Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Katya
With a tense silence between Alek and I, he ends up giving me space the entire next day. I’m not sure how I feel about it. A part of me is grateful that I have time to think without him around me, confusing my mind. But another part of me is missing him. Craving his touch.
I don’t know how to make sense of all these feelings inside of me.
I explore the house, feeling more confident moving around open spaces. I haven’t missed my old room once today.
I end up in the large indoor pool room. The smell of chlorine is strong but it’s also kind of nice.
I’ve never smelled it before. Only read about it in books.
My family never brought me to the pool when my parents were still alive.
My father saw doing things as a family pointless and my mother was too afraid to get on his bad side.
So many new things for me to explore. It’s not as scary as it once was which makes it all the more scarier because I haven’t missed Dimitri as much as I should. Of course I’m worried about him. Worried over how much he’s worried for me.
But I can’t deny the excitement at starting a new life with Alek. Being my own woman. Moving away from the trauma that held me in my room for so long.
I settle in one of the chairs by the pool with a book. I don’t know how to swim so maybe that’s something new I can learn. One day. When things calm down. If they’ll ever calm down.
I hear female voices in the hallway outside the room and before I can process it, Nina and Susanna enter, carrying towels with them. They’re chatting away like they don’t have a care in the world. It must be nice to not have to be so afraid of everything.
They stop when they see me.
“Oh,” Nina says with surprise in her voice.
“Oh,” Susanna also says but her tone is much more critical. “We didn’t know you were going to be in here.”
“I’m Alek’s wife now. Technically this is my home.” That’s a surreal thought for sure. “What are you two doing here?”
“We came over for a swim,” Nina explains. “Alek had a pool at his old house and he told us that we were welcome to use that one every time, so we figured we could use the pool at his new house now.”
“Does Alek know you’re here?”
Susanna huffs. It seems that no matter what I say, I’m never good enough for her. “Alek gave us a key. We’re welcome whenever we want. Because Alek is our family.” There’s a clear distinction in her voice: she and I are not family.
“Right. Well, I’ll just leave you be.” There’s no point in arguing with them. I’ll never win. I close my book and move to stand when Susanna speaks.
“I can’t believe this,” she mutters.
I don’t move. “What can’t you believe?”
She flings her hand at me. “You. Just being… here. Getting to be a housewife to Alek when you don’t deserve him. You don’t deserve this cushy lifestyle.”
“Why don’t I deserve it?”
“Because you’re a gold digging whore. We all know it.”
“Susanna,” Nina says softly. “Let’s just swim. I’m not in the mood for a fight.”
Susanna flashes her sister with a hurtful gaze. “Well, I want to fight.”
“Do you know anything I’ve been through?” I ask.
“I don’t care. Not after you slapped me. Anything you could say to me now is pointless. I don’t like you.”
“And I don’t like you,” I snap, finally getting to my feet. It’s been hard to find my voice but with how much Susanna is making me angry, it’s been getting easier. “You are rude. That’s why I slapped you the other day. You haven’t even cared to ask what I’ve been through.”
“Like I said. I. Don’t. Care.”
“I had to watch my father murder my own mother right before my eyes.”
Both of them go silent, their eyes widening.
“Oh,” Nina finally says, almost like she feels a little bad for me.
And then Susanna speaks once more. “I don’t believe you. You’re just saying that for pity points. Now, leave. My sister and I are trying to enjoy a day of swimming.”
“This isn’t even your house,” I say.
“And it’s yours? No. It’s Alek’s. And he has allowed us to use this pool. So leave.”
“I’m not in your way.”
Susanna storms right up to me and stares me down. Even at sixteen, she’s a little bit taller than I am which I can tell makes her smug. Any advantage over me is a win for her.
“Now you are,” she says. “So move before I slap you in return.”
“Alek said he wasn’t happy with how you’ve been treating me. I am Alek’s wife, whether you like it or not. So start treating me with some respect.”
“I don’t respect whores.”
“I am not a whore. I’m still a virgin for goodness sake’s.”
Susanna’s eyes widen before she lets out the cruelest laugh. “You’re a virgin? How old are you? You’re pathetic.”
“Susanna, come on,” Nina says. “Let’s just go.”
“No. I am going for a swim and this bitch can get out of my way.” Susanna pushes me backwards before I even realize it’s happening.
And that’s when I fall into the pool.
It’s the deep end and I can’t swim.
Water rushes all around me, clouding my vision and soaking right into my nose and into my lungs. I open my mouth to breathe which only makes more water rush inside. An intense hot pain rips its way up my throat. I am going to die. There’s no escaping this.
I flail around, trying to find a wall to grab onto. To hoist myself up. To save myself.
But the only thing I can focus on is the darkness creeping in at my vision and the pain in my throat and lungs. I wanted to find my own voice so badly and now that’s all going away.
It’s in this moment that I know I don’t want to die. I want to live a life I’ve always dreamed of. I want happiness. Freedom from my past.
I want more than just my tiny old room back at Dimitri’s house.
As soon as I have that thought, I feel hands grab me and hoist me out of the pool. The second water is no longer invading my senses, I cough up all the water inside of me.
“You’re ok.” It’s Alek. He runs his hand over my back as I lurch forward, spitting up all the water. “You’re ok. You’re alive.”
I tremble and sputter until I can finally breathe again. My body slumps onto the cold tile surrounding the pool. A glance in Alek’s direction tells me that he’s soaking wet. His suit is drenched. His leather shoes are still on.
He didn’t care about this things when he saved me. He saved me.
How can my kidnapper be the man to make me happy? To give me all the things I’ve ever wanted in life? I’m not sure but it’s happening.
I grab his jacket and bring my face to his chest, inhaling his scent deeply. I feel safe in his arms. There’s no point in denying it now.
Alek holds me to him for a moment before letting go and setting his eyes onto Nina and Susanna who are frozen in place. “What the fuck happened?”
“She just jumped in,” Susanna says. “It’s not my fault she doesn’t know how to swim.”
“It’s a good thing I was walking by and heard Katya struggling. If I hadn’t been, would you two have stood back and watched her die? Are you that fucking cruel?”
“It was an accident,” Susanna snaps. “Nina and I were frozen. It’s not our fault.”
Alek turns to Nina. “Was it an accident?”
Nina hangs her head low, unable to look him in the eye.
“Katya, what happened?” he asks in a soft voice.
“She pushed me in,” I whisper. I am done hiding. Done trying to be nice. If Susanna is going to try and hurt me again, then Alek needs to know about it. He’s the only one here who seems to want me alive.
Alek gently lets me go and storms over to Susanna. “I have had enough from you.”
“You just believe her?”
“Of course I do. Katya has no reason to lie. She can’t swim. Why in the fucking world would she just jump into a pool?”
“It was an accident,” Nina says. “Susanna didn’t mean to push her into the pool.”
“But you did push her?” he asks.
Susanna glares back at him as tears well in her eyes.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Now, you’re both coming with me.” He grabs their arms and tugs them along. I get to my feet and follow them even though I’m unsteady.
Alek brings the girls to one of the guest bedrooms and nudges them inside. “You two are going to stay in there for now. As a punishment. So think about what you have fucking done and how you should act.”
“You can’t lock us in here,” Susanna screams right before Alek shuts the door on them and locks it from the outside. I can hear both of them pounding on the door.
“Alek?” I ask.
“I’m just going to keep them in there for a few hours. Until they learn their lesson. That they don’t get to mess with you. You are in my life now.” He cups my face. “And I don’t want to lose you.”
I ignore the screams of Nina and Susanna from the other side of the door and focus on Alek. His eyes are fully consuming. I could sink into them forever.
And it’s right in this moment that I know what I want. I could have died today but I don’t want to die before I know what it’s like to truly be a woman. I know I will be breaking my brother’s heart if he were to ever find out about this but I want this moment for me.
I need it.
So that’s why I say what I say next. “I want you. I need you.”
Alek’s eyes darken with lust and desire. Only he can make me feel like the woman I need to be. “Do you know what you’re asking for?”
“Yes. You wanted me to come to you willingly. So I am now.”
“I won’t be easy on you. I have wanted you since the moment I saw you. If you’re giving yourself to me, Katya, I will claim you and I will do it my way.”
That’s exactly what I want: Alek taking me how he wants so I won’t have to feel any shame about it.
I give him my answer. “Yes.”
He picks me up in his arms and carries me upstairs to our bedroom. We’re both leaving water droplets in our wake.
Alek sets me on my feet and doesn’t remove his eyes from me as he makes quick work of my top and pants. I didn’t bother wearing a bra with my shirt so his eyes soak into my bare breasts. The only thing left is my underwear.
He leaves the piece of fabric in place as he strips his own wet clothes off until he’s in nothing but his own underwear.