Chapter 12 - Stefania
When Marlen returns with his breakfast and sits next to me, I stiffen.
Why is he doing this? Why pretend like everything is fine?
It’s not fine. Nothing is fine. I’m so angry that I let myself feel something for him last night. I’m furious that I allowed myself to be so easily seduced, only to be rejected all over again.
How can someone be so cold? He could have just treated it as sex. Wouldn’t that have been kinder than embarrassing me like that?
I wish I’d never even let him know I was jealous. It all started because of that. I should’ve ignored it. Nothing good came of it.
“The water is beautiful today. Maybe we should go for a swim after breakfast?” he suggests, glancing at me.
I knit my brows together and pick up my empty plate. What does he want from me?
Without answering him, I stand, intending to carry my plate back to the kitchen to rinse it. I can’t be around him.
But as I turn away, a young woman arrives at the edge of the wooden deck. She’s wearing the same style colorful dress that all the islanders wear. She calls for him, her voice strained. “Mr. Popov, sir, I am sorry to bother you, but please, I need your help.”
“Do I know you?” he asks, setting his plate down on the little table next to his chair.
“No, sir, but I was told that maybe… I don’t have anywhere else to go. My child—she is very sick, and the village doctor doesn’t know what’s wrong.” She wrings her hands in front of her, anxiety distorting her face as she fights tears.
Marlen stands, reacting instantly. “Give me one second,” he says, rushing inside.
I run after him, wondering what he’s going to do.
He grabs his phone, dialing and pressing it against his ear.
“Doctor Thomas, I need you to come to the front deck right away. Yes, it’s an emergency. Bring your kit,” he says.
After a very brief conversation, he hangs up and heads back outside with me in tow.
“What is your name?” he asks the woman.
“Aliah,” she says quietly. “Will you help my daughter?”
“The resort’s doctor is on his way. He has a lot of medicine available, and I’m certain he will be able to help your little girl,” he reassures her.
Within minutes, the doctor arrives.
“Doctor Thomas, this is Aliah. Go with her,” he says.
The doctor nods, and the two jog back to the village together.
Marlen stands on the deck watching them until they’re out of sight.
“Will he be able to help her?” I ask, breaking the silent treatment I’d planned to curve him with all day.
“I believe so,” he nods.
My eyes drift over him, staring at him with intensity that reflects the whirlpool of emotions inside me. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t waste a second. He helped her without question.
Marlen smiles tightly at me, then returns to his breakfast, and I head inside to pack my bags.
My heart is in turmoil. He really is a good man.
I’ve seen it in so many things he does, but this leaves no room for doubt in my mind.
It worries me to have such a dramatic shift in my thinking.
I simply can’t view him as an enemy anymore, and that terrifies me.
Because if he’s not my enemy… What is he?
A knock at my door pulls my attention, and I turn to see Marlen standing there.
“I’m going to check on the girl and her mother. Would you like to walk with me?”
“Yes, I would like that very much,” I answer without giving myself a chance to think about whether or not it’s a good idea to go with him.
We walk in silence to the village. There is a different kind of tension between us now. It’s not just a physical yearning for him, but something more. Something complicated.
Marlen follows the directions sent to him by the doctor and arrives at Aliah’s little wooden house. She welcomes us in when he knocks on the door.
Inside, there is one massive room—an open-plan living space with two beds pushed into one corner. In one of those beds is a little girl. The doctor is leaning over her.
We wait quietly while he works. Aliah stands, shifting nervously.
“Where is your husband?” Marlen asks.
“He is at work. He is a fisherman.” Her answer is short; she is focused on her daughter.
The doctor stands up and pulls his mouth tight. “We need to get her to the mainland. I have a boat available; I can take her now. It’s less than an hour in calm seas.”
“Oh, um, no, I cannot afford the mainland doctors. I can’t afford their fees. Please, there must be something you can do for her here?” she pleads with the doctor. But he simply shakes his head.
“Her fever is dangerously high. She has some kind of infection, and I’m assuming it’s from the cut on her foot,” he explains.
“She stepped on a sea urchin. We soaked it in salt water…”
“I understand you did your best, but she has been infected with some kind of toxin, and her body is not managing to fight it. I have to take her to the mainland.”
Aliah begins to cry and shake her head. “I can’t afford it,” she mumbles.
Marlen reaches out to touch her arm, turning her to face him. “Aliah, there will be no cost for you. I will cover all of the expenses. Let Doctor Thomas take your daughter. Go with them, look after her.”
“My work, my husband…”
“Doctor Thomas, please arrange for her husband to be collected from wherever he is, so he can also be brought to the mainland. Book them a hotel near the hospital, put it on my account linked to the resort. I assume the girl will need to be hospitalized for a few nights?”
“Yes, at least a few. She needs to be on a drip and monitored closely. She’s dangerously weak.”
Aliah looks relieved that her daughter can get the help she needs, but also still very worried, almost reluctant to go to the mainland with them.
Marlen turns to her again. “Aliah, I will have someone from the resort stop over here when you return from the mainland. He will bring you a month’s worth of pay for both you and your husband, so you can be with your daughter while she’s healing. You can both take some time off without worrying.”
Aliah bursts into tears and grabs Marlen in a tight embrace. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she sobs against his shirt. “I don’t know how to repay you,” she cries.
He holds her for a moment, then gestures to the doctor. “I don’t want anything in return, Aliah. Take care of your little girl. You’d better get going,” he says.
Marlen leaves her home, and I follow him out into the bright, warm sunshine. I can’t believe how selfless he is. So generous. Truly kind and caring.
Biting my lip, I think about who he is at home. The man who leads a Bratva family. He is viewed as ruthless and dangerous. But now I see the real him. The person he can’t let others know about because they would take advantage of it, viewing it as a weakness in a world of violence and malice.
He isn’t the man they all think he is. He isn’t even the man I thought he was. There is no monster here, no enemy. The last threads of my doubt break away, and I see Marlen without the veil that he wears in public.
I see him.
Nothing that he did here was for show. It wasn’t to earn likes or favor. He wanted nothing in return. It was simply an act of his heart, and this has deeply touched my heart.
Back at the resort, I’m sitting quietly on the wooden deck, wondering if I should go for one more swim before we leave.
Marlen arrives next to me. “We need to leave earlier, now actually. The Captain says that they’ve issued a weather warning for later tonight, and he wants to get going and be back home before it hits,” he says, looking down at me.
“I’m packed. I’ll just put my shoes on, then I’m ready,” I say, standing up.
“I’ll have them bring your bag down then, meet me on the beach in five minutes?”
I nod, hurrying away to grab my sneakers that I left out of the bag for the trip home.
***
From the yacht, the island looks smaller than it really is. The water is choppy, and I can tell why the captain wanted to leave earlier. The boat keeps dipping slightly, trying to tilt me off balance.
Even sitting on the circular couches on the top deck, I still have to reach out and hold onto something now and then when a larger swell lifts us and drops us.
It’s not terrible, though, and doesn’t draw my attention off the island.
I watch it in the distance, knowing I’ll never come back here. It makes me sad because this place is truly special. A piece of my heart will always live here, in the tropical forests and the crystal clear ocean waters.
“It’s a beautiful place, isn’t it?” he says, sitting down next to me.
My skin tingles immediately at his presence.
I nod. “It has its own magic. What you did for that family back there was really amazing, Marlen,” I say.
“Anyone would have done the same,” he replies.
“That’s not true. It’s not true at all. In fact, most people wouldn’t even have sent the doctor, let alone followed up and still helped them get to the hospital. You saved that little girl’s life. You changed the future for that family.”
He cocks his head to the side and shrugs. “I just did what was right.”
For a while, we sit quietly, both of us staring into the ocean. The boat rocks and our legs bump against each other, spiking my heart rate with each touch of our bodies.
Marlen keeps glancing at me. He looks like he wants to say something.
I steal a glance at him, too, and the tension grows stronger.
I have something I want to ask him. But I can’t seem to find the right time. Is now the right time?
My eyes trace over him. His chiseled jaw and full lips, and those beautiful hazel eyes. I could stare at him for hours.
I can’t stop thinking about the kiss. His hands on my body. The way it felt when he slipped his fingers inside me and… No, stop this. These thoughts aren’t helping anything.
Still, my lips part, and I take a sharp breath, yearning for the man I can’t have. The man who has rejected me twice. You’re thinking about the wrong things, Stef. Think about what matters.
My heart beats nervously as I look for the courage to ask what I want to ask. It takes me a moment, and the words come out soft when I speak them.
“Did you ever think that maybe there’s a chance Bardil wasn’t telling you the whole story? That maybe my family and the Abashins aren’t entirely at fault in that situation?”
“What?” he snaps, his entire demeanor changing. His shoulders square off a scowl crosses his brow.
“I just meant… there might be a chance… if you just looked into it…” I try again, anxiety bubbling inside me.
“This is not something I am willing to discuss with you, Stefania. I trust my family,” he snaps.
I bite my lip and sit up straighter. He isn’t even willing to consider it?
“Marlen, sometimes people make mistakes. Maybe your brother made a…”
“My brother was attacked. You don’t know what he went through. I do. I watched his anger, his hurt, his struggles afterward.”
Marlen’s eyes have darkened, and his jaw is set tight. Something in the fierceness of his expression is turning me on more than it should.
“You shouldn’t be so closed off to other possibilities,” I argue.
His eyes flare. “And you shouldn’t defend people who have done wrong,” he huffs back. But his eyes are on my lips, and the electricity between us is intensifying.
This conversation is going nowhere, but it is making my body desperate for him.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore, and I stand, needing to escape him. “Fine, forget I said anything,” I snap, taking a step away.
But as I step, the boat dips over an ocean swell, and I lose my balance. Marlen moves quickly, catching me and pulling me onto his lap instead of letting me face-plant the deck.
I’m shocked to find myself cradled in his arms. The absolute last place I should be given the uncontrollable state of my hormones.
My heart beats faster, my breathing heavy when I look up at him. His arms are still wrapped around my waist, holding me tightly.
His eyes drift from mine down to my lips.
He swallows hard and clears his throat, but the desire pulsing through him is obvious. He feels it too. There is no denying it.
I feel his grip on me soften as his hand gently brushes over my side, his fingers caressing me. That small movement, that delicate touch, completely breaks me, and I lift my head and press my lips against his. I wrap my hands around the back of his head and pull him down toward me.
Marlen groans against my mouth and pulls my body closer to his.
His hands hurry over my side, his fingers digging into me.
The kiss escalates, and he lifts me, repositioning me so that I’m straddling his lap.
He runs his hands down my back and holds my hips, pulling me forward onto the bulge of his swollen cock.
My dress shifts up over my thighs, leaving nothing but my panties between me and his arousal.
I shiver with delight as he pushes his tongue into my mouth and rubs me back and forth over his cock. My pussy is humming, purring with delight. My fingers thread through his hair, and I tug it gently, tilting his head back and taking control of the kiss. I feel his cock pulse harder.