22. Konstantin
KONSTANTIN
"It is nothing serious," I assure Rose as she slowly sinks into the water with me. "I simply wish to speak to him man-to-man. It is a sign of respect, after all. He has entrusted me with you and I want to assure him that I am taking care of you."
It's only a half lie.
Until I've met him properly and had a conversation without her brother overshadowing everything, I can't tell her the truth.
It would surely make her worry after everything she's already been through.
Rose settles under the bubbles in front of me and leans back against my chest.
Practically in my lap, my legs frame hers and I wind my arms around her body to cuddle her close and let the hot water soothe away the aches lingering in our muscles and more.
Rose sighs deeply, as if the heat is deflating her, then she runs her fingertips over the back of one of my hands.
Water ripples out from her touch and she gazes down as she strokes up to the fresh bruises covering my knuckles.
"I can't believe we both had to fight," she murmurs. "Although I don't know if I can call what I did fighting."
"Survival is fighting," I reply. "No matter what you did."
"I did nothing. I fell, and I panicked, and I screamed, and I kicked out at a man who was so much stronger than me."
"And you came back to me." My arms tighten around her middle and I press my face into her hair. "That is fighting."
"Calvin fought. I was just…" Her head rocks back and forth. "I was so scared."
"Tell me," I murmur, turning my head so my cheek rests against the crown of her head. "Tell me what happened. Every detail."
While Rose talks about how her day started seeking out tampons she wasn't allergic to, I lather shampoo slowly between my hands and knead my fingers into her hair.
It takes me half a second to locate the lump from where she struck her head when she fell, and I remain tender and slow while working the shampoo into her strands.
Her walk along the river and being disturbed by these assholes reignite the anger in my chest, but I focus on washing her hair until the water runs clear, without a single bubble.
"I will increase your entourage from now on."
"No," Rose replies immediately. "Please don't. I already feel a little smothered."
Smothered.
I've heard that before and it pains me.
"I only wish to keep you safe."
"I know." Rose shifts around to face me and cups my cheek with one wet hand. "Calvin kept me safe and you hired him. I'm safe because of that and by extension, you. I don't need more people following me."
A similar conversation happened once before in the past, and I paid the price dearly.
The pain of it must appear on my face because Rose's brows knit together and she tilts her head while watching me.
"What's wrong?"
"I am fine."
"No… you're worried. I can tell. Is it…" She pauses and her lips press together. "Is it because of your first wife? Lianna?"
Rose, as ever, catches on to even the subtlest of things and hearing Lianna's name coming from her lips is surreal.
I could cover it all up and pretend nothing happened but what good would that do?
Maybe Rose would be more willing to have extra security if she knew the truth.
"Yes," I say eventually. "I do not wish to repeat that."
"What happened?"
A lump forms in my throat around the words I want to say and for a few long seconds, silence stretches between us.
It's broken only by the patter of droplets as Rose moves around to face me and her hands rest on my abdomen.
"Lianna was much like you, at first. We had an arranged marriage as expected, but we…
were not a good match. She was kind and polite and she did her duties as expected of her but she did not look at me with affection, and I could not blame her.
I was busy. Distracted. Working hard and neglecting her without realizing it.
In time, she sought comfort and love with someone else.
Someone who had sinister desires. If I had loved her then I might have seen the signs.
Duty kept us together. I never believed real affection could bloom from such an arrangement. "
My attention drops to Rose and I hold her gaze.
"Until now. You, Rose, are so different."
Her cheeks, already slightly pink from the warmth of the bath, darken and her lips curve into a warm smile. "Are you telling me you have a crush on me?"
"Such a word is not strong enough to describe what you make me feel," I reply honestly. "If Lianna was waves on the beach of my life then you, my dear, are a tsunami."
Rose's eyes widen, and her hand spreads flat against my chest.
"Lianna… invited her lover to stay one night. She snuck him in through the kitchen and he enacted his plan. He assassinated her, and his men killed twenty-seven of mine before they burned my estate to the ground."
Rose's eyes widen so much that the whites of her eyes glimmer around her beautiful irises. "Oh my god."
"It was the worst night of my life." I continue on, unable to stop now that I've started.
"It was a disaster. My generals claimed it highlighted my weakness.
A man who cannot maintain his home has no hope of maintaining a successful business in their eyes.
A poor judge of character makes a pakhan a poor negotiator of deals. "
"So that's why you came to America?" Rose's hand slides up until her palm rests over my heart.
"Yes. A new start, to an extent. And I wanted to live away from the whispers and the accusing eyes.
Even now, I wonder if such a disaster could have been avoided if I had spent more time with her, or doubled the security of the estate so that no one could sneak in.
" Our eyes meet and I hold her gaze while taking her hand in mine.
"It is why I want to meet your father, to bond with your family and ensure you are happy. "
Rose's brows twitch and something sad flickers in her eyes. "I don't think you should blame yourself," she murmurs. "If Lianna was unhappy and didn't tell you, how could you know to fix it?"
"I should have known. As her husband. As her pakhan. It is my job to know everything about everyone, especially those I hold dear."
"Well, you don't know everything about me." Rose's smile softens everything, including the tightness in my chest. "But you have plenty of time to find out."
"Will you let me learn everything?" I ask, gently cupping her face and skimming my thumb over her warm cheek. "What secrets do you hold?"
Her smile turns teasing. "I won't unlock that easily. But…" She turns serious in an instant. "Promise me something?"
"Anything."
"Don't put yourself in risky situations like that ever again. Seeing you come home covered in blood?" She shakes her head and bites down on her lower lip. "That was horrible."
"I cannot promise that," I say while drawing her closer to me. "But I will promise to always come home."
It's a weak promise at best, but the smile Rose gives me as I kiss her is what makes it worth it. Having her to come home to is stronger than any other motivation to make it back home safe.
The next day, the hunt for General Zangier finally turns up a lead closer to home than I would expect.
So close, in fact, that I'm still in my office when Zangier himself strides through the open door as if he owns the place.
My phone slips from my hand, leaving Ethan's doctor to drone on into the silence while I snatch my gun from the table and aim it directly at Zangier.
"Give me one reason I should not shoot you dead right here," I snarl as fury swirls through my chest like a fog.
"You attack my wife. Nearly kill her and my guard.
I learn that you made a move on her and then you walk in here like your life is not on the line?
" The safety clicks off with a swipe of my thumb.
"Your years of service are the only reason I have not executed you right where you stand. "
And I'm close.
The two breathless guards outside the door hover over the threshold, waiting for my decision, and the urge to kill him crawls down my arm like a fever.
I have to know why.
"I came as fast as I could," General Zangier gasps. He’s oddly breathless as well. "Please, sir, you have to believe that everything I have done up until now has been for you. Always for you."
"What?"
He takes a step forward and I lift my gun, forcing him to remain where he is. "Do. Not. Move."
"Please. You must listen to me. My loyalty to you has been unwavering for years; you know this. I would never do anything to harm you. I have always been on your side, haven't I? Please, let me explain and you will understand."
"You have ten seconds."
"Your wife is cheating on you."
I almost don't hear him.
Reflex forces my grip on my gun to tighten and my heart begins to pound against my ribs like a drum.
Heat flushes up my spine and the silence drags on for so long that General Zangier's face melts into confusion.
"Did you hear me? I said your wife—"
"I heard you!" I snap. "What… what bullshit are you saying?"
"I can prove it," he says and he cautiously steps forward.
"I have proof. You must believe me. I suspected it during the party and I have been doing everything I can to prove it.
Yes, my men were there yesterday, but they were not trying to harm your wife.
They were trying to apprehend your wife and the traitor laughing behind your back! "
General Zangier very slowly pulls his phone from his pocket.
After a few taps, he offers it to me.
I snatch it and turn the screen upward.
Coldness spreads through my entire body like a flash freeze as I lock onto a picture of Calvin and Rose by the riverside.
His hands are on her arms and her lips are on his.
A kiss.
Rose is cheating on me… with Calvin!?