33. Skye
SKYE
I cracked the door of my parents’ guest bedroom at the Nikolaevs’ manor and peeked in to find my mama seated on the couch, reading a magazine, and my papa passed out on the bed.
As if she sensed me, Mama lifted her head and our gazes locked.
“ Is Papa okay ?” I cocked my head toward where he lay, his arms sprawled, mouth parted, and a single shoe hanging on for dear life.
“ He will be .” She put the magazine down, then waved me over. “ He got drunk off moonshine and then sedatives did the rest .”
I winced. “ Sedatives ?”
She nodded. “ He was ready to rip the Russians to shreds after getting that text from Nikola. ”
“ Isn’t combining moonshine and sedatives dangerous ?”
“ Isabella administered them, so it’s safe. ”
I shut the door and made my way over to sit next to her, finding a spot on the wall to fix my gaze.
My plan with Nikola had all seemed well and good until I had to face the consequences of my actions.
Now, my shame and guilt enveloped me. Even though I knew they hadn’t seen anything too scandalous and that I wasn’t identifiable in any of the shots.
That Nikola sent it to them and told them it was me though…
? Well, that was enough to make me want to disappear.
She clutched my shoulder and forced me to look at her. “ So you and Nikola, huh ?” I nodded. “ Is he the one you were referring to when you told me there’s someone you liked ?”
“ Yes. ” I was scared back then that she would disapprove if I told her the truth, but right now, I regretted lying. Everything might have gone differently. “ Mama, I don’t want to marry Amadeo Marchetti .”
“ You don’t say, ” she signed with a wry expression. “ But there were other ways you could have gone about it rather than making that tape. ”
I grimaced. “ Yeah. You’re right. ”
“ Didn’t you promise Papa when you were a little girl that you’d always tell him what’s bothering you ?”
The memory of our conversation long ago in my pink room came back to me, and my shoulders slumped.
“ I tried .”
“ Not very hard ,” she pointed out, and rightfully so. “ You should have sat us down and told us your heart’s already spoken for. ”
“ It was too late once I saw the signed marriage contract. It would have gotten you in trouble with the Marchettis, ” I signed. “ At least this way, it’s all on me. ”
She shook her head. “ First, you know better than to think that. Our family’s actions reflect on us all. And second, if Papa knew you loved Nikola, he would have done everything in his power to make it right for you. We want you to be happy. To have what we have. ”
Okay, hindsight was a bitch, but the ship had sailed and there was no turning back time, so I did the only thing I could.
“ I’m so sorry, Mama. ” I sat up and hugged her tightly. We remained like that for a few minutes before I settled next to her once more.
“Are you terribly mad ?” I hated seeing disappointment on her face. It gutted me harder than anything else, because I wasn’t used to being the cause of it.
“ No, but your papa is furious. Especially under the influence, he was scheming how to slice up the poor boy. ”
“ He can’t kill Nikola. ” Just the thought had me choking on my own breath.
“ So you do love him? It’s not a temporary infatuation? ”
“ There's nothing temporary about it .” My cheeks burned, and Mama’s expression softened. “ I’ve had a crush on him for years. ”
“ I wish you'd told me .”
“ Well, I did ask Papa to marry me to Nikola before I bolted .”
She stroked my hair gently. “ That was hardly telling us you’re in love with him. ”
I sighed, then brought my palm to my forehead before I dared to say, “ I didn’t think he would approve, and judging by how badly he took the sex tape, I was right .”
“ Not necessarily. ”
I extended my hand to the bed, then shot her a pointed look. “ You want to tell me he didn’t take it badly ?”
It was a dumb question since apparently he had to be sedated.
She shrugged. “ He’ll get over it eventually .”
I grabbed her arm, my eyes boring into hers, searching. “ You really think so ?”
“ I do, but it might be best for your boy to hide for a bit. ” She smiled to soften the blow. “ You’ll have to come home with us. You know that, right ?”
“ No. ” I shook my head. “ Why can’t I just marry him ?”
“ Because your papa will probably murder him if you do. He has to cool off for a bit and then we can work out the details. ”
“ But I don’t want to wait .” I sounded like a spoiled, petulant brat. But I didn’t want to be separated from him.
“ Skye, are you pregnant ?”
I blew an exasperated breath. “ No, I’m too young for kids and I have the IUD. Remember ?”
“ I do, but you’re not acting like yourself. Rushing into marriage ? — ”
I raised my palm. “ Now hold on a minute. Are we seriously talking about me rushing into anything when Papa arranged a marriage for me with a complete stranger ?”
My throat vibrated, and I swallowed down a sob.
“ Skye, sweetheart, breathe. ” It wasn’t time to panic.
Inhale. Exhale. I stilled my spine and she signed, “ You’re right; this arranged marriage idea was thrown to him in a rush.
Papa fought Enrico Marchetti to push the wedding out a year and buy him time to find an alternative .
” I’d always loved how my parents were such a united front, but I wanted more than anything for her to take my side on this one.
“ Listen, I think it’s best if we take it slow.
Nikola isn’t going anywhere. If you two love each other ? — ”
“ We do .” Although, as soon as I signed those words, I realized neither one of us had talked about love . Passion, possession, obsession… yes. But nothing about love.
“ If you two love each other, time will only do you good ,” she finished pointedly. “ In the meantime, we’re going to delete that sex tape from Papa’s phone. I’ll ask Branka to do the same from Sasha’s, and with some luck, it’ll all be ancient history. ”
“ Those two have the memory of elephants, ” I signed, grumbling, but grinned as I looked back at my dad. “ But I love you for helping. Let’s hope he wakes up feeling forgiving. ”
With Branka in tow for extra reinforcement, we found Mr. Nikolaev sitting on the couch in the living room with his wife, Nikola, and Marietta. My future sister-in-law winked mischievously, giving me a thumbs-up, but I didn’t dare look her parents’ way.
Instead, I focused on Nikola, who jumped to his feet and strode over to me.
“Here is my future bride,” was his greeting as he pecked me right on the lips.
Mama shot him an uneasy smile and Branka grimaced, then said, “You’re really loving this, aren’t you?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Nikola retorted, beaming. “I’m about to marry Skye.”
Branka shook her head and tsked. “Yes, but you caused quite a havoc.”
Nikola shrugged. “Not my fault. I told those two idiots—” He shot Mama a sheepish smile, then corrected himself. “I told Uncle Sasha and my future father-in-law that Skye was mine. They refused to listen, so here we are.”
“ Nikola, a woman isn’t yours just because you claim her ,” Mama reprimanded him softly. “ Both of you should have come to me and your parents. You knew Dante and Sasha are prone to over-the-top protectiveness. ”
“Phoenix is right,” Mr. Nikolaev jumped in. “Asking us parents to negotiate the marriage contract would have been the right thing to do.”
Nikola scoffed. “Yeah, I remember how well that worked out for Matteo.”
“ We aren’t them ,” Mama protested.
“That’s right, we’re smarter,” Branka added.
“You two manipulated the situation a bit,” Mrs. Nikolaev chimed in, although there was no bite to her words. “I understand you weren’t taking chances with our refusal, but?—”
“Would you have refused?” Nikola cut her off.
“No.” There was no hesitance to Mrs. Nikolaev’s words, and when she smiled softly at me, I knew she meant those words. “I’m so happy for both of you. We’ll figure out how to manage Dante and Sasha, and eventually, they’ll accept this too.”
“ Thank you, Mrs. Nikolaev ,” I signed, choking up all over again.
“Remember, you have to call me Isabella,” she reminded me.
I nodded.
“And no more Mr. Nikolaev,” Nikola’s father interjected. “Call me Vasili. After all, you’ll be an even closer member of our family.”
I swallowed, glancing at Mama who was smiling, before I returned to lock eyes with him. “ Thank you, Mr.… Vasili .”
He flashed me a reassuring smile, although his expression remained somber.
“Dad, maybe you can procure a priest so I can marry Skye before Dante and Sasha wake up from their drug-induced sleep?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but Mama was already shaking her head in stern denial.
“You don’t agree with that plan, Phoenix?” he asked her, his brows furrowed. “They might be easier to handle if the deed is done and behind us.”
“ Oh, the deed is done ,” Mama signed with a wry expression. “ But Dante deserves to walk his only child down the aisle. We can’t, and won’t, take that away from him. ”
“Or from Sasha,” Branka added. “It will break their hearts.”
“But what if those two never agree to this?” Vasili questioned. “They were scheming to kill Enrico Marchetti to get out of it.”
“ This is where I draw the line, ” Mama claimed. “ Dante and Sasha will walk Skye down the aisle, and we’ll wait for as long as necessary for them to come to terms with Skye’s marriage to Nikola .”
I could see my mama’s point, but waiting for my papa and Sasha to come to terms with the idea of Nikola and me wasn’t exactly my dream scenario. On the other hand, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I hurt Papa and Sasha.
Nikola’s eyes zeroed in on me. “What do you want to do, Skye? You know I’m up for dragging that priest back and pointing a gun at him so he can marry us, but I don’t want to take away from your dreams of a perfect wedding.”
God, I loved this man so much. He might act crazy and unhinged at times, but he was the most wonderful man on this planet and I wouldn’t have him any other way.
“You two almost got married without us?” Isabella protested like she was ready to cry, almost as if the wedding had actually happened.
Nikola pecked his mom on the cheek. “But we didn’t.”
“Instead, you made a sex tape,” Vasili grumbled, causing my cheeks to flame. “We’re so freaking lucky.”
Mama, Branka, and Isabella shook their heads.
“I thought it was a great idea,” Marietta chimed in, speaking for the first time.
I winced, shooting her a warning glare, and she just laughed, putting her hands up in surrender.
“ I’ll work on Papa and Sasha ,” I announced.
Mama and Branka were right; I couldn’t take the experience away from them.
They were my heroes, and I was who I was thanks to them.
“ They’ll have no choice but to agree. I don’t want to rob Papa or Sasha from walking me down the aisle.
” I sensed Nikola’s grumble and I took his hand in mine, gripping it.
“ They deserve at least that much. They’ve been such amazing father figures to me . ”
“Skye, those two are your fathers, end of story,” Branka stated matter-of-factly.
And just like that, the tension eased and we got to talking about possible venues and floral arrangements. I knew we weren’t in the clear yet and that a storm was no doubt brewing, but sitting here, surrounded by so many people who loved me, I felt at ease.