Chapter Thirty
It took a week to box up Aliannah’s apartment. She had no idea how she had accumulated so much junk; she donated as much as she could to Good Will and dumped whatever could not be donated. Even after this clear-out, she still had a hundred boxes. Ivan was shocked at how much remained. He had offered to hire people to do this for her, but Aliannah had insisted she do it herself; the clear-out was a cleansing of the soul in some sense. Aliannah found it therapeutic to do it. She did accept his offer to hire people to move all the boxes up to the penthouse.
Aliannah was exhausted by the time she flopped into bed that night. She lay there thinking about how much had happened over the past few months. It was as if life had done a full 360. The Igor and Milena situation now made her laugh when she thought back on it. Ivan would never do that to her. Ivan had killed a man for her. SHIT. Ivan had killed a man for her. She would never forget seeing the life leave Viktor’s eyes or how his blood had sprayed all over her. A shiver ran through her body. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice Ivan had come to bed. She screamed when he climbed in.
“Darling, it’s just me,” he assured her. “Why are you lying in the pitch dark anyway? We do have lights?” He laughed as he switched on the lamp on his nightstand.
“I’m fine. I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.” She rolled over and curled into him. Michelle was coming over tomorrow to help her unpack while Ivan went to sort some work business.
“Are you looking forward to going back to work on Monday?” Ivan kissed her head.
“Shit, the December showcase is in a week. Mr Wright will be up my ass for taking so much time off.” Aliannah began to stress.
“No, he won’t. I made a generous donation to the Museum and also told him ‘Jasper Conrad’s’ paintings were illegally obtained by his family. I pointed out that to showcase work without proper documentation would create unwanted media attention.” Ivan rubbed his hand up and down Aliannah’s back. “I told him I would take those paintings off his hands and acquire the proper paperwork for them, and in the meantime, I loaned several vases from my mother’s collection. They carry a great history of Russia with them; Mr Wright was more than happy to accept this new arrangement and will give you a bonus for working from home on such a lucrative opportunity,” Ivan was very proud of himself. Aliannah could tell by the tone of his voice.
“Thank you for dealing with all that for me.” She reached up and kissed him softly. Ivan cupped her cheek and kissed her back. The kiss grew deeper and more passionate. Ivan rolled them over so he was above her. He looked into her eyes and brushed a loose strand of hair from her face.
“You are everything to me, darling; anything you want, you need only ask.” He kissed her nose. She giggled. She hated nose kisses; the tickle always made her want to sneeze. Aliannah lifted her hand to cup Ivan’s face as she pulled him for another kiss. She lifted her legs and wrapped them around his back, bringing his body closer to hers. She knew exactly what she wanted. She let out a soft moan as Ivan trailed his hand down her side. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt for a nightie.
“Is this what you want, darling?” He trailed his fingers down her side again. She nodded and kissed him harder.
“I need your words darling… tell me you want it….tell me you are ready….I won’t if you are not…everything is your decision, darling…” he got the words out between kissing her neck and her lips.
“I want it, Ivan, all of it, I want you,” Aliannah’s eyes darkened with desire. Ivan shimmed down the bed towards her sensitive area. Aliannah remembered what Viktor had done and tried to shy away and hide her leg.
“Don’t hide from me, darling; I plan to make you forget that he ever laid a finger on you.” Ivan began to kiss her stomach where Viktor had hurt her, and he did the same to her thigh. The shame was overwhelming for Aliannah, and she let silent tears fall.
“Never forget you are beautiful darling, never.” Ivan moved and began to worship her. Between his mouth and his fingers, Aliannah was soon bowing her back, his touch sending jolts of electricity along her spine to every nerve ending in her body.
She soon forgot about Viktor and surrendered to Ivan. She was always powerless to his motions. He had a way of igniting everything within her without fail. Ivan got up, removed his tracksuit bottoms, and readied himself. He climbed back on top of Aliannah, and soon, the room disappeared around them as they lost themselves in the passion of their reunion. Their bodies moved like an invisible force bound them as one. They were made for each other.
Aliannah cried out as the flames of desire consumed them both; Ivan followed shortly after before collapsing onto the bed beside her. They lay there breathless and drenched in a film of sweat. In that moment, nothing else mattered except for the connection they shared. Aliannah thought to herself that Ivan was her ‘the one’ and smiled. This reunion reignited a love story that had never really ended.
“What are you thinking about, darling?” Ivan looked at her as he stroked her hair with a smile on his lips.
“I love you, Ivan.” She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. Her chest filled with warmth as she said those four words. This moment was perfect. He loved her, and she loved him. There was nothing that could come between them anymore. Viktor was dead. The threat had been eliminated, and from what Ivan had told her, the chatter of the event was non-existent, as if it had never happened. Either Viktor was no one important in that world that people just didn’t give a rat's ass that he was gone, or no one had noticed his absence. Aliannah was fine with either.
The next morning, Aliannah greeted Michelle in the lobby of their building and took her up in the lift. The lift requires a special thumbprint scan to access the penthouse. Ivan demanded the board implement extra security measures, and he willingly footed the bill for the system to be installed.
“Girl, I cannot wait to see the size of your walk-in wardrobe!” Michelle gushed as Aliannah scanned her thumb. This security system also bypassed all the other floors; no one else could use the lift while it was en route up to the penthouse; the same applied on the descent, too. The other residents initially were not too pleased, but they were soon won over when Ivan paid for the entire building's CCTV to be upgraded to the best on the market. Michelle’s jaw hit the floor when the elevator opened into the penthouse. The grandeur of it was mesmerising.
“This… makes our old apartment look like a shoe box… it is huge!! Our entire apartment could fit in this lounge!” Michelle took it all in.
“Come, I’ll show you the best bit before we deal with my wardrobe.” Aliannah took her hand and pulled her friend towards the stairs leading to the terrace.
“Close your eyes…No peaking!!” Aliannah checked before she opened the door to the terrace, “Ta-da!” she waved her arm across the expanse.
“Oh… My… God…” Michelle’s eyes popped out of her head, “This is amazing… and the view! Oh, I could live on this terrace, Ali!”
“We will have so many nights up here, Mich.” She put her arm around her friend. It may have been mid-November, but the heated terrace took away the day's chill.
Aliannah brought Michelle on a grand tour before finishing at the walk-in wardrobe.
“Ali, stopppp this is the size of a store!!” Michelle could not believe the sight before her eyes. Aliannah laughed.
“We have a good day’s work ahead of us organising everything,” Aliannah said, putting her hands on her hips. The girls began their long day. Aliannah had previously unpacked a couple of boxes of basic bits, but this was a major unpacking of everything. They spent hours sorting, folding, and displaying. They didn’t even stop for a lunch break; by the time they were done, it was dinner time.
“Phew!” Michelle wiped the sweat off her brow. “I thought we would never finish!” She plopped down on the chaise longue in the middle of the room. The two girls took in the fruits of their labours as they looked around the now fully kitted-out wardrobe and vanity area.
“Thanks, Mich, for doing this with me. You have a much keener eye for this stuff,” Aliannah plopped down next to her. Ivan entered the room and admired their work.
“So this is where you ladies have been hiding all day,” he laughed. “Nice work! Michelle, you should totally leave advertising and go into floor management. You have absolutely got the skills for it and the eye for layouts.” The girls' stomachs growled, and they all laughed.
“I’ll have Gilda whip up something to eat.” Ivan turned and left.
“Gilda?” Michelle raised a brow.
“Ivan hired a housekeeper-cook to help maintain the penthouse. I told him it wasn’t needed, but he insisted, and there was no swaying him from the idea. It feels alien to me to have someone else clean and cook… it will take a lot of getting used to,” Aliannah threw her head back as she explained.
“Oh, the woes of the insanely rich.” Michelle laughed.