Chapter 3
Chapter three
Distant
Kira sat outside on the balcony, overlooking a plain garden.
She sipped her tea, barely paying attention to the servants darting around.
After spending much of the night crying, Kira deduced that this was all just a misunderstanding and that Maxim and she needed to talk.
‘Communication was key,’ wasn’t that what all those marriage books said?
She read a few in preparation, hoping to come into this with her best foot forward.
But none of them talked about what to do if your spouse didn’t want to touch you.
It can be fixed, she assured herself.
Kira set her cup down in preparation and waited for her husband to join her for breakfast. The muffins sat just out of reach, and though her gaze kept coming back to them, she refused to give in.
It was annoying to accept that she ate more when she was upset.
It was something Yakov pointed out years ago as an offhand comment, but one that stuck with her.
Every time she was angry, sad, or aggravated, and she was searching the cabinets for a snack, her father’s comment would push her out of the room and away from the temptation.
An hour passed, and she still sat alone. Kira glanced about and waved to Lydia, who rushed over. “Is Mr. Morozov coming down?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, if he didn’t tell you. But Mr. Morozov left on a three-week business trip.”
“He what?”
She dug into her frock and pulled out a note. “He left this for you.”
Kira slowly took it, and Lydia went about shooing all the other workers away to give her privacy. When the balcony doors closed, Kira opened it.
You will remain in the house. No visitors. And if I get a call from your father, the consequences will not be pleasant.
He signed at the bottom with his original last name.
He refused to take the Morozov name, despite having changed it for the wedding.
She felt a sting of pity for him. He was being forced to do something he didn’t want to do.
She doubted she would have handled it any differently if she didn’t want to get married.
But now it was too late. There was no divorce in the mafia.
They were in this together, and whether he liked it or not, he was her husband, and they needed to get along.
Kira dropped it on the table, and though tears wanted to come, she refused to let them. This was temporary. Pain was temporary. It wasn’t going to ruin her day. Kira reached across the table and snatched a muffin, taking a swift, spiteful, regrettable bite. One she promptly spat up in her napkin.
No. I’m fine. I just need something to occupy my thoughts.
She turned her attention to the dilapidated lands and the miserable gardener who was clipping away at an overgrown bush. Kira pushed herself out of her chair.
For hours, she worked in the yard. Every stab with the shovel, she imagined Maxim’s laugh as she stood in her lingerie in front of him. She was too focused to cry, but it brought a sharp pain to her heart, and also a determination. She was going to get through to him. Somehow.
Kira was elbow-deep in dirt when she received a phone call.
Lydia rushed out to the garden, hopping over torn-out bushes and weeds.
The gardener had tried to help, but after too much pushback, he stood twenty feet back in aggravation.
Kira wiped sweat with the back of her hand and brushed the dirt off on her dress before propping the phone against her ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” Luerna whispered. “Sorry to call you. I’m just checking up on you.”
“Oh yeah?” Kira bit back, digging into the dirt again. “Need some news for Papa?”
“What? What’s going on?”
“You lied to me.” Kira stabbed the dirt over and over again, resenting every moment she trusted her sister. She thought that out of everyone, Luerna would want the best for her. Luerna, who took on the role of her mother since her real mother never really stuck around.
“About what? I never hid the fact that it was gonna hurt sometimes.”
“No, not about that. You said Maxim came to you. You said he was interested in me.”
“I did! He was!”
Could Luerna be true? Did it even matter? “Papa set it up.” Kira rubbed a tear off on her nose only to smudge mud against her skin. “Maxim didn’t want to marry me.”
There was a moment of silence before Luerna whispered, “Oh, no, honey.”
Her sympathy eased the anger, and for a moment, she wanted to bury her face in Luerna’s lap and feel her sister’s fingers through her hair. Tears came harder, and Kira sat back on her legs, lifting her head to the sky.
“I’m sorry,” Luerna murmured. “I thought–I’m so stupid.”
“No, I am. But I’m not gonna stay that way. I’m gonna fix it. I’ll figure it out.”
“Kira,” Luerna said in warning. “I know it’s not what you wanted, but it’s the life you have now. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t,” Kira promised. No, everything she was gonna do was going to be well thought out and planned.
She didn’t graduate from law school without knowing how to manipulate the system.
But only if she did it correctly. Her father was not going to rule her world forever.
She was going to break free. Here, in this house, on this property, far from Yakov’s control, Kira for once felt more capable than she’s ever been.
But as she looked around at the servants, a terrible feeling came over her.
What if they were his? They went about their business, just like they did in the old house, but they were constantly keeping tabs.
She wasn’t safe yet. Had anyone been able to hear her phone call?
She looked over her shoulder at the gardener, still silently fuming.
What would Maxim think if she were to fire the whole staff?
Kira waved Lydia over, and the woman bowed in greeting. “How long have you all worked here?”
“I’ve been with Mr. Ostr–Sorry, Mr. Morozov since I was a child. He brought me from his brother’s house.”
If she were younger or prettier, Kira would have been worried, but the sixty-year-old woman didn’t pose a threat to her position.
But it made her wonder if Maxim was being faithful on his trip, or, like most mafia men, was he visiting his whore?
She mentally prepared herself for sharing her husband, but it brought a wave of illness through her.
He belonged to her. She wouldn’t tolerate anyone else.
What a weird thought. Maxim doesn’t ‘belong’ to me. And yet the idea lingered in the back of her head.
Kira waved to the property. “Everyone else? How long have they worked here?”
“All new, ma’am. We only moved into this house last week to prepare it for you and Mr. Morozov. I hired everyone here.”
Did that mean her father bought it? Where could she find that information? She doubted the housekeeper would have accurate accounts.
“They are your friends?”
“People I’ve known, yes, ma’am. I hope that is okay.”
Kira nodded as her thoughts drifted. “Are there cameras?”
“Yes, for security purposes.”
“Hire someone to come and replace them all.”
“All?” she stuttered. “Forgive me, I don’t know much about cost, but I imagine that would be extreme.”
“Yes. I want it done as soon as possible.”
Was she exaggerating, imagining her father sitting in his house in Tampa, Florida, watching her now?
Kira stared at the house, searching the corners for every camera.
She had never defied her father. She never needed to.
He catered to her every whim. He made it seem like all she wanted was met when really, all his wants became hers.
Ever since she was a young girl, she was groomed to be obedient.
Some of Maxim’s accusations had some element of truth. And if she thought long and hard about it, he’d be right about the reason she was in his room last night. It wasn’t because she wanted him. It was because her father ordered a grandchild. She was wrong for it and would have to apologize.
“I would have to get that approved.”
“Approved?” Kira questioned.
“Any large expanse must be brought to Mr. Morozov’s attention.”
Kira never had any restrictions on her wants.
It was odd to be told she had to wait. Maxim’s net worth was fifteen million, which was nothing near her family’s, but also not enough to be starving.
A few thousand shouldn’t matter. It would have been something she would have communicated to her husband if he hadn’t run off.
“Do I have a spending limit?” The question was odd on her lips, but she had to ask.
“A thousand, ma’am.”
“For the week?”
“For the month. But the flowers you ordered would be taken out of the house fund.”
“Which is?”
“Two thousand a month, ma’am.”
Kira only had her family’s property to compare, but the Morozov Mansion cost two thousand a day in upkeep.
Either her new husband was frugal, or he was doing it to limit her.
She wasn’t upset with the allowance, though it was an ancient way of living, but not uncommon in the mafia.
She was hoping to have a little more freedom.
She wanted to turn one of the rooms into a library and unpack all her books.
Another would be turned into a nursery. She had already chosen the colors, but that thought brought up another.
Did she even want to have children?
It was never asked.
It was always assumed.
Kira sat back and took in the surroundings of the property.
It was quiet. There were no longer Luerna’s children running around, or Luerna and her husband fighting in the middle of the night.
It was surreal, and a pit of loneliness filled her stomach.
She was supposed to be on her honeymoon, and instead, she was covered in dirt.
But she wasn’t going to let it get to her. She was gonna fix everything. Just as soon as her husband decided to come home.