Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
WILLA
“ Y ou know, I haven’t seen you smile this much in a long time.” Teddy hops up on the desk to sit next to me. We’re in Vasily’s office.
He and West started talking about the docks and how there is a delay in shipments when you order things to the island. I was only listening to half of it, but now West is getting a tour of the warehouse. The two of them are discussing some kind of fix or business. I’m not quite sure, but I’m glad they are getting along.
“He set up a kind of date night for us on his boat.”
“That’s sweet.” Teddy swings her legs back and forth. “I wouldn't have pegged him for the sweet type with his appearance, but he’s pretty chill and laid back.”
“He is,” I agree. Until he’s not, but I love that about him. I’m not quick to fill the silence or take the lead the way he is. In a lot of ways, he reminds me a bit of Teddy. Even with his men, he takes his time and speaks with them. He knows who everyone is and about their lives.
There is a darkness around him, but there is also an understanding. He might not follow all the rules and laws, but he has a set of his own he lives by. A fairness that should be had. I have really learned a lot about that side of him over the last week.
When I leave school, Teddy always drops me here, where he and I spend time together before I go back home. Then he slips into my room for the night. We still spend a lot of time together, but it’s not like a normal married couple or even like Teddy and West, and they’re not married.
She gets to go home and have dinner with West, lie around and watch TV together, and get ready for bed together. I know these are small things, but I want them so badly. That means having to confront my brother. I hate confrontation, especially with my twin, but I’ve avoided it for long enough.
Vasily has gone out of his way for me. I need to do the same. I want to show him that I’m all in too, and I’ll do whatever I need to for us to be together. I can tell it’s wearing on Vasily too. Even in our lovemaking.
I’m noticing he’s becoming more possessive and holding me tighter, as if I might try to slip away from him. Like I said, Vasily is calm until he’s not, and I don’t want everything to come to a head because my brother is a hothead.
“I need to figure things out with my brother. I don’t want to keep sneaking around.”
“I think he knows; it just hasn’t come to a climax. Everyone is avoiding it.” True. Rich makes that easy when he’s not really around. I haven’t made a point to seek him out either.
“The longer I let it go, though, the more likely things will get out of hand. I’m going to try to talk to him tonight.”
“You thinking about telling him before or after his fight?” Teddy asks.
“I hadn’t really thought about the exact timing.”
“Well, let's talk this out. If you drop that you and Vasily are married on Rich before the fight, then maybe he’ll take out whatever anger he has on his opponent and be calmer after.” She makes a good point.
“And what if I don’t say anything until after?”
She lets out a deep breath. “That’s a tricky one. Either he’ll be too damn tired to care, or his adrenaline will be pumping, and it could fuel his anger.” Crap. That doesn’t sound good.
“It’s my life,” I huff.
“Well, this is what happens when people care about you.” She bumps her shoulder with mine.
“Let’s go find the guys.” I hop down off the desk. I’m sure the fights will be starting soon. When I step out of the office, one of Vasily’s men is there. It’s hard to keep track of all their names, and there are often new faces.
“Mrs. King,” the man says. That totally catches me off guard. I haven’t thought about the fact that my name might be different. “Can I help you with something?”
“Did they say we can’t leave the room?” Teddy snips, narrowing her eyes. The man's brows rise. I mean, I wouldn’t be shocked if they had after what happened before.
“What did you call her?” My heart sinks. I slowly turn around to see my brother standing there.
“Rich,” I say. “Where the hell have you been?”
“No one is going to answer my question?”
“Can we talk in here?” I point over my shoulder with my thumb to the door Teddy and I came from.
"Go," my brother orders.
"Don't be a dick," Teddy tells him.
"I wasn't authorized to allow you to enter, Rich," the man standing by the door says.
"He's my brother. He's coming in." I tell him to open the door. The man only gives a nod, but I know the second this door closes, he's going to tell Vasily. Great. I'm actually not sure how Vasily is going to react. He's been giving me time with my brother, but he’s also super protective over me.
“Start talking.” Rich pins me with a glare as soon as we are alone. I take a deep breath, trying to get my thoughts together. “Why the fuck did he just call you Mrs. King, Willa?”
“Because it’s my name now. Mrs. Vasily King. We’re married.” I return his stare. I’m tired of his piss-poor attitude. I’m a damn grown-up. He has all of these secrets but I’m supposed to be an open book.
“You got married. To Vasily.” He’s not really asking but sort of talking things through to himself, I think. “What the fuck were you thinking, Willa? You don’t even know him.”
“Yes, I do. You’re too wrapped up in whatever the hell you're doing to even notice that things are changing around you.” A brief moment of hurt flashes across his face, but he schools it almost immediately.
“You don’t know shit, Willa.”
“Then enlighten me,” I toss back. “You keep me in the dark about so much of your life but expect me to let you know everything about mine.”
“You don’t want me to enlighten you. I promise you that.” The way his voice drops has an eerie sensation creeping up my spine, but if I want to know, then I have to face it. I can't duck my head in the sand like I did when we were younger, trying not to hear the shouting that my father would use to rain his wrath down onto our house, until one day it stopped.
I know Rich stopped it. He grew bigger and stronger. My father was no match for him any longer. Rich always took on my father when he was out of control. He'd bait him if he thought he was coming for me, but for the most part, he was always after Rich. Now with everything I know about my uncle and how much he and Rich look alike and the utter hate my father had for his brother, I wonder if that played a large part in it.
“I’m not a kid anymore.”
"You have no idea who you married. What we've done." The door opens, and Vasily comes walking in with West. He closes the door behind him.
"Who is ‘we’?" I ask. Rich's eyes bounce over to Vasily.
"You fucking married her?"
"I did," Vasily says, utterly calm, but this doesn't feel calm. There is something thick in the air.
"You realize how fucked up that is, don't you? And you know how much I wanted to protect her."
"I don't regret what I have done, Rich. Not marrying her or killing her father." What? I must have heard Vasily wrong because I swear he just said that he killed my father. That can’t be right.
“Killing my father,” I say the words out loud, trying to process them. Before I know it, Vasily is on me.
“I can explain everything, Willa.” He pulls me against his chest.
“You killed my father,” I repeat, trying to absorb what he is saying. It doesn't sound real. They said he'd died of a heart attack. If he killed him, then it was covered up.
“Holy shit,” I hear Teddy whisper.
Vasily’s hands cup my face. “Things got out of hand.”
“You don’t say,” I mutter dryly. I think they might have gotten more than a little out of hand.
“I did what I had to. It was let your brother finish what he started with him or do it myself.” I pull back to glance over at my brother.
“It’s one thing for me to kill him,” my brother says. “It’s nothing for King to do it. It wasn’t his place.”
“So you were going to kill him?” I ask, already knowing the answer, and honestly, that isn't so shocking to me. My brother hated our father. I did too. I was relieved when I found out he was dead. That he would no longer be in our lives. I thought it was a gift.
“Yes,” my brother says, his face cold.
“But you stopped him?” I look at Vasily.
“He’s eighteen and a hothead. I wasn’t going to let him live with that. Your father wasn’t a good man. Rich’s reasons for wanting his father dead are his to tell, not mine.” I turn to face my husband. My eyes are filled with tears. “Princess, baby, please don’t cry.” He pulls my glasses off to swipe the few tears that spill free.
“I can’t help it.” I sniffle. “Thank you,” I whisper. “I could never protect him. No one ever did. Thank you for doing that for him.” I bury my face in Vasily’s chest. He wraps his arms around me tightly, holding me close. He kisses the top of my head.
I push back so that I can turn to face my brother. “I’m sorry you couldn't tell me.”
“Don’t apologize to me, Willa.” My brother runs a hand down his face; I can see he’s fighting his own demons. “I should have been the one to?—”
“No,” I cut him off. “You already have enough demons you seem to be fighting.” I walk over to my twin, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug. "It's time to let everything go. He's gone, and that's all that matters."
"Not that easy." He hugs me back. "I've got a fight I need to get ready for." I drop my arms from around him, knowing he wants to escape. He's not great with emotions. Never has been.
We all watch him go, knowing this isn’t the time to stop him. He’ll fight us on it, and that is the last thing I want right now. It’s important that he knows that we are all on his side.
“We’ll see you guys out there?” Teddy asks, giving me a hug.
“Yeah,” I tell her. To my surprise, West comes over and gives me a hug too.
“Give him time. I’ve been where he is.” I give him a smile and nod. If anyone can relate to my brother, it would be West. When the door closes behind them, I turn to face my husband.
“Any more secrets that I need to know?”
“Need to know?” He lifts a brow.
“Oh, gosh.”
“Nothing for you to worry about, Princess.” My husband lifts me off my feet. “Small things, like plotting to marry you and making sure I give you the thrills you need.”
“You know what? I’m not going to ask.” I shake my head.
“Good, because I give you what you need, and you sure as fuck give me what I need.” I wrap my arms around his.
“You do,” I agree. “But know if I do find out things along the way, I’m not going to run. I trust you’d never do anything that would hurt me.”
“Never,” Vasily says without hesitation. “But I won’t lie. You’re my sweet princess. I want to keep you safe. I have never felt that way before, and I can’t stop it.”
“Then don’t.” I rest my hands on his cheeks. “Your kind of safety is what I need.” I kiss my husband. He’s all I truly need. The thrill I’ll never be able to live without.