Chapter Eleven Alina’s POV
Chapter Eleven
Alina’s POV
“Come in,” I called, half-hoping it wasn’t Konstantin coming back.
I had finished my dinner about an hour earlier, and I was sitting with my back against the headboard, reading a book I had taken from the library.
I hoped whoever was at the other side of the door wasn’t him because I didn’t want to think about him, let alone see him. The different emotions that crossed my mind during our conversation weren’t something I wanted to explore.
Ruslan’s head poked around, and I laughed, telling him, “No one is here. Not your boss or your boss’s boss.”
“Okay,” he said, coming in fully and closing the door behind him.
“Do you all run helter-skelter from him?” I inquired, chuckling. “What a job environment.”
“Not running exactly,” he pointed out. “Let’s just say Sir Konstantin isn’t fond of talking, and I’d rather have scars from external combat than from him. It’s normal in any hierarchy. Do you always cross paths with your matrons or medical directors or whatever?”
“There are no matrons, so to speak, at the clinic where I work. At most clinics, actually. But I understand what you’re saying.”
“See?” He took a seat on the stool as I dropped the book and pulled the covers closer to my body.
“At the clinic, there are people my colleagues and I avoid that are not even superiors. When they show up on the left, I go right,” I reveal, a short laugh leaving my lips.
“There was this time when they transferred a new senior nurse to our unit. He always had something to complain about, really stupid things. One day, a patient reported having really bad cramps during his ward rounds. He had started ranting, yelling at me and a colleague about how we didn’t give her the prescribed amount of painkillers.
My colleague had said, ‘We did just as we were instructed, sir. It was the 5 mg.’”
I chuckled as I continued. “Then I looked over to the patient, and noticed she was grabbing her stomach. It was a golden find!”
“Okay…” he remarked tentatively.
“I said, ‘Sir, her cramps have nothing to do with her treatment. She’s having menstrual cramps!’ He was so embarrassed.”
“Ohhh,” he uttered, joining in on my laughter.
“I should have stopped there, right? But I didn’t,” I went on giggling.
“His cup was full.”
“Yes!” I agreed. “I told him, ‘We love the patients as much as other professionals. We’re always here with them. And we sure don’t make assumptions about our fellow professionals not doing their jobs right.’”
“Whoo! You said that? And no one pinched you to stop talking?”
“None that I noticed,” I answered, chuckling. “He walked out of the ward, and we all started laughing—including the patient. I was scared of receiving a query or something. But it never came. He clearly didn’t report me.”
“If something like that had happened here, we’d be lucky if we lived to tell the story,” he remarked, shaking his head. “Just imagining it feels wrong.”
“Not to placate your ego or anything, but your boss is scary. I can understand men quaking in their boots, and I’m sure I’ve not seen his really angry side.”
“It doesn’t take many encounters to get that feeling.”
“I didn’t say I was scared of him,” I pointed out. “He is scary. Not to me. There are other negative emotions I feel in his presence, there’s just no space for fear.”
“All negative?”
“All negative,” I insisted, half-rolling my eyes.
“Speaking of Sir Konstantin, are you ready for New York?”
“It’ll sure be more bearable than being here. So, yes. He mentioned that we’ll be traveling soon.”
“You’ll be going tomorrow,” he said, nodding.
“Tomorrow?” I asked, my eyes enlarging. “Wow.”
“Yeah, the situation is now more urgent,” he remarked. “Boss Sergei is working on arranging things as we speak.”
I sighed.
“That’s mainly why I’m here,” he confessed. “I’m staying back with the others.”
“Oh.”
A pang of sadness hit me at the thought of remaining in Konstantin’s confinement without Ruslan.
“But you’ll be seeing me at the manor in a few weeks,” he said, sporting a small smile.
“The manor?”
“Yeah.”
“How narcissistic can this man be?” I asked, chuckling. “He calls his house a manor.”
“No, no,” Ruslan uttered. “He doesn’t. We do.”
“Oh,” I remarked.
“So,” he said, standing. “It’s cold in Manhattan currently. Even colder in Sir Konstantin’s place,” he revealed, picking up a large paper bag by the wall.
“What’s that? How did it get here?”
He chuckled. “I dropped it when I was still testing the waters.”
He brought the bag to the foot of the bed. “So, we have to find you something to wear from these. Those dresses and blouses won’t cut it.”
In the next few minutes, we went through different jackets, from wool to leather.
“But it’s okay, really,” I insisted, holding the navy corduroy jacket Ruslan said no to on account of being ‘too big.’
“Let’s check the others,” he said.
“Okay,” I said, sighing dramatically.
We checked another three out before he grudgingly conceded.
“Thank you,” I told him as he packed the clothes back into the bag.
“Nah, one of the guards was already dry cleaning Boss Killian’s clothes, I just made these the next set.”
“Not just for the jackets, Ruslan, for everything.”
“It’s nothing. You needed all the friendship you could get,” he joked before squinting his eyes. “Bent on not calling me Russie, aren’t you?”
“Oh, right,” I said, laughing. “I honestly didn’t think of it.”
“Ruslan is ancient,” he uttered with mock disgust.
“Okay, Russie,” I told him, chuckling.
“Yeah. Better.”
I stood from the bed and took the jacket into the wardrobe, putting it on a hanger.
“New York will be better,” he assured as I walked back to the bed.
“I hope so,” I revealed.
“That makes two of us.”
“Not so reassuring,” I commented.
“It’s real life,” he answered, shrugging.
Of course, he’s right.
**********
The plane, which was actually a private jet, hummed as it cut across the Atlantic.
I kept to myself, in my simple dress and oversized jacket, looking out the window as the landscape stretched on.
I wished I had my phone; I could have been texting Russie.
Or I could have tried reaching out to Hanna or Amanda.
Or maybe I wouldn’t, sitting here and just waiting as things unfold seemed to be the only thing I was interested in.
Not that communicating with phones was allowed on airplanes, anyway.
Neither Konstantin nor his men bothered me—a fact I was grateful for.
But it was hard not to feel Konstantin’s presence.
It was impossible not to look in his direction a few times.
He had papers and files on his lap that clearly kept him busy enough.
However, the crazy thing was that I felt equal parts discomfort and pleasure at the thought of him opposite me, at the thought that he ordered his men to sit me directly in front of him and not on the other side with his men, like when I was abducted.
Because I’m a wife now?
I remembered when I said I was his hostage during our last conversation, and he insisted that I was his wife.
Like the damn title makes a difference.
After many hours, Manhattan glowed beneath us like a glass and steel fortress. As we finally descended and the tires of the plane touched the runway, I looked away from the window to meet Konstantin’s gaze on me.
“Viktor and Roman will meet us at the private hangar,” he said.
I couldn’t say I was hyped up for a Bratva family reunion. But, at the same time, seeing Konstantin’s older brothers didn’t fill me with trepidation, either. I was just…okay.
So I blinked and gave him a one-shoulder shrug in response.
“So this is where you reign,” I remarked.
Instead of his reply, what I got was an overhead announcement that we were now in Manhattan, New York.
I saw them through the window before I even left my seat or took the first step out of the jet.
There were eight of them, all in black suits except for Roman, whose maroon jacket stood out.
Three of them were close to the foot of the stairs, while the others stood at the far back, closer to the long line of cars.
The three were all Konstantin’s brothers, I could tell. The fact that Roman was among them made that easier. But I knew the Lobanov brothers were four, Liza had told me before. Just that I had never met them all.
The asshole said two of his brothers would be waiting for us, not three.
If I wasn’t bothered before, I was now. As we stepped out of the aircraft, I wondered how harsh they would be towards me. They all thought I had Bratva secrets and was Vitya’s accomplice.
“Are you okay?” Konstantin inquired beside me.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked, my tone sarcastic.
“Konstantin,” Viktor spoke, moving closer to the stairs as we took the last step. “Have a nice flight?”
“It was okay. Peaceful weather,” Konstantin answered as Viktor slapped his back.
And then he turned his head in my direction. The Pakhan took a step towards me.
“Alina,” he greeted, his voice level and authoritative.
Do I call him Sir Viktor?
Mr.?
Oh, God, I should have asked Konstantin.
Or he should have told me!
“Welcome to the family,” he said as his arm came around my shoulders.
Am I in a dream?
“It wasn’t under conventional circumstances, but,” he said, facing the other two brothers, “you’re one of us now.”
“Thank you,” I answered as he released me, unable to come up with anything else.
“It’s good to see you again, Alina,” Roman beamed, walking up to me and throwing his arms around me. “I’m glad to have you back in New York and as a sister this time, not just as a nurse. Liza has missed you so much.”
“Thank you. I’ve missed her too. I can’t wait to see her,” I answered.
“Now, are you going to continue proving that you know her or will you let me say hi to my newest sister-in-law?” the brother, whom I knew had to be Mikhail, spoke, making Roman and me chuckle. His hands were around Konstantin’s shoulder, and as Roman left me, he came over with a smile on his face.