Chapter 27
Zoya
The following morning, everything is a routine.
Stretching myself before I get out of bed, I pad down towards the bathroom and take off my night robe.
I turn on the water, letting out a soft sigh as it washes away the stress of yesterday and fills me with ease.
My mind drifts towards Alexei in the other room.
Fortunately, he allowed me to be separated from him last night due to his injuries.
That stubborn man. I shake my head and then turn off the water, stepping out of the bathroom to put on my clothes.
I throw on a light gray polo shirt and jean shorts, putting my hair up in a bun, and letting small strands fall on my face.
Giving myself a glance in the mirror, I move to where Alexei is being kept.
When I step into the room, I find that he is just waking up.
His eyes are still heavy with sleep, his hair messy from tossing and turning.
And then I look at the bandages wrapped around his shoulder.
I feel hurt physically knowing he had to take on five men.
But then again, I still feel terrified. He is only one man.
How much of a beast do you have to be to fight off five armed men and still come out on top?
It’s so frightening to know that I’m married to him.
He wakes up then, looking around before his eyes spot me, turning soft. It melts my heart – how vulnerable he looks and not the monster I saw last night. His eyes roam my face, and a smile blooms on his face immediately.
“Coming to see your husband on a sick bed?” he says, his voice a little rough. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m not going to die anytime soon.”
I walk to the side of the bed and look down at the bandages on his shoulder. Then I press hard on it.
“Ouch.” He groans. But the cocky smile doesn’t leave his lips. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you were trying to kill me,” he says with a moan falling from his lips.
I remove my hands gently. “How do you feel?”
He lets out a sigh. “I feel just fine, Vedma. Don’t worry. In my line of work, I get hurt all the time. You should know, your father also operates in this world.”
I drop my head and look down at my hands. “My father never really let me see this side of the business. You could say my mom and I were quite sheltered.”
He reaches for my hand, palming it in his warm, gentle hands. “Hey. Hey, Vedma, look at me. I’m the one who got shot, and I’m comforting the uninjured. Do you think that’s fair to me?”
I pout but don’t answer him. So he continues, grinning down at me. “Be real, Vedma. Did you think I looked cool fighting off those bad guys? Come on, tell me. Am I not husband material? I’m strong, and I protected you.”
I roll my eyes. He’s so cocky. He can’t be less self-absorbed for one minute.
But in a way, his attempt at comforting me after being the one hurt just makes me start crying.
“Never take those kinds of risks again.” My voice starts to break.
“I don’t care if you’re the Pakhan. We were surrounded by all those guys, and one of them had a gun.
You should have a little bit of fear in you. ”
He brings his hands to my face, wiping my tears away with his thumb. “Don’t cry, Vedma. You’re actually kind of ugly when you do.”
I jerk back, incredulous at his statement. “How dare you call me ugly?”
He smiles. “Well, that stopped the crying, didn’t it?”
“You’re a very horrible human being. You’re an awful husband, and I hate you.” But I actually start to smile despite everything. He makes me smile.
“That’s my girl.” His eyes melt as he looks up at me. “Look at her smile. When you smile, you look absolutely beautiful. Don’t cry. And I’m sorry for saying that when you cry, you’re ugly. I was just messing with you and trying to make you laugh. I guess my joke did go a little bit too far.”
I pout. “You couldn’t find anything else to say?” I say, wiping my face. “All you could say was I’m an ugly crier? And here I am crying on your behalf. In fact, the next time you get shot, I’m going to laugh. I’ll throw a freaking party and then laugh, I won’t even come and check on you.”
“Oh, come on now, Vedma.”
A knock on the door interrupts us. His eyes go to the door immediately, alert.
“Come in,” he says.
The staff member enters carrying a tray. She looks nervous. “Sir, your meal is here.” She sets the tray on the bedside table, bowing her head and leaving immediately.
I stand up, ready to go. “Alright. I’m going to leave you to eat. I need to go get my own food, and then I’ll come back later when you’re done. Okay?”
Just as I’m about to go out, his hand shoots out, catching my wrist. “What?” I look at him questioningly.
“Vedma, I’m in a sick bed.” He gestures weakly at himself. “Look at the IV drip. I lost a lot of blood yesterday. I can’t even feel my hands right now. I can’t eat. I need your help.”
I look at his hand holding my wrist in a strong grip. “These hands are the same ones you just called trembling and weak. Yet, you have the strength to hold me back, and you can’t lift a single spoon to feed yourself?”
“Oh, come on, Vedma. This is a different case.”
I guess my face says that I don’t believe him because immediately, he starts to groan loudly and dramatically.
“Ugh. Argh. Oh, it hurts. Oh my god. I feel like my hand has been amputated. If only a sweet, loving, caring, beautiful, most gorgeous wife could help me from this pain.”
I roll my eyes, shaking my head. “You’re such a crybaby. Alright. I’m going to feed you. But this is the only time I’m going to do it. Next time, maybe you can get one of your security guards to feed you.”
“I’d rather die,” he says.
“Suit yourself.” I pick up the spoon. “I will be planning your funeral after this.”
I sit on the edge of the bed and grab the tray. There are eggs, toast, fruit, and coffee… the basic English breakfast. “Open wide.”
When he does, I stuff a piece of egg into his mouth. Alexei moans, wrapping his mouth around the fork. “Delicious.”
“It’s just eggs,” I mutter.
Immediately, he rebuts, “It’s not just eggs. These are eggs fed to me by my beautiful wife. They taste completely different from the eggs I would have eaten a moment ago.”
Ignoring him, I continue to feed him bite after bite.
With each one, he makes more ridiculous comments, and then I end up threatening to leave and let him starve.
He then smiles, stopping for a little bit.
But it feels so nice that I don’t want this to end – this moment, this sweet side of him.
But I know from that alleyway that once we get back to Russia, things are going to take a violent turn.
For now, I want to enjoy this.
He must have sensed my thoughts drifting because he asks, “What are you thinking?”
Absentmindedly, I cut off a piece of bread. “Last night…”
His expression darkens with the bread hanging over his lips. “Zoya, you were terrified.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that. The way you killed without hesitation...it kept playing in my mind.”
“And you think the best thing to do is to continue thinking about it? I really shouldn’t have let you see any of that from the beginning. We should have just gone home after the beach. None of this would have happened.”
“No. No. No. No. No. Don’t say that, Alexei. I decided to be there, okay? This is not your fault. It’s not anybody’s fault. It’s just those things don’t leave your head that easily. And seeing you do those things, I just felt a little scared.”
“Yes, Vedma. I know some of the things that I do should scare you. In fact, if you weren’t scared, I would think you had a secret life.
But I will do anything necessary. Anything.
I would soak my hands in blood just to see that you are not hurt at all.
Whatever it takes.” He cups my face. “I will always keep you safe. Okay? So dust away those thoughts from your head and think of other things. Like your college.”
My eyes immediately light up. “Wait, Alexei. I need to gather myself. What? I just can’t wrap my head around it. You’re saying I’m actually going back to college?”
He smiles, dropping his hands from my face.
“Of course, Vedma. A promise is a promise. You’ll be going back to school in about a week.
I’ve gotten everything prepared for you including security.
I want to make you happy, and giving you this is a small joy.
I know it has been a dream of yours, and I will always make sure I push you towards your goal.
So please, think of college life instead of what happened in the alleyway.
I still want to be the best husband to you and maybe the best father to our future kids,” he says, putting his hands on my stomach.
Immediately, I freeze, and my face drops.
He looks at me worriedly. “What’s wrong?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
“No. The way your face dropped… is there something wrong? Are you dissatisfied with me? Do you not want kids with me?”
I shake my head. “No. It’s not that. It’s just I don’t think I’m ready.”
He smiles, removing his hand from my stomach and then laying it on his side, pushing himself up. “I understand what you feel and how this is affecting you. But that needs to happen. It’s the one thing I would not compromise on. Understand?”
I nod my head.
There are a lot of things Alexei will give me without a second thought, but there are also things that he would want from me without second thoughts. One of them is this. My life, my reputation, everything is dependent on me having his child. But I’m not ready.
And I don’t think I ever will be.