3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Lana
My heart begins to pound the moment I hear Nikolai’s voice. What is he doing here? Invading my life like this. Making me feel strange, tingly sensations everywhere.
I crack my door open and strain to listen but I can’t make out what’s being said exactly. Taking a deep breath, I tiptoe to the edge of the stairs and peek down. At the bottom of the stairs is the main foyer.
And in that foyer is my father and Nikolai.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” my father hisses. His face is red and blotchy. Clearly he’s upset and it’s never a good idea to make my father upset. Yet, Nikolai doesn’t look worried. What kind of man is he that he’s not afraid around my father?
“Lana will be mine soon enough. I thought it was appropriate to come to her home and meet her family.”
I frown. Why would I become Nikolai’s? Unless…
My father always said I’d be in an arranged marriage. Said it was common within the mafia to make peace deals and marriage was one of those ways. Told me I’d always end up married to a man of his choosing someday.
Is that man Nikolai?
But then why does my father look so upset if he chose Nikolai? None of it makes sense.
“You are crossing boundaries,” my father says. “Leave. Before my daughters and wife return home.”
“I know Lana is here, Gregory. I followed her home.”
I tense. Nikolai is determined to make me his but why? Why me exactly? I know I’m beautiful but that’s all I have working for me. I’m not even talented enough to make the lead in any ballet unless my competition gets a broken ankle.
Or dies.
I shudder. Claudia. He most likely had a play in her death. There’s no way it was coincidence she died so soon after he told me he’d ‘handle it.’
“Leave my daughter alone. I didn’t give you permission to marry her. Not yet anyway.”
“We’re in the process of making a peace deal. It’s only time you give me her hand. Wouldn’t it be better now than later? I can make your life very hard, Gregory. Or I can make it very easy. Give me Lana’s hand in marriage and then we can put any pesky differences we have aside.”
“I want to choose the man my daughter will marry. Not have that choice made for me.”
Nikolai opens his arms wide. “Am I not a good catch? I have money, status, power. And right now, I have you by the ball sack. And you know it. So make this deal easy, Gregory. Give me Lana’s hand in marriage and we can call it a day.
Your daughter will be married to a high ranking Bratva man.
Isn’t that any mafia man’s dream? She’ll be even more powerful than you. ”
My father doesn’t respond. I can only see his back from here but I can tell it’s tense.
“Unless…” Nikolai takes a step closer to my father. “Unless you don’t like the thought of your daughter being more powerful than you are. Is that it, Gregory?”
“Just get out of my house. And don’t come back until I have made a decision.”
“Make the right decision. And soon.”
“And if I make the wrong one?” Father spits out.
Nikolai’s eyes narrow, turning into something dark and dangerous.
My mind flashes back to how he looked when he punched my attacker.
The passion and intensity on his face. How he saved my life.
It was brave but it was also terrifying because now Nikolai has something he can hold over me. Something he can use against me.
“Then you know what I’ll do. I’ll have Lana for myself, Gregory. One way or another. I would hate for you and your wife to be the casualty to all of that.”
I suck in a breath. Nikolai’s threat is clear. He will kill my parents if he doesn’t get me.
I now know exactly what kind of man I am dealing with. My gut was right from the beginning.
“Get out,” Father hisses. “I will tell you my decision soon.”
Nikolai smirks. “I’ll be waiting.” His eyes flick up and meet mine. I gasp and back away from the steps, hiding behind the wall. “Tell Lana that she deserved to have the main role and it’s a shame that it was taken from her.”
I press my hand into my chest to steady myself as I listen to the front door open and close.
Then silence.
Peeking back around, I see my father standing there with his head bowed low. “Father?”
He jerks upright and turns to me. “Lana? Where you listening?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have been. Get to your room. Now.”
“Are you going to marry me to him? Is that why he’s been watching me?”
Father can’t seem to look me in the eye. “He wants your hand in marriage. I’ve been having some problems with him. But you don’t need to know more. Not right now.”
“So I’ll marry him.”
“Why would you say it like that?”
“Because he’s going to kill you and Mother if you don’t. And I know you. I know your pride. You won’t be killed by anybody. So you’re going to give me away to him. I just know it.” My voice is calm and collected. The ice princess. Right now, I have to keep my composure.
He finally looks at me and I see regret in my father’s eyes. Something I’ve rarely seen. Something I’ve never seen actually. “I will protect our family, Lana.”
“Even if that means sacrificing me, you mean.”
“Yes. And you will do it if I say because I am your father. You will make me proud. You were supposed to make me proud with your ballet but you have failed there. Maybe you’ll make me more proud when you become a wife.”
I flinch. The first crack. “If you know you’re going to give me away to him, then why not just say it?”
“Because I can’t let Nikolai think he has won. I need some power over him and you’re that power, Lana. He wants you and I’m the only one who can keep him at bay. But he will have you one day. I will agree to the marriage deal. But I’ll decide when.”
“So I just have to wait for you decide my life?”
His eyes narrow. Challenging my father is never a good idea.
“Yes. I have always made it clear I’m in charge of your life.
You and your sisters. I wasn’t blessed with a son to take on my legacy after I’m gone.
I will not let my daughters shame me. You will do your duty to this family, Lana.
When I say it’s time to marry him, you’ll marry him.
But only when I say. Now go back to your room.
And don’t mention this to your sisters. Adriana will cause issues and I don’t want that. ”
My father, the problem solver. He doesn’t like anyone getting in the way of his plans. Not even me or my sisters.
I go back to my room without a word. What is there for me to say? My life has been decided for me. I will marry Nikolai Smirnoff one day. The man who’s been watching me. The man who is dangerous and yet brave. The man who makes me want to run away and move in closer at the same time.
The only thing I can do is dance.
I put on my pointe shoes and dance around my room. It’s large enough for me to move. Dance is so ingrained in my body that I don’t even have to think about it. I dance perfectly.
But it’s not perfection Camille wants. It’s passion.
Claudia will not win the role of Odette and Odile but that doesn’t mean one of the other girls can’t win it. I still have competition. I still need to win.
I stop before my full length mirror and see myself. Slightly sweaty. Hair messy. In ballet, our hair is pulled tight back in a bun but right now, my hair is around my shoulders. It makes me look wild.
A scream erupts from me and I pick up my hair brush and throw it at the mirror. It cracks but otherwise, doesn’t break.
Camille decided to give our ballet one last finale for the show Claudia was starring in. Me the understudy. After my attack, the show was postponed.
I’m grateful that she’s giving me the chance to shine in the lead role, at least once in my life.
“You don’t deserve this,” Ana mutters to me as I get my makeup ready. I’m purposefully in the main dressing room with the rest of the girls. The last thing I want is to be attacked again.
“It’s happening,” I snap. “Deal with it.”
“Claudia is dead. Do you even care?”
“Her memorial service is tomorrow. I’ll be there. I think that means I care.” Besides, I’m worried Nikolai might have killed her even though he said he didn’t. I should pay my respects to Claudia even though I despised her.
Ana huffs. “You bitch.”
Maria walks over and murmurs to her, getting Ana to walk away. I continue to pat my face with my foundation, not showing any worries.
“Do you not have a heart at all?” Maria asks me. “Claudia is dead and you’re still going to perform.”
“You’re all going to perform. It’s not just me.”
“Because Camille is saying this final show is in Claudia’s honor. But I don’t think you’re doing this in her honor. I think you’re doing this for the chance to be the star, at least once. We all know Camille was going to choose Claudia for Swan Lake. You weren’t going to win.”
“Neither were you, Maria. But Claudia is dead now. Maybe you’ll have a chance.”
“You really are a bitch,” she mutters before heading over to her dressing table.
“You know I’m right,” I say with as much coldness as I can muster. Show no fear. No weakness. It’s what I was always taught.
We all finish getting dressed and ready for the show. Giselle. The story of a peasant girl who falls in love and is betrayed until she dies and becomes a ghost.
Claudia was always great at portraying the innocence of Giselle and then the mad fieriness of her ghost self. It seems extra tragic that I’ll be playing that part for the first time after Claudia died. Will her ghost come to haunt me?
The show begins. Before I can even take a step on stage, Ana bumps my shoulder, knocking me forward. I land on my hands and knees… on the stage. In front of the crowd. There’s a horrified hush. Mistakes are always embarrassing to watch in a ballet.
It’s even more embarrassing for the dancer herself.
I quickly get to my feet and begin.