Chapter 10 #3
“I’m not Russian!” I snapped, yanking a ceramic piece into my hand.
“I’m from freaking North Carolina. I’ve never even been lucky enough to travel outside of the country, much less live in Russia.
What I told you about my parents is true.
I have a brother who’s a drug addict. I don’t even know if he’d dead or alive.
He stole from my parents and I was stupid enough to try and defend him.
That’s why they tossed me out. I lied about my age to get a job cocktailing to try and save money for college.
That took me over two years, two fucking years of doing nothing but working like a dog.
Coming to Waltham was a dream come true.
Don’t you understand? Then it was taken away because you stopped into my diner. ”
The light in his eyes changed, hate shifting to something else I couldn’t read. But he was still so cold. When he moved toward me, I shrank away, finally realizing I’d sliced open a portion of my hand.
“Damn it,” he hissed, issuing several other words in Russian.
Jesus. I held my wrist, staring down the crimson strings dripping through my fingers.
He crouched down beside me, sliding his hand underneath mine. “I believe you. I’m sorry, Chloe. That was reprehensible. Now, come. Let me help you.”
His voice was so soft, so caring.
Bullshit.
“Stay away from me, Nikolai. I can do this by myself. That’s all I’ve had to depend on for years.
” I was angry and frustrated, still loathing my heart’s betrayal as well as my body’s frailty.
No man had ever pushed me to such an emotional state.
I’d protected myself on purpose. I certainly knew why.
“Chloe, you’re bleeding. I need to check you didn’t slice an artery.”
His voice remained soothing, as if the man gave a damn. I’d heard what he planned on doing to me. I knew. God! Why couldn’t I stop crying? “Just let me alone. I assure you that I’ll be fine.”
“I can’t do that. I won’t do that. This is my fault. Please.”
Blood pooled in the palm of my hand, tears continuing to prickle the back of my eyes. Even my throat remained constricted from his powerful hold. But even worse, I wanted him to wrap his arms around me and tell me that everything was going to be okay. Jesus.
Grow up, sunshine, or you will die.
I allowed him to help me to my feet, pulling me toward the sink. He carefully took the broken piece out of my hand then turned on the water.
I couldn’t look at him, still reeling from what he’d believed and the horrible way he’d reacted.
“This is going to sting,” he said in an even more calming tone.
At this point, I didn’t care. He remained gentle as he eased my hand under the water.
The sting was biting but I gritted my teeth.
The sight of blood running down the drain was just as chilling as his accusations.
I could taste it, coppery and slick. Nauseous, I did everything I could to calm my breathing, yet my heartbeat was pumping into my ears.
“You were lucky. You missed the artery by only centimeters. I also don’t see any shards. But wrap the towel around it as tightly as you can stand and keep the pressure. We need to make certain it stops bleeding.”
I did as he instructed, taking the towel from his hand, turning away before he noticed how badly my hands were shaking. When my body swayed, he wrapped his arm around my waist, keeping me steady.
“Take your time,” he murmured.
After taking several shallow breaths, I shifted forward, determined to find my resolve. He wasn’t going to break me. I’d done nothing to him.
“I need to ask you a few questions. Are you up for that?”
When I didn’t answer right away, he pressed his hand against my shoulder, squeezing in another attempt at saying he was sorry. “Fine.” I pulled away, moving to the table and sitting down. “Just don’t touch me.”
He exhaled but remained where he was, leaning against the counter and folding his arms. “As I said, I’m sorry for what just happened, Chloe. You have to understand that the situation is going to become even more difficult.”
“What I understand is that you remained angry because of your father’s death.
While I can’t imagine the horror of finding him yourself or the method used to snuff out his life, I’m not your enemy.
Neither are the majority of people in this country.
You chose a life all those years ago. You allowed the greed and desire for power to change you.
But guess what? I’m not buying it. The real man is the one who taught his students every day, not the brutal soldier determined to exact revenge when you aren’t entirely certain who is behind this or your father’s murder.
And it’s difficult to understand but so much when all I know about your past life is from the limited stories you told in class, but of course, they were all very true.
” I could tell my words stung, just like his accusations had toward me.
Good. I wanted him to feel as much pain as possible.
“I told you before. Don’t ask if you’re terrified of the answers.”
“I’m asking. I doubt anything could faze or shock me at this point.”
A full twenty seconds of silence ticked by.