Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Amy
“How are you feeling this morning?” Alexei’s voice broke through my half-dream-like state before I had fully come awake. And I smiled with my eyes still shut. But just for a second, before all of the memories of the last few days came rushing back.
For just a second, I had thought I was back in bed with my husband and about to have one of our passionate breakfasts in bed, but no. Sure I was in bed, and he was here as well. But it wasn’t the same anymore.
It wasn’t like he shared the bed with me. The doctors had put me on bed rest, and Alexei was taking it literally. That meant he slept in a different room and only came in to wait on me hand and foot.
Which was sweet but—
Violet was still in the house. In the four days since I had found out I was pregnant, I heard her high-pitched voice and giggles as they talked together.
“Beautiful?” his voice was even closer, and the bed dipped as he stretched out next to me on the bed. I kept my eyes closed.
“Amy?” Rough fingers stroked down my cheek. “I know you are awake. Your breathing has changed. How are you feeling?”
Slowly, I opened my eyes to find him only inches away, his eyes glued to my face. “I’m fine, Alexei. What are you doing here?”
For a second, he looked confused. “I always bring you breakfast.”
Frowning, I pushed myself up. That was true, since the hospital, he always brought me breakfast. But he didn’t climb into bed with me.
Usually, he sat on the chair and discussed something completely mundane like the weather with me.
The fact that he was right here and touching me was setting off alarm bells.
“What’s going on, Alexei?” I leaned back against the carved wooden headboard and closed my eyes as a dizzy spell took over me.
I was feeling better, but I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent. And these little dizzy spells were still hitting me if I moved too quickly.
“It’s—”
“Is it my sister?” My eyes flew open. Just for a few minutes there, I had forgotten her.
He shook his head. “No, Alessia is still the same.” He sounded almost sad. “But I’ve made arrangements for you to go and sit with her tomorrow for a little while.”
Throwing my arms around his neck, I squealed my thanks. These last few days without being able to see her had been hell. I didn’t like not being by her bedside.
“I thought you might like to see her, but you have to promise that you will get plenty of rest today and tonight.”
The way he said tonight made me pause. I untangled my arms from around his neck. “What’s happening tonight?”
It might have been my imagination, but I was sure he looked away guiltily.
“Alexei, what is happening tonight?”
“I’m throwing a party,” he sighed quietly.
“I can come down. Honestly, I’m so bored here. I feel like Rapunzel locked in a tower. I can sit in the corner and just chat with Gabriella.”
“Gabriella and Misha aren’t coming. She doesn’t get along with—” Too late, he stopped talking, and at the same time, it felt like my heart stopped beating for just a few seconds before realization and acceptance swept over me.
“Violet, the party is for Violet.” It wasn’t a question because I already knew the answer.
“It’s just a small thing, Amy,” he reached for my hand and entwined our fingers. I looked at his big hand swamping mine for what felt like a long time.
I’d been a fool to think anything would ever change. Baby or not, wife or not. He was always going to choose her. I slid my hand from his and tucked it under the bed covers out of sight so he didn’t see how much it was shaking.
God, I was a fool.
“Just her reintroduction into society and a small baby shower.”
He said it so quietly that I almost missed the last bit. My head whipped around. “You’re throwing her a baby shower when you won’t even tell anyone about our child?”
“It’s not like that, Violet is further along than you are, Amy, and you know from your own medical training that anything can happen in these first few months.”
“Get out.”
He did a double-take. “I think these are the famous pregnancy hormones I keep hearing about. You don’t mean that. I would like to spend time with you before I have to leave.”
“Leave,” I said again, more forcefully this time.
It was such a strange thing because I always thought becoming a mother would make me softer, and yet here I was, full of rage.
“Amy, this stress isn’t good for you or the baby. You heard what the doctor said.”
Oh, I heard alright, but Alexei didn’t seem to realize that the thing that stressed me out the most was Violet still being in the house.
And now he was throwing her a party to introduce her to everyone again, like she was his wife and not his mistress.
It was enough to turn my stomach and make me feel sick.
Vomit rushed up my throat. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I rushed to the bathroom, emptying the contents of my already empty stomach into the toilet before collapsing down onto the floor and pressing clammy head against the cold bathroom tiles.
Finally, I pushed myself upwards, brushed my teeth, splashed water, and went back to an empty room.
Alexei had gone.
I sighed heavily as I climbed back into bed.
Of course, Alexei was gone. He was never around when I needed him.
I had watched the party unfold from the shadows at the top of the stairs, but not for long. It had been enough to see Violet cling to Alexei’s arm, wearing a clingy stain dress the same colour as her name. It showed off her baby bump, and it was perfect, like one of those fake ones.
Not that I was surprised, everything about her was perfect, so why shouldn’t her baby bump be the same?
I’d stayed hidden in the shadows for no more than three minutes before I had had enough. They were a beautiful couple. I could admit that Violet had all the grace to act like the real mistress of this house, unlike little awkward me.
It wasn’t until that moment when I watched her tilt her head back to stare at Alexei and laugh that I realized how out of place I was being his wife.
That was when I had gone back to my room and hidden under my covers, quietly crying because none of this was fair.
He had made me fall in love with him. I was married to him and carrying his child, and now he was downstairs with another woman.
“Crying again, little dove?”
The familiar shrill tone of Violet’s voice made me jolt upwards. Clutching the blanket to my chest, I watched her close the door behind her with a soft click. She took a step forward and studied me under the dim light of the lamp, and then her lips curled.
“So it’s true.” Her eyes raked me up and down. “You really are pregnant.”
I didn’t know how she could tell just from looking at me. I wasn’t showing yet. “What’s true?” I asked, a croak in my voice. “What are you doing here, Violet? Shouldn’t you be downstairs enjoying your party?”
I couldn’t help it. My voice was laced with sarcasm.
“Oh, I am enjoying it.” She crossed her arms around her chest and grinned at me. It was the most unfriendly smile I’d ever seen. “I am an amazing hostess, and Alexei, ”she sighed theatrically like a woman in love, “well, Alexei is always so accommodating to my needs and wants.”
I remained silent. What was I meant to say to that?
“You see,” she crept forward, “I was always meant to be the mistress of this house. I was always meant to be his wife. Ever since we were teenagers. You aren’t right for him.
You must see that. I mean,” her eyes swept over my dishevelled hair.
“Look at you, and then look at me. I am the woman Alexei deserves to have by his side.”
I bristled. I might not be as polished and beautiful as she was. But it wasn’t just looks that made a good woman, and I knew the woman in front of me had a soul as black as night. “Yet he married me,” I whispered before I could stop myself.
Throwing back her long blonde hair, she giggled.
“He married you because the old man wanted him to. He told me all the details, Amy. He didn’t marry you because he loves you.
He married you because, for some reason, he wants to make old Nikolai happy in his final years.
Do you really think he is going to stay married to you when the old man dies?
” She rolled her eyes. “Hopefully that won’t be too long. ”
“Nikolai is a good man.” I snapped back, straightening more as she took another step forward. “He’s got many, many years left.”
Was she really wishing an old man dead? She really was a horrible person.
“I know you wish that was true because you want to keep your claws in Alexei, but let me make myself clear.” Now, at the side of the bed, she leaned over me, menacingly.
“He isn’t yours to keep. You know that, right?
You know that he will always choose this baby and me.
” She reached down for me. “This lame attempt to trap him with a child of your own won’t work. ”
She slipped her fingers around my throat and squeezed, but not enough to stop my breath. Paralyzed by fear, all I could was stare up at her with wide, terrified eyes.
“Scream for him, Amy,” she continued in her sing-song voice. “Call out for help and realize once and for all that he will never come for you.”
Her bony fingers tightened around my throat, and my hands went to claw at the back of her hands as I desperately tried to loosen her grip. Leaning close, I almost gagged at the smell of alcohol on her breath. She had been clearly drinking, even if she was pregnant.
Blackness swam around the edge of my vision as I tried to cling to consciousness. The pressure only increased.
“I can end your miserable existence any time I want, Amy, just remember that.” Her thumb pressed against my windpipe. “I can end you and the bastard you are carrying, and Alexei won’t lift a finger to help you. Do the right thing and disappear before I make you.”
The sound of heavy footsteps sounded outside the door, and she straightened. Her hands lifted from my throat to press against my forehead.
“Just rest, Amy. You shouldn’t stress yourself. It’s bad for the baby,” she cooed as the door swung open and Alexei stepped inside.
I sucked in a much-needed breath, tears still wet on my face.
“What’s going on in here?” Rushing forward, he glanced between the two of us, his eyes darting around the room. “What are you doing here, Violet?”
“I was just checking on Amy. I could hear her crying, so I just wanted to check she was OK. Isn’t that right, little dove?”
I scooted back away from them both as far as I could. My hand fluttered on my throat. She glared at me, almost daring me to tell him the truth. “I was a little thirsty. I think Violet was going to get me a glass of water.”
Alexei muttered something in Russian. “Amy, you can get your own water, surely?” His eyes locked on the untouched glass on the nightstand, and he frowned.
“I don’t mind getting her a fresh glass. She’s such a precious little thing.”
“It’s fine. Sorry, I didn’t see it,” I said quickly, my throat sore and raspy. “Thank you, though.”
“Anytime, and remember what I said.” She smiled at me like a shark would smile at a fish before it ate it.
Oh, I would remember everything. “I will.” Our eyes clashed, and her smile grew as she clung to my husband’s arm. Draping herself against his side.
“Would you like me to sit with you for a while, Amy?” Alexei’s question was unexpected. Violet’s smile faded.
“No,” I said flatly. “I’m just going to sleep. You should go and enjoy the rest of Violet’s party.”
It wasn’t a lie, I did want to sleep, but more than that, I wanted Violet out of my room. She was dangerous, and I suspected I wasn’t even seeing the worst of it yet.
“OK.” Bending down, he kissed the top of my head.
I didn’t need to look at Violet’s face to know she was pissed. Arm in arm, I watched them leave.
“Don’t you ever go into my wife’s room again, Violet.” I heard him say as the door closed. “Stay the hell away from her.”
“But—”
“No buts,” he snapped back.
“I’m just trying to make things less awkward between us all. I’d like to be her friend as well, Alexei.” Her voice sounded so sad that I almost felt sorry for her. “But I don’t think she likes me very much. I think she would like to get rid of me.”
“Amy won’t hurt you, just stay out of her room,” Alexei said softly, like it was me that had attacked her and not the other way around.