Chapter 22 - Katerina
“Mrs. Andreev, you have a visitor,” Belle calls from the front of the studio.
I look up from the sewing machine, my foot hovering above the pedal, pausing mid-hem along the edge of the jacket I’m working on.
“What was that, Belle?” I ask, not having heard her properly over the sound of the machines.
She sticks her head around the corner and is about to say it again when Aliyah jumps out from behind her, “It’s me, I came to visit!” she says, excitedly.
“Ali!” I say happily. “Give me two minutes. I just want to finish stitching this one piece; it’ll bother me if I leave it half done.”
“Go ahead, I’m going to look around. This place looks incredible. So luxurious.”
Ali disappears into the front of the studio again, and I press my foot back down on the pedal to stitch the last of the seam.
When I come to find her, she’s browsing through one of my sketchbooks.
“Kat, these are so beautiful! I can’t wait for the next gala so I can get you to design me something special for it.” She doesn’t look up at me, her eyes are glued to the dressed I’ve been designing for my client’s daughter’s graduation.
“Those aren’t really gala-level gowns. Here, look at these,” I say, sliding another sketchbook towards her.
She pushes the other aside and starts paging through the new one.
Her mouth open in surprise. “How do you come up with these incredible ideas? I mean, some of them are so simple, yet no one has thought of them yet. Here, like the way you did the straps on this one. And this one, with the design running down between the cleavage. I think that’s my favorite one. Wow.” She looks flabbergasted.
“I’d love to design something for you one day,” I smile, standing next to her and slipping my arm around her waist to hug her hello. “How are you? Why am I so lucky to have you visit me today?” I ask.
“I don’t need a reason to visit my newest sister,” she laughs, closing the book and sliding onto a high chair next to the workbench, spinning around on it. “And I also want to meet Marie soon. Because technically, she’s also my sister by default.”
“Marie would love you. She’s also dying to meet everyone, but obviously, my brothers are an issue.”
“Pfft,” Ali scoffs. “Brothers are easy to work around. Didn’t you guys ever sneak out?”
“Sure, once or twice. Mostly, instead of sneaking out, we would just tell them we were going somewhere else. Like somewhere that didn’t sound too dangerous or anything. Somewhere boring.”
“Okay, so she can do that—and then we can get Tania and Rose-Ann, Sera, and you and me, and we can have a girls’ night out. We can do like a sunset cocktails evening, so Marie won’t even have to sneak back in too late?” She sits up dead straight in the chair, her eyes wide with excited hope.
“That sounds like a brilliant idea. I haven’t had a girls’ night out in…I actually don’t remember the last time I had one. I’ll call Marie in a bit. Where should we go?”
“Oh, that golden place, at the waterfront. You always get the best sunset views there, especially in late autumn.”
“What’s it called? I’ll have to give her all the details, we’re new to the city, remember.”
“Right, of course, it’s got a Japanese name, and everything inside it is gold and crystal. I’ll google it. I never remember it.”
Ali fusses over her phone for a second. “Koganeiro. That’s it. Oh, Google says it means golden. That’s pretty.” She types in something else, then looks up at me. My phone chimes. “I sent you the address and stuff. You can forward it to Marie.”
Ali slides off the chair, a mischievous grin on her face. “I’m going to try on dresses from your collection in the back. Maybe I can persuade you to let me wear one of them on our girls’ night out?” She lifts her brows, hopeful.
“Go ahead, I’m sure you’ll find something you love. Look at the rack to the left of the room. The one on the right was custom-designed for a client.”
“On the left!” she calls out, confirming, as she disappears into the back.
I pick up my phone to message Marie, but as I do, it rings. Yulian, again. He has been calling me constantly since the security videos in the studio went down. He has the guy coming in to fix them later today, but in the meantime, he hates not being able to check in on me.
Sure, some girls might think it’s creepy. But I love it. I think it's freaking sexy that he cares so much about me, because while he’s looking out for me like that, he’s also given me all the freedom I could ever want.
“Hello, my gorgeous husband,” I grin when I answer.
“Oh, I love the sound of that.”
“I thought you might. So, are you checking in on me again? Making sure I haven’t run away or set the place on fire?” I giggle.
“I’m sorry, I hate that the CCTV isn’t working. I hope I’m not driving you crazy?”
He sounds sheepish, but also like he has no intention of not constantly checking on me.
“I like it when you drive me crazy,” I smile, my heart feeling full. “But I’m also wondering, if you call me every hour now that it’s broken…how often did you check on it when it was working?”
He chuckles, not wanting to answer.
“Yulian?” I laugh, teasing him. “Was it a lot?”
“I just leave the live feed running in my workshop or on the corner of my laptop screen when I’m working. You’re always there with me when I’m doing other things. That’s how I like it.”
“You’re totally in love with me, aren’t you. Like head over heels, completely smitten,” I tease him again.
“Mm, I think you might be right. I think I have a little problem. Do you think someone could help me with this?” he asks seriously.
“I’ve read articles about this online. The only cure for what you have is to take your wife on a tropical island vacation and spoil her rotten.”
“Is that so?” he cracks up laughing. “I’d better make those arrangements then. For the sake of health and safety and all.”
Since we got married, since he told me it had nothing to do with obligation and everything to do with how he feels about me, I’ve been completely falling for him.
At first, I thought, this man is incredible, and while I’m scared to love him for a thousand reasons, I want to, and I figured I could slowly learn to stop being afraid. But there was nothing slow about it.
In Hawaii, I just let myself fall. And I fell hard.
He’s the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me, and I can’t imagine my life without him.
“How is work going today, kitten?” he asks.
“Ali came to visit me; she’s in the back trying on all the test designs I did to showcase.”
“Of course she is. She’ll rob you blind if you let her,” he laughs.
“It’s okay, she’s choosing a dress for our girls’ night out.”
“Am I allowed to join you?”
“You can’t. You’re not a girl.”
“Jeez. You play a tough game. I guess I’ll have to sit that one out. But I expect to hear all about it when you get home afterwards. Do you want me to arrange a limo for you guys?”
“Really? The girls would love that! I’ll sort out what night we’re going, then you can arrange it for us.”
“And of course a VIP table. You just let me know where and when, and I’ll do the rest.”
“Oh, Yul, I have to go, a customer just walked in.”
“Love you, kitten, call me later.”
“Love you, bye,” I hang up, still smiling. Dammit, that man is amazing. How did I get so lucky? He’s sexy and romantic and fun, and he goes out of his way to make me feel special.
“Hi, sorry about that, welcome to my design studio,” I walk over to my customer and shake his hand. “Were you looking for something in particular?”
He’s tall, rugged, almost beast-like, with wild brown curly hair and dark, cold eyes.
I do get a lot of mafia customers, so I can’t judge them for looking dangerous.
They pay well, and of course, they come mostly because of the designs Yulian and I wore at the gala.
They’re good clients. But this man has my skin tingling with alertness.
“Hi, Katerina, my name is Mikhail. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he takes my hand, and instead of shaking it, he caresses it. Spikes of cold fear shoot up my spine.
This is Mikhail. Mikhail, whom I was supposed to marry.
Even though I’ve never seen him before in my life, the chills he’s giving me are setting off every alarm bell in my body. I know this is him.
Playing it cool, I walk back to my workshop table, standing behind it and fussing over a sketchbook. “Well, Mikhail, what are you interested in? Something for you, or something for your wife, maybe?” I ask casually.
He steps up to my workbench as I slip my phone off the top and try to hide it in my hands beneath the surface so I can type out a message.
But I can’t see what I’m doing. I’ll need to distract him somehow.
My heart is racing, my entire body starting to shake.
Why is he here? It can’t be for anything good. I want to glance over my shoulder towards the back room, my thoughts on Ali, and fearing that she might come out here. But I can’t give anything away. Play it cool. Stay calm.
Mikhail hasn’t replied. He’s just staring at me with his cold eyes.
“A suit? For an event?” I suggest, still sticking to my narrative and not letting him know I’ve realized who he is.
But he laughs, dry and full of malice. “Oh, sweet, pretty little thing. We both know I’m not here for a suit.”
“Oh,” I mutter, my throat dry and raspy. My hands are shaking harder now. Visibly, so I keep them hidden. I don’t want to show fear.
As I step back from the table, deciding I could possibly make an escape into the back room and slam the door closed before he gets around the table, he spots the phone in my hand.
“I wouldn’t do anything stupid, little thing. My guards are outside. I assure you, whatever you’re planning won’t work. We’ll tear this place apart in a matter of seconds.”
My heart sinks. “Put your phone down, girl.”
I do as I’m told, without any other option available to me, because I can’t take risks when I’m not the only one in danger.
Ali is here. I wish Ali weren’t here. I don’t want her to get caught up in this.
“So, what do you think?” he asks, slowly turning with his arms out, putting himself on display.
“This is what you should be married to. A real man. A man with substance. A man with balls,” he grabs his balls and makes a crude gesture to me.
I scrunch my nose in disgust. My skin is crawling with tension.
What do I do? How can I get him to go away?
“Oh, the pretty little thing doesn’t know what it’s like to have a real man yet,” he taunts me.
“What do you want, Mikhail?” I snap, losing my patience and with growing concern for Ali.
“You fucked up my plans, girl. The alliance I had set up with your brother was going to go through like a hot knife through butter, and then you went and fucked it all up. I’m not happy, Katerina.
” He stalks around the table towards me.
I step back and end up trapped against a wall.
He pins me there, his bulking mass pressed against me as I fight the urge to gag as he laughs and rocks his hips against me.
“You have no idea what you missed out on. But it’s not too late, you know,” he hisses in my ear.
I press my hands against his chest and try to push him away, but he doesn’t budge.
“What do you want?” I snap again, keeping my voice low so Ali doesn’t hear.
He grabs my wrist and tugs me forward. “You’re coming with me. Quietly. If you make a sound, we’ll tear this place down. If you fight, we’ll tear this place down. Do you have staff in the back? Well, kiss them goodbye…”
“Stop it. I’ll come with you. Just leave my staff alone. They have nothing to do with any of this,” I plead.
“A wise choice, little thing,” he brushes his finger beneath my jaw. “Come along.”
Mikhail gestures for me to walk ahead of him. My eyes take one last desperate glance at my phone, but I can’t risk trying to grab it. I can’t risk anything now.
He leads me out of my studio, into the passages of the mall. I walk calmly alongside him. My mind is spinning. I might have a plan. Maybe, if I can get him to believe me.
“What are you going to do with me, Mikhail?” I ask, void of emotion.
I sound calm and collected.
He glances at me with a sly grin. “I’m going to marry you and keep you for myself. It’s not that often that a man gets a chance to take something so beautiful and keep it. Your brother won’t mind. He agreed once. He’ll probably thank me for sorting out the issue with that Andreev.”
“You want me to come and live with you?” I say in shock, “But what about all of my things? Everything I need?”
“Girl, I’ll get you new things,” he huffs.
“I’m a fashion designer, Mikhail. My clothing is all one of a kind. I’ve already agreed to go with you without a fight; you can at least have enough respect to allow me to stop at my place and collect some of my belongings.”
“You mean, your boyfriend’s place?” he scoffs.
“No, my place. Yulian and I live in a penthouse in the city, but I have my own private escape that I’m building outside of the city. No one is there. It’s still under construction. But I store my things there because the penthouse is too small.”
“Go figure, an Andreev can’t even properly take care of his woman, making her live in a place that’s too small. Fine. We can stop, but you'd better make it quick. And the guards are following everywhere you go.”