Chapter 21 #2
I beam at him, and he smiles back. It’s working, I think to myself.
“I still think we should discuss this later,” Cosette pipes up.
Tired of her trying to sabotage me, I stand abruptly. “I’m going to the restroom,” I announce. I’ve been biting my tongue, and I’m tired of trying to control my emotions when it comes to my wicked stepmother. I need to get away from her for a few minutes before my head explodes.
“Alright, but try to hurry in case they get here soon,” my father says, checking his watch for the millionth time and mumbling about people not being on time and how he’s not waiting much longer before he orders something to eat.
I hightail it to the bathroom, sighing with relief when I have some distance separating me from Cosette. Leaning over the sink, I splash some water on my face and then dry off with some paper towels. When I glance in the mirror, I see Cosette standing behind me.
Talk about a jump scare.
She has an evil smirk on her face as she asks, “Why do you always have to be center of attention, Savina?”
Tired of putting up with her shit for one day, I finally snap. “Oh, that’s rich coming from you, Cosette, considering you’re always trying to be exactly that in every situation and every single day of your pathetic life.”
The blow comes before I can even react. Her hand connects with my cheek, and my head whips to the side.
My cheek is throbbing, and my right ear is ringing as I take a stumbling step back from her.
A single tear slides down my cheek against my will, and her beady eyes lock onto it, savoring every second.
It’s not like my stepmother hasn’t hit me before, but never in my face.
This feels more like an insult than anything considering we’re both adults.
“I know what you’re doing. I see right through you, just like I always have,” she continues as if she didn’t just try to knock me out.
I glare at her, and I can see it in her eyes that she’s begging for me to say something else so that she has an excuse to hit me again.
But I clamp my mouth shut, refusing to give her the goddamn satisfaction.
Turning on my heel, I stalk out of the restroom, holding the side of my face, which is screaming in agony.
I think one of her rings caught my skin; and when I bring my hand down and see the crimson dotting my palm, I know that’s exactly what happened. That’s why it stings so damn bad.
I’m halfway through the narrow hallway when I suddenly see a tall, dark figure standing at the end of it. And then he’s coming straight towards me.
Shit.
I almost want to bolt, but that will draw too much attention. Instead, I simply put my head down, walk quickly, and silently pray he doesn’t try to talk to me or notice me.
“Savina,” Dimitri’s deep, familiar voice calls my name.
I try my best to just push past him, but he stops me by grabbing my arm in a gentle but firm hold. Slowly, I look up at him, hoping that the stray tear I shed has dried and that there isn’t a mark on my face. But his expression tells me everything I need to know.
His face instantly falls, and I watch as his eyes drift to my cheek, which feels like a balloon. “What happened?” he asks immediately.
“N-n-nothing,” I stammer before pinching my eyes closed.
Pulling me to the side of the hall, he gently puts his finger under my chin and tips my head up, tilting my cheek towards the dim light overhead to get a better look. “Who hurt you?” he asks, his voice deep and serious.
Before I can even open my mouth, I hear the door to the bathroom opening. Quickly, I step away from Dimitri, not wanting Cosette to catch us in a somewhat compromising position, and further adding fuel to the already raging inferno.
“Dimitri,” my stepmother acknowledges as she passes by him.
“Come along, Savina,” she grumbles before grabbing my arm in a painful grip and forcing me to walk alongside her.
On the way to the table, she whispers, “Don’t breathe a word of this to your father, or I will make sure you never move out of our house. Do you understand me?”
I nod and am thankful when she relinquishes her claws when we get to the table.
“Finally! We can order now,” my father announces grumpily. He stares at me for a beat when I sit down and asks, “What happened to your face?”
“Oh, just an accident,” Cosette speaks up quickly. “Savina caught the edge of the door on her face when she walked into the ladies’ room. Some old lady swung it open too fast.”
My father frowns, but he seems to believe Cosette’s account of things. “You need to be more careful, Savina,” he chides.
I close my eyes and give him a nod. I don’t want to give my stepmother an easy out; but if it will make it simpler for me to move out and get away from her, I’m willing to bite back my words just this once and keep quiet.
When I open my eyes once more, I see Dimitri taking his seat across the table from me. His blue eyes narrow as he stares at my cheek, and I can feel my cheeks burning from embarrassment. And when his gaze flickers to mine, I quickly look away, staring down at the menu.
The dinner is painfully strained and tense with Papà and Dimitri’s father discussing territories and business. I quietly eat my meal, my eyes staying fixated on a burgundy wine stain on the pristine, white tablecloth. I can feel Dimitri’s eyes on me the entire time, but I don’t dare look at him.
After what happened at the engagement party, I have no idea where he and I stand.
All I know is that I’ve been keeping my distance, and he’s been keeping his.
He hasn’t even texted me again, which I’m thankful for.
I hope this game of his that he started is over for good, because right now I just want to focus on moving as far away from my stepmother as I possibly can.
Thankfully, once brunch is over, my father announces that we’re going home.
While they’re all exchanging goodbyes at the table, I hastily make my way to the front door.
I’m the first one outside, and I’m thankful the rain has stopped and that the humidity isn’t unbearable.
I take a deep breath. God, it felt like I had been holding my breath for the entire meal.
It was so tense, and the lingering effects have my arms curling around my midsection.
“Does your stepmother do that often?” Dimitri asks from a few feet away, causing me to jump.
I had been so caught up in my own head that I didn’t even realize he had snuck outside to smoke. He’s leaning up against the brick facade of the restaurant, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Normally I don’t like when people smoke; but for some reason, he looks so damn hot when he does it.
God, what is wrong with me?
Dimitri takes a long drag, smoke billowing from his full lips before he snuffs the butt out in the ashes of a receptacle. Then, he stares at me, waiting patiently for my answer.
Shit, what was his question again? Oh yeah, about Cosette…
“Only when she’s had too much to drink,” I explain. “Which is pretty much every day,” I quip, attempting to crack a joke.
But Dimitri doesn’t think it’s funny. No, his face is stony, cold, indifferent.
He looks pissed off, and I have no idea why.
It’s not like I’m his future wife or his responsibility.
I mean, not anymore. And for some reason, that just makes me sad all over again.
Shaking my head, I start to walk towards the curb where the car is waiting.
I don’t see or hear the bike messenger careening towards me until it’s too late.
One minute I’m walking, and the next I’m being pulled backwards out of harm’s way.
Dimitri crushes me to his chest, and I breathe in his familiar scent. The bicyclist yells something at me in another language and flips me off as he pedals quickly past us. The asshole isn’t even supposed to be riding on the sidewalk, but somehow it’s my fault, I guess.
Slowly, I look up at Dimitri. His strong arms cradle me firmly but gently, and the way he looks at me just then has my heart skipping a beat inside my chest. Inside his icy blue gaze, I see a longing that was never there before, and it frightens me.
But before I can even register the emotion in his eyes, I hear my father say, “My god, Savina, you almost got ran over. Thank goodness Dimitri was there.”
Everyone piles out of the restaurant, apparently having witnessed everything through the glass in the front doors.
Reluctantly, I pull away from Dimitri and plaster a fake grin on my face. “Uh, yeah, that was close.”
“Close? He was one second away from running you over,” Cosette chimes in. “Really, Savina, you need to watch where you’re walking. Don’t be so clumsy. You know that bike messengers don’t always adhere to the law and ride on the sidewalks,” she says before hiccupping.
Yeah, she’s had way too much to drink. But maybe that’s lucky for me, because no one seemed to notice how close Dimitri was holding me. And thankfully, no one can read minds, because secretly, I kind of liked it.
“Well, that’s enough excitement for one day,” my father announces. “Let’s get home before something else happens.” He shakes Mr. Sokolov’s hand and says goodbye to Pavel and Dimitri.
I follow Papà to the sedan. My eyes meet Dimitri’s once more before I mouth, “Thank you.”
He gives me a subtle nod before turning away from me.
I climb into the car, my hands still shaking from the adrenaline. I can’t describe how it felt to be in Dimitri’s arms just then, but I know it felt good. I felt safe. Protected. Like he would burn the world down around us just to save me.
We’re sitting in traffic when my father gets a call on his phone. After he hangs up, he tells me, “The apartment I found for you is ready. You can move in whenever you want.”
“Thank you, Papà,” I tell him sincerely.
My stepmother side-eyes me, but I ignore it.
No one can bring my mood down right now, not even her.
I text Darby the good news, and she’s ecstatic.
She tells me she’s already packing and will help me if I need it.
I definitely do. With her help, I’ll be packed up and ready to go sooner rather than later.
With a smile on my face, I tuck my phone back into my purse.
My body hums with nervous excitement the whole ride home.
And I hate to admit it, but I think about Dimitri almost the entire way there.
He promised to destroy me at the engagement party, and then tonight he showed concern after he saw the way my stepmother treated me.
It’s like he has two different personalities or something.
I can’t figure him out, and it’s driving me crazy.
But I’ll stick to the way I’ve always been when it comes to Dimitri.
I need to just stay away from him; because in the end, history will only repeat itself and he’ll hurt me again.