Chapter 18
Kasimir~
Zoya was quiet, but I understood it. Aurora could be quite intimidating, even when she didn’t mean to.
Not only did she disarm you with her beauty, but she always spoke confidently and directly, which also had a way of throwing people off.
My sister-in-law spoke like she was the leader to all Marchettis and Korolevs, and so you listened, no matter who you were.
Plus, the doctor had also visited Zoya earlier, and though the news had been good as far as her physical state was concerned, she was still going through it emotionally and mentally.
Luckily, Dr. Logan Miller had been astute enough to recognize the signs of depression without anyone having to say anything, so he’d left a psychiatric recommendation before leaving after her checkup.
Of course, I was leaving that option up to Zoya, but from what I could see, it wouldn’t hurt for her to speak to someone.
We were also still at our condo in town, so that could be another reason why she was seemingly in thought.
Refusing to allow anyone who wasn’t family into our home on Martin Street, I had driven Zoya into town to meet with Dr. Miller, and I’d seen no reason why we couldn’t stay to have dinner and give her a different choice of scenery for the night.
“Are you okay?” I finally asked as I watched Zoya pick at her dinner.
She looked at me from across the table, her hazel gaze bright. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What’s the story behind why you sing at random?”
Since it was a compulsion that was never going to go away, I could understand why she wanted to know, but not even my family knew why I sang that song when I got angry.
Granted, my mother probably had a fairly good idea of why, but since I was never angry around her, she hadn’t heard me sing that song in decades.
It also wasn’t this great secret that my family thought that it was.
Afraid of the answer, they just hadn’t ever asked me directly the way that Zoya was asking me now.
“When I’d been a little boy, I had accidentally walked in on my father and a few brigadiers torturing a man,” I answered candidly.
“I tried to drown out his screams by plugging my ears and singing the first song that had come to mind, and that’d been The Wheels on The Bus.
I sang the song as loudly as I could until my mother found me huddled behind the kitchen door. ”
“Oh, God...” she whispered, her hand covering her mouth.
“It was my fault,” I assured her. “I was supposed to have been in bed, but I’d wanted something to drink, and instead of just dealing with it, I’d gone down to the kitchen to get some water.
When I’d heard some noises coming from the garage, I opened the door to see what was going on, and I saw a lot more than I’d been expecting. ”
“And so...what? It’s a...like a security blanket now?”
She really was too sweet.
“No, baby,” I answered, keeping my grin under control, lest she think I was making fun of her.
“Since I couldn’t outrun the nightmares, I chose to embrace them instead.
Once I did that, it was a lot easier to get a handle on my life, even at such a young age.
Now, while the song is more of a compulsion than anything else, it serves as a warning to my family of my current state of mind. ”
“So, when you start singing the song, what does that mean exactly?”
“It means that I’m reaching a point where I’m becoming unreasonable,” I answered honestly.
“It means that I no longer care about the consequences of my actions, and I will kill everyone in the area if someone doesn’t calm me down quickly enough.
” I shrugged like it was nothing. “It’s a mood indicator. ”
Her head reared back in shock. “A mood indicator?”
I shrugged again. “Pretty much.”
“Has...has there ever been a time when someone couldn’t talk you down?” she asked hesitantly, almost as if she was afraid of the answer, which she should be.
“A few times,” I admitted. “Usually, the only people who can talk me down are my brother and my father. Granted, they’re also the only people who know that they’re supposed to talk me down, so there’s that.
Well, and Aurora. She’s aware of my compulsion now, though she’s not aware of the story behind it. ”
Zoya just stared at me from across the table, dinner forgotten if the look on her face was any indication.
She looked a bit shellshocked, and maybe I should have sugarcoated my answers a bit, considering all that she’d been through lately.
Nevertheless, I didn’t like the idea of lying to her, and the sooner that she accepted all that I was, the better.
I wanted my life with Zoya to move a lot faster than it’d been moving, though she’d probably disagree.
She didn’t say anything, just stared at me like she didn’t know what to do with the information that I’d just given her, and that was more than understandable when you considered how Viktor and my father didn’t know how to deal with it themselves.
“Well, since we’re on the subject of uncomfortable topics, while I decided to hold off putting you on all my bank accounts until we’re married and your new last name has been established, I did open an account for you with the three-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars that I owe you,” I finally told her.
“Wh...what?”
“You’ve got your money, lepestok,” I repeated. “You no longer need to worry about money or feel that you need to ask me for any if you need something.”
“The money that I slept with you for,” she remarked dispassionately.
“The money that was promised to you,” I corrected.
“The money that my mother was killed for,” she countered, which was true.
“Zoya, the amount isn’t going to matter once we’re married,” I pointed out. “You’ll have complete access to all my personal accounts, leaving you with millions for whatever you need.”
“I don’t want access to millions of dollars for whatever I need,” she snapped, which I could appreciate, never having been a fan of gold-diggers. “I just want to work and earn my own money.”
“Which you’ll be able to once you’re in a better place physically, mentally, and emotionally,” I replied evenly, not wanting to upset her more than necessary.
“However, despite how you feel about the money, I entered into a contract with you at that auction, and even if I feel that it’s ridiculous when you consider that it’s my responsibility to support you in every way, Aurora doesn’t see it that way. ”
Her brows furrowed. “Aurora?”
I nodded. “As far as she is concerned, no matter the reason, I acted as a participant, and for the sake of the auction’s integrity, she’s made it clear that she expects me to pay the money that is owed.
She believes that the auction is a good thing, and she will not have anyone ruining what she is trying to do for women with little other choice. ”
She didn’t say anything for a bit, but when she finally did, she asked, “Why does Aurora care so much about a bunch of prostitutes? I mean, she told me that she was in charge of the sex trade, and...I guess I’m just curious.”
After Aurora had spoken to Zoya, she’d been very forthcoming about their conversation.
In a bid to make my life a little easier, Aurora had admitted to telling Zoya that she’d been the one to kill Armen, and while it hadn’t been necessary, I had appreciated her efforts all the same.
Yeah, Viktor had been pissed, but it wasn’t like Zoya would ever report Aurora to the police.
Plus, even if she did, nothing would come of it, considering that Aurora would have both the Marchettis and Korolevs supporting her.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “At first, it’d been just to give Aurora something to do since she couldn’t work for her father anymore, but since my sister-in-law doesn’t ever do anything half-ass, she’s managed to turn a significant profit since taking over.”
“I just...you know, lions don’t concern themselves with lambs,” she remarked.
“Actually, lions concern themselves with all other animals, lepestok,” I corrected. “It’s the only way to make sure that they remain kings of the jungle. Otherwise, you give other animals the power to come for you when you least expect it. Besides, Aurora isn’t a lion.”
That had her eyes widening a bit. “She’s not?”
“A lion can only hunt on land, and Aurora’s not limited like that,” I replied, the pride in my voice evident. “Aurora is a combination of a lion, shark, and hawk. There is nowhere that she is not deadly.”
After a few seconds she asked, “What am I?”
I cocked my head as I regarded her, paying attention to the doubt in her tone over her actual words.
Now, while it might have sounded as if I was praising Aurora, I really wasn’t.
Yes, I was proud of my sister-in-law, but I hadn’t been hyping her up.
I’d merely been stating facts. Aurora was as deadly as they came, and there was no way around that, no matter how much my brother wished it weren’t true.
“If I had to choose off the cuff, I’d liken you to a spider or a snake,” I answered. “Quiet, solitary, and living hidden from the world when possible, but also not afraid to strike when threatened.”
“I don’t feel like that,” she replied. “When my mother was threatened, I didn’t strike at all.”
“You also didn’t run away,” I pointed out. “You didn’t try to save yourself. Instead, you stayed with her during it all, never leaving her side, and if you don’t think that’s brave, then you’re wrong, lepestok.”
“Then why do I feel like this, Kasimir?” she asked brokenly. “Why do I feel like a coward.”
Staring at the heartbreak in her eyes, I was done waiting to turn Marcelle into an example.