Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
Chloe
“Got a minute?”
I looked up from my computer screen, surprised to see Theo and Gage.
It had been a week since Kirill showed up at our house.
Three days ago, I returned to work at the shelter.
It was also the day the publicity department of King Industries announced Theo and Aralina’s impending marriage. King Industries’ stock soared.
The public had forgotten the scandal I created because the market was focusing on what Wall Street called: the union between American and Russian royalty. Not only was Theo given full control of Jeremiah’s shares, but the board voted him to continue as CEO.
It was the first time I’d seen a relaxed expression on his face. Okay, maybe he’d gotten more grays at his temples. It reminded me of the age gap between him and Aralina. I’d only seen her in pictures.
“Hi, Aunt Chloe.” My eight-year-old nephew waved and gave me a small smile.
Gage had always been reserved around me.
I was glad Theo wasn’t forcing him to give me a hug.
It was the first time I’d seen my brother out of a suit.
He was in a navy-blue sweater, with a collar of a white polo peeking out and dark blue jeans.
“Wow, is it the weekend? You’re not in a suit?”
Theo approached my desk. He had a fancy envelope in his hand. I had an idea what it was.
“I wanted to give you this.” He extended his arm, handing me an ornate pink-and-gold wedding envelope. I accepted the tastefully vintage invitation. It was heavy. And wow, that was fast.
“Is this made of gold?” I joked.
Theo shrugged. “With how much Margo is charging, it should be.”
“So it was Margo who finalized the arrangements?”
“Yes.”
“It should be quite a coup for her.”
Theo emitted a brief chuckle that ended in a wry, resigned grin.
“You didn’t have to personally deliver this,” I added when he didn’t respond.
Theo frowned. “Why? You’re family. My marriage to Aralina changes nothing between us.”
It was my turn to shrug. I understood now why Theo brought Gage.
He didn’t want any uncomfortable discussions, which was fine by me.
It was certainly not my place to tell him he was marrying a girl whose brain hadn’t fully developed its prefrontal cortex yet.
I knew little about his bitter divorce from his first wife, only that she had accused him of mental abuse. They divorced four years ago.
“You had to do what you had to do to save King Industries.”
“I don’t want it to be awkward between you and Aralina.”
I could feel my facial muscles stretch into a smile that was brittle and forced. “I’ll try my best not to cause any chaos in the markets again.”
“Chloe…”
“Because I did, but I’m not regretting having Sebastian, and Kolya is proving to be a great dad.” He certainly didn’t abandon me in times of crisis.
“Don’t blame yourself. The press blew it out of proportion, creating a scandal where there shouldn’t have been one.
” I hated the sympathy on Theo’s face. I wouldn’t exactly call it fake, but I was guessing Theo hated sensational news, preferring a private stage to run his empire.
Sympathy was the last thing I needed. The stigma hounding a child of an illicit affair would always mark me, but I refused to let it define my son’s existence.
But to be around my newfound family—Theo and Gage—I had to embrace my past.
“It was a minor bump,” Theo added with a brief smile. “Well, Gage and I gotta go. Please call me for anything. I might not respond quickly, but I’ve made sure my staff knows that you’re a priority.”
After Theo and Gage left, I decided to go home early.
I needed to hug my boy. Was it too late to just pack up and leave this town until the wedding was over?
I certainly wasn’t in the mood to attend one.
I checked the date. Wow, three weeks! When I signed a covenant with Margo, she indicated she could pull off the ceremony quickly.
“Was that Theo?” Marena entered my office, carrying a plastic bag of what looked like more tea. I texted her the other day that I’d run out since the thunderstorm. She said it was a special concoction from a friend who sourced the best natural ingredients, and it would take her a few days.
“Yep,” I said. “He delivered the invitation to the wedding.”
Marena walked into the office toward the windows that had a view of the parking lot. “Good optics, too. King Industries CEO visits sister at the women’s shelter with his rarely seen son.”
What? I didn’t even think of the reporters following Theo. Was I so na?ve? I rose from my desk to stare outside, and sure enough, I saw Theo and Gage rushing into the back of the limo amidst a sea of press.
“That’s a brilliant move that serves him and refocuses the attention on the purpose of your NGO,” Marena said.
Still, in the little time I’d spent around Theo, I didn’t see him doing this for theater. He’d been an extremely private person who preferred having his more charming brother handle the press.
“Maybe. But wouldn’t he have a few words for them if that was his purpose?” I said. Her suggestion left a distaste in my mouth, so I changed the subject to the tea. “Is that for me?”
“A month's supply,” she said. “Are you doing okay? No trouble with Kolya?”
“Kolya’s been wonderful,” I said, trying not to gush even when I wanted to.
After the news broke about Theo and Aralina’s engagement, he tried his best to keep my mind off it.
He continued to drop hints of buying a house, and it was exciting to look at properties and dream.
“It’s unnerving as well as endearing how he seems to know what I’m feeling. ”
“What do you mean?” Marena sat in the chair. Okay, she was starting to piss me off. I didn’t invite her to sit, and I was in no mood to be psychoanalyzed.
“This is not a session, is it?” I asked.
“It could be?”
“Am I your guinea pig or something?”
“Or something,” she said dryly. “No, I’m just making sure you’re not being manipulated.”
“What?” I didn’t like where this conversation was going.
“Because you started out being concerned about how dangerous Kolya is and now, a little over a week has passed and, you’re singing his praises.”
I reeled back at Marena’s conclusion.
“I misjudged him,” I snapped. “And it’s not simply over a week I spent with him. Kolya showed up for his custody visits for six weeks. And before you point out that I wasn’t in all of them, I trust Dora’s judgment.”
“All right, I’m not arguing. You’ve just come a long way, Chloe. I don’t want you to lose your independence.” She stood up and smiled apologetically. “Look, I’m sorry. If you say Kolya has been wonderful, then he is.”
She was at the door when shame hit me. Marena had been nothing but supportive in nurturing my independence and dispelling my doubts as a good mother. “I’m sorry for jumping down your throat.”
Marena glanced back at me. “No worries. You’re heading out?”
“Yes. I can log in from home. How are the new hires?”
“I’m helping Dora sort them out. We’re on track. After the news of the King and Zahkarov impending nuptials, we had a surge of interest.”
Again. Mixed feelings.
“Great.”
Now that Kolya was back to doing work for the bratva, I’d been assigned three bodyguards. Feliks was my driver, while the other two, Lev and Yan, trailed behind us in another SUV.
When Dora, Kolya, and I were out of the house, Sorcha took care of Sebastian.
Feliks pulled up in front of the main house, which was where I picked up Sebastian. Sorcha teased Lucy that when she got pregnant, they could start a day care in the house and suggested maybe Kolya could just build it on the property.
An unfamiliar Mercedes was parked in the driveway. I wondered who was visiting. Lucy had her office in the basement.
I heard Sebastian’s giggle. I smiled.
When I turned into the living room, blood left my face.
Ivan fucking Zahkarov.
And he was holding Sebastian.
“What is this?”
Ivan’s eyes widened when he saw me. And damn it, I couldn’t help the tears that sprang to my eyes.
“Chloshinka,” he whispered. Sorcha rushed in and paled.
“What is this? A conspiracy?” I stalked up to Ivan. “Give me back my son.”
I resisted the urge to snatch my baby out of his arms. Sebastian looked so cheerful, but he gave an excited cry followed by nonsensical babbling when he saw me.
Ivan’s mouth turned down, and his eyes lowered. “He’s a beautiful boy.”
“Of course he is.” I was trying my best to keep my tone level so Sebastian wouldn’t react to my anger. He was such a sponge and could soak up every tiny change in emotion between the adults. But I couldn’t help leveling a glare at Sorcha. “How long has this been going on?”
“This was just the second day.”
I’d only been at work for three days. “Was he here yesterday? Or the first day I went back to work.”
“Yesterday,” Sorcha answered.
“It’s my fault,” Ivan said. “Don’t blame Sorcha. She told me to ask Kolya to ask you, but I was insistent.”
“So what’s gonna happen, Ivan? You’re going to shower Sebastian with attention, and when Aralina or Lucy gives birth to your Zahkarov grandchild, you’re going to forget about Sebastian?”
He turned whiter if that were possible. “I’m sorry. I do not blame you for thinking that.”
And damn him, he looked like a pitiful old man. But I had to remember this was Kirill’s father. Lucy’s husband had to learn manipulation somewhere.
“Stay away from me and my son,” I told him before I spun around and hurried to the back of the house, past the servants’ quarters, and into the garden.
The first signs of spring were in the air, and I cursed the pollen that was stinging my eyes, but if I were honest with myself, it was seeing Ivan in the flesh.
His image that had been a blur since childhood sharpened and populated the missing pieces in my memory.
I was four years old, and I had just finished a stick drawing of a man, a woman, and a child. Maybe now Papa Ivan will come home. When he left, the outside was a pretty red, orange, and yellow. I remembered because I crayoned those colors on paper.
Now the tree resembled a skeleton.
I clutched my finished drawing and walked toward the door. Mama had finished preparing dinner, and I heard the familiar show she watched in the background. It was usually also the time Papa Ivan came home.
As I passed her, she called, “Where are you going, Chloe?”
“Waiting for Papa Ivan.”
Mama made a choking sound, a familiar sound right before she would cry, but I didn’t turn to her. She’d been crying a lot lately. She said it was because of the TV, but I had my suspicions it was related to the heaviness I didn’t understand that also made me sad.
It was connected to why I had not seen Papa Ivan in a long time.
I sat in front of the door where he usually came in.
“Baby, stop doing that,” Mama chided and sat beside me. “What do you have there?”
I showed her. But somehow that upset her more, and she left my side and locked herself in the room.
The TV show droned on. It finished. Mama had not come out of her room. Papa Ivan hadn’t shown up. I stared at the drawing. What will make him come home? He said I was the best-behaved girl, and he loved me, adored me.
When I asked if he loved Mama, he wouldn’t answer. Maybe Mama drove him away with her crying?
Sometimes I heard them arguing. I think it was about me because I heard my name a couple of times.
I got up from the floor because I was getting hungry, but there was no sign of Mama yet. When I reached her room, I couldn’t hear any sound coming from it.
I opened the door. She was lying on the bed with crumpled tissues scattered on the floor.
“Mama, I’m hungry.”
She rose slowly and sighed. “I’m sorry, baby.”
As I looked back at that memory, I understood she was not apologizing for not having dinner on the table on time, but because of the life of disappointment she’d set me up for.
Renée tried her best as a single mother, but when the two men in her life showed her she only deserved to be second, she never gave a chance to the relationships that followed.
I even liked some of her boyfriends. But whenever one of them became serious, she would break up with him, and we’d move to another county or state.
She said she wasn’t going to disappoint me again after all the moping I did with Papa Ivan.
There were times I blamed my mother. Harbored resentment.
Especially as I grew older and understood my place in society.
Because how could she expect to be first if she’d been a mistress?
Sure, she didn’t have to work. Duncan or Ivan provided enough money for us to buy a house and live comfortably, even lavishly.
I understood only later why she was opposed to settling in one place.
Renée was afraid of Duncan’s wife.
This was how paranoid she’d become after we nearly got into that car accident on that stormy night.
My mother let her fear of Esther dictate how we lived our lives.
But I promised myself—Sebastian and I?
We were living our lives on our terms.