Chapter Six
Maksim
The moment I show up at the club, I know I made a mistake. Natasha didn’t want to come here and I just left her alone. Again.
For some reason, I have this urge to want to protect her. It’s a feeling I’ve never had before. She just looks so scared and innocent that I feel bad every time I speak to her since I can never say anything right.
Going against what I normally do, I decide to leave the club and head back to our villa. I need to try with Natasha. I need to figure her out because otherwise, I’ll be stuck in a miserable marriage for the rest of my life and that’s the last thing I want.
She’s beautiful so that’s not a problem. We just have to figure out the rest.
But when I return to the villa, I find that Natasha is gone. She left me a note, saying she went to a garden nearby. I can’t blame her for leaving when I left myself but for some reason, it stings.
Why should I care what she does? It’s not like we’re in love. We were both forced into this marriage.
And yet, I don’t like that she left without me even though I did the same thing to her.
Fuck. Why does this all have to be so fucking confusing?
I can’t just stay in the villa all night by myself so I go to the garden. Maybe Natasha and I can talk. Maybe we can figure this out.
It’s dark out now. Why would Natasha come out here on her own? It could be dangerous.
The world I live in is filled with enemies, though none of them would know I was here in Greece with my new bride, so that’s one less thing I have to worry about.
But still. My gut is saying something is wrong and my gut is never wrong.
I’ve worked for the Bratva for a long time to know when something feels right or not.
When I reach the garden, I search the entirety of it but don’t find Natasha. That’s when I hear a woman scream.
It’s not a scream of fun. It’s a scream of pure terror.
Running towards the sound, I find myself on a dark street with no one else around. Where did the scream come from? And who’s to say it was even Natasha.
But then the scream sounds out into the night air… close to me.
Turning around, I see a tight alley between two houses. Two men are there, harassing a woman.
That woman is Natasha.
Even in the darkness, I can make out her features. She’s terrified. The men have her pinned against the wall.
A sudden surge of anger courses through me like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. I don’t even think as I run over to the men. One of them has his hands on Natasha’s waist and I yank him away from her.
The other man backs away, clearly shocked to see me.
I toss the one who was touching Natasha to the ground and kick him in the stomach. And then I kick him again… and again… and again. I’ve never been this angry in my entire life.
But these men were hurting Natasha. Hurting my wife.
The other man takes off running into the night while I continue to kick the man who touched Natasha. He lets out groan after groan until he goes silent.
That’s when I finally stop kicking him.
Only to realize that he’s dead.
I kicked him so hard I killed him.
Shit. I’ll have to take care of the body. The Bratva has contacts everywhere in the world. Someone will clean this up for me.
I call Nikolai. “I need help.” After explaining the situation, he tells me who to call in Greece that can help. I call the number and tell them I need a clean-up. The man on the other end tells me he’ll handle it.
Just like that. Our organization is a powerful one.
Taking a deep breath, I finally turn to Natasha… only to see her cowering against the wall. Afraid. Of me, I realize.
“Natasha?”
“You… killed him,” she whispers.
“To save you. He was hurting you.”
“I know. But… you killed him.”
“I saved your life. You could be grateful. You don’t have to look at me like I’m a monster.” My words come our harsher than I mean them too but it’s what I feel. I saved Natasha’s life and yet she’s looking at me like I’m the bad buy? None of that makes sense.
“You killed him.”
I reach out for her but she flinches back. With a sigh, I drop my hand. “Yes. We should go. Someone will come by to clean up the body. Don’t touch him. You don’t need to get your fingerprints anywhere near him. We need to go back to the villa now.” I offer her my hand but she doesn’t take it.
“You killed him,” she says once more.
“I did. But it was to save you. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“How do I know that? How do I know you won’t do this to me?”
“Kill you? Because then I’d have a war on my hands. Your father would come for my head. So no, I’ll never kill you. I have no desire to beat you or torture you. I don’t hurt women.”
“But you just killed a man without even blinking.” She flinches back from me again. “That’s not… normal.”
“We have to go, Natasha. I know you’re afraid. I get seeing someone die before your very eyes for the first time is frightening but we have to go. I won’t hurt you. Come on.”
When she still doesn’t move, I grab her arms and haul her away from the dead man. She only whimpers and clamps her eyes shut, like she’s still terrified I’m going to kill her.
Neither one of us says a word on the way back to the villa. Once we’re in inside, Natasha wrenches herself away from me.
“I won’t hurt you,” I say, raising my hands up. “I don’t know how to make it clearer. I killed that man to save your life.”
“But you didn’t have to kill him. You could have just scared him. The other man ran. Aren’t you worried he’ll ID you?”
“That fucker knows he did something wrong and he’ll know I’ll come kill him next if he tries ratting me out to the police. Besides, he doesn’t know my name. Where I live. Nothing. I’m not worried.”
“You didn’t have to kill that man.”
“I saved you.” I huff. “I don’t understand you, Natasha. Most women would be grateful I did what I did.”
“Then I guess I’m not like most women. I’m not like all the women you’ve dated before.”
I frown. “Why does that matter?”
“It doesn’t,” she snaps, turning away from me. “I’m just saying… I’m married to a man who’s a murderer.”
I run my hand over my face. None of this is going right.
“Ok. I know you’re afraid. But I will not hurt you.
And fine. I didn’t have to kill that man.
But I was angry. So fucking angry that he put his hands on you.
That he was making you afraid. It made me feel more angry than I’ve ever been in my entire life. So yes, I killed him for that reason.”
Slowly, Natasha faces me again. “You… cared that I was getting hurt?”
“Of course I cared,” I say, letting out a breath. “You’re my wife now, Natasha.”
“But you don’t seem to want anything to do with me. You left me again today to go to some club.”
I sigh. “I know. Because I’m figuring all of this out, right along with you. But I won’t let some fucker hurt you. Even if we don’t love each other. I’m not the kind of man who let’s women get hurt for the fun of it. I can promise you that. I protected you.”
“Because I’m a woman… or because of who I am?”
“What do you mean?”
She shakes her head, sadness and frustration in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. I just need space. I’m tired. Don’t join me in the bedroom. I won’t be able to sleep otherwise.” And she walks away from me, going into the bedroom, and shutting the door.
Shutting me out completely.
Natasha
I’m glad Maksim saved my life. But I’m not glad he killed someone to do it.
Not when it makes me think of my father. I have no proof he killed my mother but I’ve known it in my gut for years. My father terrifies me. And now my husband is a killer. Will I ever feel safe around the men in my life?
Maksim says he’ll never hurt a woman but how do I know that? Truly. I can only take him at his word and he’s still a stranger to me. His word doesn’t mean anything.
When he claimed he wanted to protect me, for a moment it warmed my heart. Made me believe that we could have something.
But if he only protected me because of my gender, then it wasn’t for me. It was just on principle. He doesn’t truly care for me. And I’m not sure he ever will. If I can even care for him.
I slump onto the bed before curling into a ball. The image of those men coming at me is seared into my brain. I have never felt more alone in my entire life.
I don’t sleep at all.
When morning comes, I force myself up, even though exhaustion is overtaking my body. Maksim is seated at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee.
I stop when I see him in the morning light. He doesn’t look as scary. In fact, he just looks… tired.
“Hi,” he says.
I can’t get the words to come out of me. Not after how afraid I was last night. But I know I have to try.
“Do you want breakfast?” he ask, nodding at a plate of eggs and bacon. “I made it. It’s kind of the only thing I know how to make.”
Slowly, I sit down across from him, my stomach rumbling, and try to eat a piece of bacon, though it goes down hard.
“About last night…” He sighs. “Why were you so afraid? I know I killed someone but it was to save you. I don’t get it.”
The urge to tell him about my dad is on the tip of my tongue but can I truly trust Maksim? What if he tells my father about my theory? If my father found out I suspected he killed my mom, it would not go over well.
So instead, I stay quiet and nibble on the food.
Maksim nods, like he knows the answer. “All right. I know things are tense between us. Frankly, I don’t want a miserable marriage. So I thought while we’re still in Greece, we should spend the day together. Have fun.”
“Why can’t we just go back home?”
“My dad will be upset with me if I don’t make this work.”
So will mine, I want to say, but still, I keep my lips closed.
“Let us try for today, Natasha. We have to try.”
I know he’s right. I’ll have no choice but to push past my fear and get to know Maksim. Because the truth is: I’m stuck with him for the rest of my life. Our marriage is a peace deal. It’s not like we can ever get a divorce.
“Ok,” I finally whisper. “We can try.”
“Thank you.” He offers me a charming smile. “I can be nice. I promise.”
I want to believe more than anything but all I worry about is the other shoe dropping. Nothing good lasts in our world. No matter how hard you try.