Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
TITUS
T ia has unsettled me. Something has changed between us, and I don’t like how it makes me feel. All of my life, I’ve been in control. If I want something, it happens with very little effort on my part. I could tell she was angry at the way she was treated at the restaurant, but I had no control over that. I was intending on showing her how I really treat a woman when we returned to my apartment, but she had other ideas.
As I left her alone in her tiny apartment, she never left my thoughts, and I concluded that I deserve her anger. I should have been better. She deserved better.
I’m aware that expensive gifts and extravagant gestures won’t work on her. That is all I know.
So, I change direction—literally and instruct Simeon to return to the Romanov mansion.
Home.
When I wake in the morning, I breathe freely again. I’m in familiar territory. This is my life. My usual routine with nobody to question my moves.
I meet mama in the dining room for breakfast and she glances up in surprise.
“You’re home.”
“Is that so surprising?”
“I suppose not, but I heard you were spending time with your fiancée, who I have yet to meet, I might add.”
I note the accusation in her voice and push it aside. Mama has gotten away with murder, but it has altered her role in our family. She will always be respected—hell, I respect her even more for what she did, but I cannot forgive the murder of my father so easily, no matter the circumstances.
I help myself to coffee and she fixes me with a soft smile.
“She is very beautiful.”
I say nothing, merely lean back in my seat and glance out of the window.
“You can talk to me, Titus. I am still your mother.”
I detect the hurt in her voice and I nod.
I turn to her and say out of curiosity, “When you married pa, you say it was because Fedorov and Orlov arranged it.”
“That may be why he married me, but I was in love with him.” A sad smile accompanies her words.
“And you were happy with that?” I’m not judging her. I’m interested and she nods, a soft smile on her face.
“I thought time would cure his obsession with Veronica. That when we raised a family, he would discover the joys of that. To fall in love with me and push her aside. Wake up if you like to the perfect existence that involved me.”
“But he didn’t.” I add cruelly and she nods, a sad gleam in her eyes.
“To a degree, we were happy. I had everything I wanted, and he was playing a part. His heart was elsewhere, but he was an honorable man and stuck to his part of the deal, until, well, the deal expired.”
I push aside the reasons for that and say with curiosity, “He set me up to replace him and I was never given the opportunity to say no.”
If anything, I understand mama more since discovering that because like her, I am being used for the good of the State. Like pa even.
“You were always his successor, Titus, in every way.” She sighs heavily. “The fact he had five sons meant he had spares, for want of a better description and if anything happened to you, he would still have a successor—a way out if you like.”
Her words are brutal but I accept them for what they are — the truth.
“So he played his part and things never worked out for you, so you went along with Boris’s wishes and ended his life.”
“For his sake.” Her eyes sparkle with the ever present tears that have never gone away since his death and if anything, I hurt for her. Am angry on her behalf and know that if my father were still alive, I would probably kill him myself for what he has done to her and this family.
I don’t judge my mother. How can I? She had no other choice, but I do. I’m rewriting my future and, hopefully, several million others along with it.
“Why all the questions?” She asks, her scrutiny a little unnerving. She is my mother and sees things I’d rather keep to myself, and she doesn’t wait for my answer. “This woman, the ballerina.”
“Tia.” I add, almost distracted by the mention of her.
“She is very beautiful.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” I shrug. “I have met many beautiful women.”
“But none you asked to marry you. Tell me, Titus, what are they making you do?”
The chef brings in my usual order of scrambled eggs on rye with a side of bacon and interrupts the moment with a stroke of good timing. I will not answer her and I doubt she expects me to and if anything, it makes me understand her situation a lot more. We are no different, really, any of us. My father, her and I. All puppets of the State with Boris pulling the strings.
Tia is an unexpected complication in my execution of that because now we are apart, it’s as if something vital is missing from my life and I can’t think straight all the time I’m wondering where she is now.
After breakfast, I head to my den and a meeting with Simeon. Our usual start to my day and one that throws up many interesting facts.
He sits before me with his customary dark expression and I ask, “Any news on Nadia Solomin?”
“None.” He growls, “She has disappeared without a trace, which makes me wonder if she has help.”
“As in?”
He shrugs. “I’m not sure. The mystery is a distraction we don’t need right now, but ignore at our peril.”
He shakes his head. “Leonardo’s death convinces me he was executed and I wonder why? Then there is Nadia. Two members of the Bolshoi who have been eradicated. One murdered and the other missing. My first thought was to blame Fedorov, but what if it’s something else, or someone else entirely?”
I nod thoughtfully as my mind works to piece together the puzzle and I come up with nothing.
“Tatiana is at the Bolshoi.” He states simply, and my heart jumps at the mention of her name.
“Vladimir is responsible for her safety and has reported she arrived a few minutes ago after stopping for coffee.”
“Did she eat?” I’m not sure why I’m asking. Probably because I’m aware she has no food in the apartment.
“He ordered one of everything from the store. She protested but appeared grateful.”
I smile, happy knowing she has at least eaten, and that also surprises me. Surely, that is her business, but like the control freak I am, I take her involvement in my life personally. She is under my protection and I will make certain she is well cared for, no matter how much she fights against me.
“Her schedule?” I ask, reluctant to move off the subject of my latest obsession, and Simeon smiles, a mischievous glint in his eye.
“Rehearsals all day. The next performance is in three days, then they are booked to tour the Middle East.”
Something tightens in my soul as I picture Tatiana in another country. Free of Russia. Free from me.
“She will remain here.”
He lifts his eyes and I snap, “She has a wedding to attend. It’s obvious she can’t be in two places at the same time. After the wedding, she can join the tour if that’s what she wants. Until then, she stays with me.”
He nods, but I don’t miss the amusement in his expression and I sigh inside. Even Simeon senses something is different since she danced into my life and I say impulsively, “Ask Vladimir to collect her and take her to my apartment after work. We have a dinner to attend with um–”
“Clarissa Smirnov?” Simeon adds helpfully and I nod.
“Of course, thank you for reminding me.”
He laughs softly. “You’re welcome.”
As he leaves, I turn my mind to business. It’s always business and yet knowing that at the end of it will be a pleasant evening with my fiancée, I feel a lot better than I did just five minutes ago.