Chapter 23 Harlow
Harlow
I was going to ask Caterina to build me a library.
This room was something out of a fantasy with shelves of books and a rolling ladder.
When I was younger and watched Beauty and the Beast, I wanted a library just like Beast gave Belle, and now I had the opportunity to have that dream.
Caterina made all of my dreams come true.
“Roman thought he could butter me up with a library.” Vera laughed, her hands running over the spine of her books. “I hated him. Don’t tell the book fairy, but in the beginning, I burned it. Thankfully there weren’t nearly as many books as there are now.”
“If you hated him, why are you married?” I wasn’t well educated in relationships or romance, but with Caterina, I fell in love with her daily because she not only saved me, but she helped me fall in love with life again.
She ran her hands through her auburn hair.
“You know what they say, enemies make the best lovers.” I shuddered.
The enemy in my story was not a lover. She frowned.
“Sorry, bad analogy. In my case, yes. I watched a trade between him and another don. He was betrayed, and I watched him get shot. I screamed instead of running, which made me a target. Well, he kidnapped me as a way to protect me, and it pissed me off.”
“So he kidnapped you and forced you to marry him?”
“No, I married him willingly afterwards. I left, but it felt wrong. When I was about to return to him, I was kidnapped by the other family because of what I saw and how Roman reacted around me. He was in love with me before I could even process it. When he saved me, he took a bullet to the chest. That was when I realized I loved him and I couldn’t lose him. ”
“Wow, your story really is like Beauty and the Beast.”
Vera laughed, leading me up the circle staircase. “Roman hates having our love life compared to a Disney movie, but he is my sexy beast.”
“Caterina is my beast, but she saved me from a darker monster and showed me what it feels like to be loved.”
“She’s a sap, isn’t she?”
I smiled, thinking about my brooding wife. “Yeah, but only with me. And don’t tell her I said that.”
“Our partners become teddy bears when they are loved properly. This life tries to break them down.” She grabbed a leather-bound book from the middle right.
It was a beautiful teal blue with rustic orange dripping.
It looked antique. “Roman wrote me love letters, even when I hated him. They were angry letters, but they were poetic. He was also the first man who didn’t turn my bisexuality into a fetish. ”
“You’re bi?”
“Yes.” She smiled as she tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. “Roman is the love of my life and I love him even more for exploring with me.”
“Wait, you sleep with other people?”
She laughed. “Our marriage is open, yes, but we sleep with people together unless we talk about it prior. What can I say? I like to have fun.” She winked.
“Are you flirting with me?” I questioned. I was oblivious to the signs.
She leaned closer. “And if I was?”
“My heart’s taken, Vera,” I rasped.
“Caterina is one lucky woman.”
“I’m the lucky one. She saved me in more ways than one.”
“Love is definitely healing.”
I nodded. “Love doesn’t heal everything, but it helps patch the cracks created by someone else. I know I have a long way to go, but Caterina is helping me every day.”
Vera opened the book and handed it to me.
“Love is truly beautiful and the toughest people crack. Roman never said he would fall in love, and here we are. He customized this book for me. He paid an artist to draw the portraits of us together, of me alone, and so on. He also wrote letters and poetry.”
I flipped the book open and looked at the artwork. The artist was talented, and I now had a new passion project. I already painted Caterina, but this was different. This would show her a different version of my love for her. “I’m going to steal this idea and make one for Caterina.”
“Of course. It’s nice seeing Cat happy. She was always moody, for good reason, of course.”
The reason being Vincenzo. “Why can’t Roman help her with the feud? They are allies, yes?”
Vera pressed her lips together, walking towards the staircase as I followed behind her.
“The families had a messy history. Sons died. Mothers mourned their children. And men never recovered. The Petrovs, Mancinis, and Orlovs decided enough was enough, and agreed to never be involved with each other unless one of them harmed or broke the treaty. For thirty years, they have lived this law. It is why Roman cannot help Caterina, or he would put everyone at risk. It would be different if Vincenzo or one of the other families hurt his family, but the Morettis weren’t a part of the agreement. ”
“So is Roman an only child?”
“Roman is one of many children of Sergei and Yulia Petrov. He was born third, and has four younger siblings and only one sister. His two oldest brothers died in war, and so Roman became the heir, even though he didn’t want it.”
“I didn’t know Roman had a sister.”
She walked to a desk and pulled out a photo album. “He has three more brothers who live in Russia and deal with family ties there.” She handed me the picture, and I saw the children and his parents. The little girl in the middle was in a bright-pink princess gown with a tiara.
“Where is his sister?”
She sighed. “Anya Petrov was kidnapped when she was fourteen. No one could find her. The families all searched, but they believed she was taken by a serial kidnapper who was in the area. Anya and Roman were close. After that, Sergei and his wife were distraught. Roman was barely sixteen at the time when Sergei suffered from a heart attack. His uncle took control of the family until Roman turned eighteen.”
“Wow. I’m so sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. Roman wanted to believe she was alive, but it’s been two decades.
It is what jumpstarted Natalya’s training.
She and Anya were best friends, even if she was three years younger.
After she went missing, Natalya made it her mission to find Anya.
That’s why she became an assassin for the family. ”
“That’s why she is a perfectionist?”
Vera laughed. “If that is the nice way of calling her a bitch, yes. If she learns I told you this, she’d kill me, but she feels guilty that she couldn’t do anything. She was a child, but her father wasn’t the kindest man. She wanted to be the one to save Anya.”
“I hope you get closure. It’s hard not knowing.”
“Who’s your person?” I arched my brow. “The person you are mourning without knowing if they are gone.”
I frowned. “I know she is gone, but my mom. We were taken by Vincenzo together. She died before I turned eighteen.”
“I’m sorry. What was her name?”
“Marie Lewis. She was my best friend.”
“Well, she is watching over you and she sees the life you are living.”
I beamed, feeling a tear slip down my face. “Yeah, she is the best angel I could ask for.”