Chapter 24 - Beatrice
Five days after the fire, I found myself back in my childhood home, with Arko by my side. My brothers sat across the long conference table, with armed men from both families standing outside the door.
Just how the hell did we even get here?
Six months ago, if you’d asked, the Pavlovs and Lebedevs couldn’t even breathe in the same room. Now, we were sitting together like one big, happy family. When Caspian called requesting this meeting, Arko hadn’t even put up a fight.
He simply told me that we had to go, and I was coming with him.
I didn’t know what business I had being here, since there was no other woman present, but something in my heart told me that this could be it.
The turning point for peace. After my brothers helped with Anton’s rescue, and ever since they watched Arko pull me out of the fire, things have been calm on the family feud front.
Thank god.
My mind was half-drifting to the events of the past week, thinking about how my lungs still hurt, when Caspian called the meeting to order.
“We need to discuss what happened at the distillery,” he said, his eyes locked on Arko’s.
“We do.” Arko gave him a singular nod. “Do we know who it was?”
“We couldn’t catch a single one of those bastards,” Caspian growled. “But my men have been scouring the city.”
“So have mine.” Arko frowned. “Turns out, we have plenty of enemies in common.”
“Whoever it was,” Caspian agreed, “wanted us to fight each other and not them.”
Right then, I saw the opportunity to wager for peace. “They could have succeeded, you know?” I said casually, playing with the bracelets stacked on my wrist. “If you all keep up this enmity, there could be more attacks of a similar nature.”
“We’ll never let that happen to you again.” Arko glowered at me, and to my surprise, Caspian agreed with him.
“We never really thanked you, Arko,” Caspian said, looking mildly uncomfortable, but I saw him catch Dante’s encouraging wink. “For what you did for Beatrice that day.”
“It wasn’t something I had to think about,” Arko said, turning a soft look on me. “Besides, you came through for my brother.”
A quiet, introspective silence fell over the table, and I wondered, was this what peace felt like?
“Family comes first, right?” said Giovanni, smiling at me, then Arko.
“Always,” Arko agreed, as I felt my throat clench with emotions. “But do we know who came for ours?”
“We have our suspects. Could be the Novikoff’s or the Volkov’s. Could be anyone, really,” Caspian said tightly. I could tell it bothered my brother, not knowing where the enemies lay.
“The Volkovs, of course.” Arko sat up straighter. “Did I tell you about the time they chased Beatrice and me?”
As Arko started telling them about the time the men chased us into that nightclub, I was thrown back into memories of my own.
I’d never forget that night. It was the first time Arko and I had kissed, after I’d told him about my fear of fire. I thought back to how far we’d come, from him taking me in to the fear he felt when he pulled me out of the disaster at the distillery.
By the time Arko finished, my brothers were all leaning forward. “It could be them,” Federico said what was on everyone’s mind.
“Or we could be wrong,” Arko reminded them, in that cautious way of his.
“Whoever it is,” Caspian said, meeting Arko’s gaze. “I think it would be wise for our families to work together until we know better.”
“I agree,” said Arko. It felt like a truce had been met, at least a temporary one.
As I felt the meeting come to a close, I felt my shoulders stiffen with anxiety.
I was prepared, in my mind and heart, to fight my brothers all over again, certain that they would once again fight Arko to let me stay.
This time, though, I had all my answers prepared. I was planning to leave with Arko, whether they liked it or not, and I prayed they’d put a stop to expecting anything different down the line.
“Before we go further,” Arko said, cutting through my thoughts as he rose to stand, “there’s something I need to address.”
There was something serious in his tone that made me snap my neck up to look at him. His jaw clenched, and he refused to meet my eye, and that’s when I felt my heart sink.
Something told me whatever it was he was about to say wasn’t good.
“I’m letting Beatrice go,” he said, and I felt like the floor dropped out from beneath me, certain I’d misheard.
“W…what?” I managed to stammer out, while my brothers looked at each other with surprise.
Arko still didn’t look at me, and I felt my heart crack just a little. After everything that happened between us, after he let me fall in love with me, he decided to just let me go without even discussing it with me?
My head spun in circles as he continued to speak. “I’ve realized that when I took her, I took her for all the wrong reasons. Somewhere along the way, things changed, yes, but I’m seeing it clearly now that I’ve put her in repeated danger.”
“Arko!” I hissed, reaching for his hand, but he pulled away before I could touch him.
“She should be with you,” he said, nodding at Caspian. “I can’t keep her hostage anymore, and so, if needed, we can file the divorce papers in time.”
Divorce? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. His words were a shamble of a mess in my head, and I felt like my chest had hollowed out. The way he delivered this message, so cold and detached, without even discussing it with me, made no sense.
Not after everything.
“You sure about this?” Caspian asked, looking skeptical. I didn’t even let Arko respond as I leaped to my feet, forcing him to look at me.
“Last time I checked,” I nearly shrieked, “there were two people in a marriage. Don’t I have a say in this?”
Arko finally looked at me, and the pain in his eyes nearly broke me. “This is for your own good, Bea.”
Bea. He still called me Bea, and I knew I hadn’t imagined that tenderness in his voice. Despite whatever bullshit he was spewing, he still cared about me.
And that’s when I understood where this was coming from. I revisited every word he said on fast forward in my head, and over and over again, all I heard him saying was that he was letting me go because I wasn’t safe with him.
“Don’t you get it, you foolish, foolish man?” I cried out. “I don’t want us to end.”
The room had gone deadly silent, but I didn’t care that my brothers were there.
“You almost died in that fire because of me, Bea,” Arko said, his voice strained.
“I went into that fire by choice, and I wasn’t even hurt!” I tried to protest.
“It should never have been a choice for you to make!” He planted his hands on the table, his face inches away from mine, twisted in agony. “When it mattered most, when you were trapped in that burning building, I failed to protect you.”
I gasped, understanding what was happening here. He didn’t just think he brought danger to my life; he thought he had failed me.
“Is that what this is about? You think you failed me?” I asked incredulously, my eyebrows hitting the roof of my head.
“I know I failed you!” He sounded like he’d been gutted. “Your worst fear is fire, and you ended up in one because of me. How can I even say I’m capable of protecting you after that?”
“But nothing happened, Arko!” I inched closer, forcing him to see how I felt in the depths of my eyes. “I walked in by choice because I thought you were in danger. You didn’t put me in that situation!
“You could have died waiting for me!” He shook his head.
“But I didn’t die! I’m right here!” I reached over to clasp a hand over his. “And I’m not leaving.”
Arko’s eyes flashed. “This isn’t up for debate, Beatrice.”
“The hell it isn’t!” I pulled back and crossed my arms, daring him to defy me.
“I’m setting you free,” he insisted, louder this time. “Giving you your life back. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“I don’t want my old life back!” My voice rose to match his. “I want the life I have now. With you.”
He shook his head, and I could see the walls going up behind his eyes. “You’re confused. The trauma of these past few months has taken a toll on you.”
“Don’t you dare dismiss my feelings like that.” My voice shook with fury. “I knew exactly what I was doing when I went into that building, Arko. I knew the risk, and I took it anyway.”
“Why?” he demanded. “Why would you risk your life like that?”
“Because I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you!” The words exploded out of me. “Because the idea of you being trapped or hurt was worse than any fire!”
The room fell so quiet I could hear the clock ticking on the wall. Arko stared at me, his eyes wide with shock.
“Jesus Christ,” Dante’s voice broke the silence. “Will you two just admit you’re in love with each other already? The rest of us figured it out days ago.”
My head snapped around to look at my brother, who was leaning back in his chair with an amused expression on his face.
“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Beside me, Arko had gone quiet, like he too was confused by this turn of events.
“Oh, come on,” Giovanni chimed in next. “It’s painfully obvious. Why do you think we’ve been playing nice these past few days? Sure, I wasn’t keen on whatever you two had developed, but honestly, we can all see you’re in love.”
I looked back at Arko, whose face had gone completely still, like he was afraid to move. I searched his eyes, looking for confirmation of what my heart already knew.
“Is it true?” I asked softly. “Do you love me?”
“Of course I do, but you deserve better than me,” he whispered.
“I don’t want better. I want you,” I said, with tears welling in my eyes.
“For fuck’s sake,” Caspian muttered. “Can we take this conversation elsewhere and get back to business? And Arko, if it helps, Bea’s all yours. We’re kind of tired of her drama anyway.”
Heat rushed to my face as I realized how intimate things had gotten in front of my family. My brothers were now giggling, and they positively laughed as I playfully flicked an eraser at Caspian.
I looked over at Arko, at the light in his eyes, the utter disbelief and joy on his face, and whispered, “I’d like to believe you’re thinking straight again. Can we go home now?”
He took my hand in his and smiled. “Be careful, Bea. Once we leave here, I might never let you go again.”
Dante gagged just as I leaned close and whispered in his ear, “Deal.”
***
When Caspian and I got home that night, Caspian insisted on pouring us drinks so we could talk. He handed me the glass, and when our fingers grazed, the spark that went shooting up my arm was one more thing to solidify why this felt right.
For a moment, we just stared at each other, and then Caspian sighed and nestled into the couch beside me.
He reached over to take my hand in his, twining his fingers through mine.
“I thought I was going to lose my mind when I couldn’t find you after the explosion,” he said. “And when I realized you were in the fire…” His voice broke. “I’ve never been that scared in my life.”
I reached up to touch his face, my fingers tracing the lines of worry. “I need you to know something.”
“What’s that?” A startled look crossed over his already worried face.
“Back at the distillery, I wasn’t scared at all.”
“You weren’t?” He furrowed his brows.
I reached into the pocket of my jeans, and his eyes traced the movement of my hand. When I pulled out the lighter, his eyes widened with surprise.
“How could I have been,” I asked softly, twisting the lighter in my hand, “when I had this all along? Arko, you didn’t fail me. You’ve made me stronger in ways you don’t even realize. You’ve made me feel powerful, strong, and heard. You’ve made me feel bigger than anyone’s ever made me.”
“Do you mean it?” he asked, his voice catching in his throat.
“Every. Damn. Word.” I put aside my drink and turned to face him fully, looking into his eyes. “Don’t you get it, Arko Pavlov, that I love you with my whole damn heart. I’d rather be nowhere else but here, by your side.”
His fingers closed around my hand, which he clasped shut over the lighter. When he looked up at me, his eyes were full of fire and love and heat. Then, with loving gentleness, he cupped my face in his hands.
“I love you so much, Bea,” he said, choking on his words. “More than I thought possible. That’s why I wanted to let you go, because I love you too much to risk losing you.”
“Then don’t let me go,” I whispered. “Keep me close enough that you never have to worry about losing me again.”
He inched closer, until the heat of his body and mine were one and only. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as his lips grazed mine in a soft, sweet kiss.
“Remind me never to make such a fool of myself again, like I did today,” he laughed against my mouth when he pulled away from the kiss. “God, I love you.”
“Oh, trust me. You so much as think of letting me go, and I’ll haunt you to the death,” I teased back. “Only because I love you too.”