14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Natalya
“ I s he dead?” Lucy asks, staring down at the man Mikhail punched until he went unconscious.
Mikhail checks the man’s pulse. “No. But you should take him to the hospital and let him know that he should be grateful that I didn’t kill him for touching my wife. No one touches Natalya except me.”
“Who was he?” I ask. “Who was he to you that he wanted to protect you so much?”
Lucy hesitates then speaks. “He’s my boyfriend. But he also works as a guard here. That’s why he was protective.”
“This is your fault,” Mikhail tells her, nodding at the boyfriend. “You had to throw a hissy fit all because Natalya didn’t want you to command her. Get over yourself, Lucy.”
She gasps. “You are a motherfucker, Mikhail. You just punched my boyfriend for no reason. Get out!”
“You don’t own this place. You don’t own my wife. And your fucking boyfriend needs to learn to keep his fucking hands to himself. Come on, Natalya.” He grabs my arm and practically tugs me out of the room.
“Mikhail, you’re hurting me.”
He instantly lets me go. “I’m sorry. But we have to leave now.”
“Are you going to get in trouble?” I ask as we leave the brownstone and head for his car.
“No. Not when I have the power I do. But it’s never a good idea to cause a scene. You never know who will be watching.”
“Like the police?”
“Or worse. Other Mafia men. You never want them to find any weakness in you.”
We get into his car and are silent on the drive back to our house. When Mikhail reaches his hand out to me, I pull away.
“What was that for?” he asks.
After a moment, I ease back towards him, letting him put his hand on my knee. “You scared me tonight. I’ve never seen you beat a man up before. It was… I don’t even know how to explain it.”
“I will never do anything like that to you. I was protecting you.”
“I know.”
“He grabbed you.” There’s a darkness in Mikhail’s voice that makes me shiver. “I was just doing my duty as a husband.”
“I know, Mikhail. But it doesn’t mean I wasn’t scared. I was scared of what could happen to you if you had gotten in trouble.”
“I told you -,”
“I know. You have a lot of power. But I was also afraid… of you tonight. The fact that you’re capable of that…”
His hand tightens on my knee. It doesn’t hurt but it’s a message, telling me he owns me. “I will never hurt you.”
“You spank me all the time.”
“You like it.”
“I do,” I admit. “But the point is: you have the ability to hurt me if you wanted to and I can’t ignore that.”
“So… what does that mean? You don’t want to be with me anymore?”
“I still want to be with you. I couldn’t leave you even if I wanted to.
And I don’t want to leave you. But I also can’t ignore what you’re capable of.
You say you will never do anything like that to me but…
how do I know for a fact? You were a stranger to me when we first met.
We were sill strangers when we married. How do I know you’ll never use your fists against me? ”
“I have proven myself to you. I have protected you. I killed Antoni for you. I saved you from your uncle. Haven’t I shown that I would never hurt you?”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. I hate how much pain there is in his voice.
“I do believe you, Mikhail. I do. But I can’t help but also be a little afraid.
And I know that’s not what you want to hear but I thought I was allowed to voice my fears with you.
That’s a part of a marriage, is it not? My parents did it all the time with each other. ”
“You talk about your parents’ marriage like it was perfect. But I knew Lev. He told me about his marriage. The doubts he had with Tatiana.”
“I know my parents didn’t always get along,” I snap.
He raises an eyebrow and I flush, ducking my head.
“I’m sorry. But I know they married for an alliance, not for love.
My dad was a lot older than my mom. But I also know they did their best with what they had.
And my dad listened to my mom when she spoke about any concerns she had.
Am I not allowed to do the same? You told me I was allowed to have agency. ”
He removes his hand from my knee and grips the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles turn white. “You can speak what’s on your mind. Even if I don’t like what you’re saying.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry, Mikhail. I care for you.
I don’t want to be without you anymore. I know that for a fact.
You’ve awoken something in my body. Also a fact.
But… I was still scared tonight, seeing you beat that man up.
I was scared when you killed Jackson like it was nothing.
You can’t blame me for that. You have to see why I would be scared. ”
“Your father was a Bratva man.”
“Yes, but he never brought that home to me.”
“You told me you wanted to know everything I did.”
“Yes,” I say slowly. “And I meant it. I still do. But there’s a difference between you telling me about business plans versus killing someone right before me. Can’t you see that?”
He’s silent for a beat before he sighs and loosens his hold on the steering wheel. “Yes. I can. I don’t want you to fear me, Natalya. Not for real. If we ever play a game, then that’s different. I’ll try to be more mindful of what I do around you.”
“You’re so used to telling everyone what to do that you haven’t considered what the right thing to do is. You want to protect me. So that also includes protecting me from you.” It kills me to say these things. To see the pain on Mikhail’s face. To know that I’m hurting him.
But he needs to know. If we’re ever to have a true, real marriage, then I can’t be afraid to voice my own mind.
We arrive back home but neither of us gets out of the car.
Slowly, Mikhail turns to me. “I will try to do better. Now, we’ve had a long night. Let’s get some sleep.”
“Ok.” I grab his hand before he can leave the car. “You know I care about you, right?”
His eyes soften. “I do, baby.”
Even though things still feel tense between us, there also feels like hope.
But then I look down at his bloody knuckles – both from his blood and the man he punched – and I can’t help but worry even more.
I wake up to the sound of my phone ringing. With a gasp, I sit up in bed and scramble for the it. It dawns on me that Mikhail isn’t there. Where is he?
I check my phone and see that it’s not Mikhail calling me. Nor is it a number I don’t recognize.
It’s Sasha.
“Sasha?” I whisper, as if Uncle Denis is listening in. Well, he just might be.
“Natalya. I managed to steal my phone back from Uncle Denis. He was keeping all our phones locked in his office but I got it back. I had to call you.”
Sasha and I have never exactly been close. We don’t hate each other but we’ve never been warm to each other either. So hearing her call me lets me know that something bad has happened.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“The reason I was able to get my phone back was because Denis invited me into his office.”
“You mean Father’s office,” I say in a hard voice.
“Don’t let him hear you call it that. It’s his office now and he made sure everyone knows it. He… he hit Ana when she tried to back talk him about it.”
I grip my phone tighter. “He hit her?”
“On the back of her head. She’s fine. But I know it rattled her. It rattled all of us. I swear, Mom tried to kill Denis right then and there but his guards pulled her away before she could do any damage. None of us have been brave enough to say anything since then.”
“I have to get you out of there.”
“I know. Denis was pissed after we almost escaped. He’s kept us all locked up. But I was invited into his office because he wanted to wish me congratulations.”
“Congratulations on what?” Dread is sitting like heavy cement on my stomach.
“On my upcoming marriage.”
“What? To who?”
“I don’t know,” she says. “He wouldn’t give me a name.
Just that he plans on me marrying someone of his choosing in the next few months.
If I don’t make it out of here, Natalya, I’m stuck.
I’ll be forced to marry someone Denis chooses, which will bind me to him for all of eternity. I’ll never be free of him.”
“Do you think I can help you?”
She pauses. “Well… that’s why I called.”
“Oh, Sasha. I want to help you. I will try. I know Mikhail’s been working on a plan to get you all out of there.
But… I have no way I can help. I can’t sneak into our house with that many guards around.
If you give me a name, I can have Mikhail find that man and…
kill him. So that way you don’t have to marry anyone. That’s how I can help. For right now.”
She lets out a shaky breath. “Ok. I’ll try to get a name. It was hard enough stealing the phone. He left my phone on the desk, taunting me, but when he had his back turned, I swiped it. I’ll have to put it back before he notices it missing or things are going to be worse for me.”
“As soon as you have a name, tell me. Mikhail will help. Ok? And stay safe. Stay strong. We’re working on a way to get you out of there.”
“Ok.” Her voice sounds thick. It takes me a moment to realize that she’s crying. Sasha rarely cries. Usually Irina and Ana are the criers of the four of us. As the youngest two, they’ve been able to be more vulnerable whereas Sasha and I – as the two oldest – have had to be stronger.
“Sasha?” I ask.
“Irina misses you. I mean, so does Ana and Mom, but Irina misses you the most, I think. I know you two had your ballet connection.”
“Is she still dancing?”
“No. Denis doesn’t want her practicing. He hasn’t let her attend any of her classes. He hasn’t let any of us leave the house in over a week.”
“Are you ok?” I ask.
She sucks in a breath. “You never ask me that.”
“I’m asking now. Are you ok?”
“I’m… scared,” she admits. “I’m really scared, Natalya. I don’t know how you did it. Marrying a man you barely knew. I’m sorry I hesitated.”
“Hesitated?”