vest.

“Ivan open the damn door” Katrina yelled. 

Ivan headed towards the mini fridge in the room and grabbed himself a bottle of water, he poured it into a glass.

Katerina was furious. Watching him pour water into the glass cup made her blood boil. She dashed to him, taking the glass cup from his hand and without planning, it slipped from her hand, the water splashing on the floor and  the glass scattered. 

“Katerina” he yelled out her name.
“If you have something to say, say it and stop throwing tantrums”

“Am I the one throwing tantrums?” She asked. “Waow… yet you’re the one keeping me here, locked up . You’re just a little baby who hasn’t gotten over the fact that his dear wife betrayed him. News flash, you’re not the only man that has been betrayed and you won’t be the last, so grow up “ 

In anger, Ivan pulled her against the wall.

There was silence between them. Katerina’s eyes muttered fear, his, anger.

“I loved you Katerina“ Ivan said, his voice low. “Like I never loved any woman. Never gave any woman the chance to stare at me twice. But you” he paused. “ I was never enough. Why?”

“You’re still not enough Ivan” she muttered intentionally, almost daring him to respond. 

Her words settled on him making him feel inadequate. He stared at her and flashes of imagined scenes ran through his mind. Slavik holding her, and caressing her, her soft laughter, her body yielding to another man. 

The images shattered him.
He turned sharply, slamming his fist into the wall behind her, his face falling to the ground. 

“Open the door,” she said quietly. “Let me return to my room”

He hesitated, then stepped aside. But before she could leave, he clapped his hand twice. 

A mechanical voice came followed. 

“To deactivate security mode, say the password”

“Sasha” Ivan said flatly. 

Katerina stepped out without another word.
Ivan stood frozen for a while, then sat heavily on his bed,  wondering what had changed, what had caused her to be angry and to detest staying in the same room.


Katerina stormed out  of Ivan’s room, her mind spinning. Hearing her name, Sasha, used as the emergency password, sent a shiver down her spine.

Her name… his password. She gave no extra thought to it, it didn’t matter. Not tonight.

She got to the hallway only to find two guards standing by her door. 

“What are you doing here?” She demanded.
“Following orders ma’am”
Katerina tried to move past them, but they stopped her.

“This room is no longer accessible during late hours.” He said.

“Bloody hell…Ivan!” Her voice echoed through the silent hallway. She looked around helplessly,  her room sealed off, her pride too heavy to drag her back to his

“Fine! Fine. Y’all can keep the door locked up” Katerina said as she settled on the floor folding her legs. She could hear one of them report the situation to Ivan but she cared nonetheless.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She frowned and pulled it out.
A message appeared  on the screen,  from an unknown number.

You’re searching for the answers in the wrong place. Meet me at the docks. Tomorrow. 2 PM. Come alone.

Her heart skipped. The message disappeared. Deleted, right before her eyes.
The docks?
Who was this?
And how did they know she was searching for answers?