Chapter 26 #2
“This bitch,” Bianca muttered, staring at a card. The envelope it came in was elaborate, black and gold. Both Sloane and Lucy read over her shoulders.
“The hoe,” Sloane agreed.
Lucy expressed outrage.
“Okay, you all have to let us in on what you’re reading,” I said.
“I’m not sure you should know,” Bianca said.
But the eagerness to tell me was written all over her face.
“I think I can be objective.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Sloane deadpanned.
“All right, ladies,” I said. “Lay it on me.”
“You asked for it,” Bianca muttered. “Dear Nikolai, I’m appalled at your choice of woman to become the mother of your son. She is impure—oh my God, this sounds worse read out loud—”
“Continue,” I ordered.
“—Her mother is a whore who went after a married man. I am your match. I am still waiting—huh, look, a P.O. box.”
“Do you get the idea that this person is knowledgeable about background information? ‘I am your match’ sounds telling.”
“Give me that,” Lucy said. “I’ll put it in a pile for Ilya to look into.”
“There’s a pile already for suspicious ones?”
“Here’s a recent one, but it’s a weird one.”
Lucy slipped a plain piece of paper attached to a plainer envelope and handed it to me. “Wow, talk about a serial killer. They used magazine cutouts.”
You think I don’t know you killed my husband? My people will come after you. You don’t know who you fucked with.
“This sounds more bratva than anything to do with Kolya’s infamy as the Mistress Strangler,” I said.
“I’ll have Ilya trace it,” Lucy said. “Although I think I need to loop in Kirill if we’re going to look into Kolya’s past jobs.”
Aralina signed, brief and emphatic.
“Yup.” Lucy exhaled a resigned sigh.
“That’s going to be a mountain to get through, won’t it?” Sloane asked. “Who keeps track of bratva business?”
Aralina pointed at Lucy.
“Please. I’m not Kirill’s secretary. He does like his calendars. I’ll check with him.”
When the other women went back to sifting through the mail, Aralina switched chairs and sat beside me.
“I was fond of Jeremiah,” she typed in. “He’s handsome and charming.”
“Well, I only knew his psychopathic side.”
Her chest shook, and she exhaled a slight sound.
“You can make sounds.”
She nodded. “Not attractive ones, so I try not to.”
Oh, Aralina.
“How’s the wedding coming along?”
Her cute mouth tucked into a tiny pout before she hitched her shoulders. “Everything is fine. No snags so far.”
I really needed to learn sign language. “Have you picked out a dress?”
Her face lit up, and she pressed on the photo app to show me a voluminous gown.
“Oh my. That’s exquisite.”
She grinned and pursed her lips, this time matching the giddy expression that made her look her age.
Wait, that was an unfair assessment. Aralina had a youthful face fitting her age, but there was something about her that reminded me of an old soul.
And yet, another version of her that was innocent.
She had the je ne se quoi like my mother always said.
Despite their age difference, I could see possibilities of how Theo would be smitten with her if only my brother would take the time to look away from balance sheets and stock prices to pay attention to his bride.
I had no doubt Aralina’s trauma in the house fire that caused her mutism also altered her personality.
“Theo accompanied me to the cake tasting.”
“Oh, what cake flavors did you pick?”
“Chocolate, lemon, and vanilla. Everything is low-key; we only have fifty guests. Mama and Papa are disappointed, but Theo doesn’t like people asking about Jeremiah.”
“Probably doesn’t like people asking about me too.”
“Don’t say that.”
“This was less awkward than I expected. And I think we just have to address the elephant in the room.” I let out a deep breath.
“I wasted most of my life harboring resentment toward someone I’d never met.
The funny thing is, now that I've met you, it’s like what I feared the most in my life is gone. ”
She stared at her phone for a beat before she typed, “I found your picture with Ivan in the attic. I gave it to Lucy to help me find you.”
“How long did you have the picture in your possession before you gave it to Lucy?”
“A year.”
“How did you feel about that picture?”
“It was like putting together a puzzle. I knew Mama and Papa had a rough couple of years before I was born. Mama explained it to me when I was old enough because she thought I might hear rumors.”
“You never told her about the picture you found?”
She shook her head. “It was a painful time for her, and I didn’t want her to hurt again.” Her face looked tragic. She had the ability to look lost, like the time when we rescued her from Jeremiah. Even then, I wanted to hug her.
“I’m sorry you felt Papa abandoned you,” she typed.
“Why are you apologizing to me?” I asked.
Aralina lowered her gaze to Sebastian. “He’s so cute.”
Okay, she didn’t want to talk further about the topic. Fair enough. At least we addressed it. It wasn’t our place to dissect our parents’ choices.
My nose twitched, catching a whiff of soiled diapers. “Ooh, Sebastian. What is that smell?”
Aralina gave a silent laugh and pinched her nose.
“Yep.”
That gave us another reprieve from talking about sensitive matters. I gave Sebastian his stuffed octopus to keep him busy while I made quick work of his diaper.
“Oof, what’s that smell?” Lucy called out.
“Wait until you have one of them,” Bianca told her. “You’ll get used to it.”
“Oh, I’m used to it,” Sloane announced. “And they’re not babies either.”
I kept forgetting she worked in an assisted-living home. I was about to slip on Sebastian’s shorts when Aralina peered closer.
“Did I miss a spot?” I coralled Sebastian’s ankles and lifted them up. My son thought I was playing and burst into excited giggles.
She pointed at the birthmark on the back of Sebastian’s leg. “Yes, it appeared later. It’s like a crescent moon, isn’t it? I don’t know if it’s going to fade as he gets older.”
Aralina kept staring at it, and it unnerved me.
“Is something wrong?”
When she didn’t respond, I touched her shoulder, startling her. She mouthed sorry and thumbed behind her, indicating she was going to return to the fray.
I didn’t have time to dwell on her response because Sebastian started fussing.
I sighed. “You can’t be hungry again.”
“Growing boy,” Bianca called out.
He sure was.