4. Alek
ALEK
I hit the surface, gasping for air. The filthy lake water hits my throat at the same time, and I cough, sucking in much needed air. I inhale until my lungs fully expand, hold my breath, and dive back down where the car sits at the bottom of the lake.
Kicking my feet and moving my arms in a breaststroke motion.
I pass the car, looking for any type of sharp rock that can cut through her seatbelt.
I got lucky. My window was down and the one fucking time I don’t carry my knife with me, considering it was my son’s wedding day, I didn’t feel like a weapon was needed.
I’m a fool.
And it will never happen again.
Snagging a rock with a sharp edge and point, I swim to the driver’s side to see her eyes open, staring off into space, her hair floating around her, weightless. Her arms defy gravity in the buoyancy of water, her entire body light as a feather.
While beautiful in death, she’s much better in the light of life.
I swim around to my side, slipping through the back window that I had rolled down, and make my way to her. I saw the belt with the rock and it… works.
It’s working.
“Come on. Come on,” I scream into the water, wasting air.
When there’s a big enough tear, I rip the belt in half with my hands. Snagging an arm around her, I tug her free, that damn dress weighing us down.
I know she didn’t pick this heavy nonsense. Ivan did.
After reading the atrocities in her diary, the way he’s harmed her, physically, mentally, and emotionally, I’m pissed at myself for not noticing sooner.
I’m going to have to kill my son for his crimes. For breaking the most sacred rule I have.
We do not hurt women.
And he did so much more than hurt her. He tore her down until she felt so small and trapped, that the only she choice she had in the world was him.
Well, he was wrong.
I drag her through the water and break the surface, gasping for more air. With one arm, I stretch through the water, then drag it through the water to push me along.
Her diary is ruined. I managed to tuck it in my pocket in hopes I can dry it out to read more heinous crimes. It’s evidence against Ivan. The more I have, the better.
The shore comes to view, riddled with leaves and sticks. I drag her by her arms until she is safely out of the water. Turning her to her side, I tug on the strings of the corset, loosening it enough in hopes she will breathe.
Rolling her to her back, I examine her. Blood drips from her head, creating a red path down her cheek, neck, and dress, ruining it forever.
Good.
I check for a pulse.
Nothing.
“Come on, Mia. Not like this. We can’t let him win.” Placing one hand on the lower half of her breastbone and with put my other hand on top, interlocking my fingers.
I press the full weight of my body down, doing fast compressions.
After thirty of them, I follow them with two breaths before starting compressions again.
“Don’t do this to me,” I beg of her, my eyes threatening to spill tears.
This is not how I planned for today to go.
I knew the wedding was going to happen. It’s why I was in the car, reading her diary even though I shouldn’t have been reading such personal private thoughts, but I knew if I stepped foot in that church, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from strangling Ivan.
Now, I’m giving Mia CPR, and she’s showing no signs of breathing.
She’s dead.
Sweat builds on my forehead, threatening to drip down and sting my eyes. My arms hurt. It’s becoming difficult to breathe. I’m running out of strength.
“Please, Mia. Not like this,” I beg of her. “I’ll get you as far away from him as possible. I promise. I just need you to open your eyes and I’ll make sure to change the rest of your life. Whatever you want.” Lake water drips from the ends of my hair, adding to the beads of water on her chest.
I stop compressions, gasping for breath, and check her pulse.
Nothing.
I run my fingers through my hair and look towards the road to see if there are any cars in sight.
Nothing.
Patting my pockets for my phone, I slip it out of my back pocket only to find it dead.
“Fuck.” I toss it the side and stare down at Mia.
She’s so beautiful. So stunning. My palm caresses her cheek just as a warm drop from my eye rolls down my face.
I can’t remember the last time I cried. Men like me don’t lose control of their emotions.
But Mia is different.
She’s been in my life longer than she hasn’t. And knowing my own son has been abusing her right under my nose, I feel like this entire situation is my fault.
“Fucking breathe, Mia!” I yell in desperation, slamming my fist down on her chest as hard as I can.
Her body slightly jerks and her throat bobs, followed by a cough. Water spews from her mouth and I help her turn her head.
“Oh, good girl,” I say, relieved. I cup the back of her head, holding her steady while she gets the lake water out of her system. “I’m so glad to see you.” I press my forehead against hers, pulling her close to me.
She struggles to catch her breath, one hand gripping my forearm. Mia sobs, digging her nails into my skin so hard, blood beads.
“I know. It’s okay. I have you. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’re safe.” I cradle her head against my chest, kissing the top, her wet hair sticking to my lips tasting like the cold, unforgiving lake that nearly took us both.
“Ow,” she groans, clutching her chest.
“I know. I had to. You weren’t…you weren’t breathing Mia. I did what I had to do.”
She nods. “I know,” she rasps. “I’m glad. Thank you for saving me.”
“Always,” I answer, hoping she knows that I would do anything for her. “Can you stand? Do you need a minute? We need to call the police.”
She grabs my arm, fear rounding her eyes. “No. No cops. I want Ivan to think I’m dead. Please, I can’t go back there, Alek. I know he’s your son, but I would rather drown again than go back to a life with him. Please, please,” she begs.
I know not bringing her back will start problems, but I don’t care.
Ivan doesn’t deserve her, and he doesn’t deserve to know she’s alive.
Not only will it cause issues with my people, but Mia’s family as well.
It’s important to them this marriage happens.
I’m not sure how much Mia knows or if she knows the truth, but I’ve been funding her parents for years now.
They filed for bankruptcy years ago and this marriage would’ve given them millions.
The only reason I didn’t kill them and be done with the Roswells was because of Mia and their network.
Now, I’m wondering if I should’ve listened to my instincts. I would’ve never let anything happen to Mia, but her family? They could be the ones who sink to the bottom of the fucking lake for all I care.
No one treats my Mia the way she deserves to be and I’m tired of it.
She’s right. This is her chance.
“Can you walk?” I ask, grabbing her hands to help her to her feet.
“I don’t know. I can try. My chest hurts really bad.”
Fuck it. I’m not allowing her to walk. “Place your arm around my neck. Da. Just like that.” Her flesh is cold as it touches the back of my warm neck. Bending down, I slip an arm behind her knees and lift her into a wedding style hold.
The same hold that my son was supposed to do to carry her over the threshold of their home, yet I’m carrying his bride while she wears a dress she hates and I’m in a tuxedo.
It’s as if the universe is giving me a sign that this woman is meant to be mine.
I take the first step into the woods, pause just as my foot lands on a fallen log, and glance over my shoulder. The lake seems unbothered now. The water is still. Dark unknown depths have swallowed the car and have left no trace of the accident.
No ripples. No waves. No bubbles.
It’s as if the accident never happened.
“Please, don’t take me back to him, Alek. Please,” Mia begs with a sob clutching her throat. “I’ll do anything. Leave me in the woods alone. Go back to your life. It can be like I never existed. I’ll figure it out.”
It being life.
“There’s no way I’m leaving you alone. I don’t care of what’s waiting for me back home. I only care about you. I promise you, I’ll never leave you in the hands of Ivan again, Lyubimaya.”
“Are you ever going to tell me what that means?” She nestles her cheek into my chest, and I cup her head, pressing her into me.
I want her as close as possible.
“It’s just a term of endearment in Russian. That’s all.” I kiss the top of her head, wanting to tell her the truth.
I want so badly to let her know I have loved her for a few years now.
It hit me one day when she was sitting on the couch, the sunlight pouring into the windows to illuminate her smile.
She looked like an angel to me, a cruel gift the universe teased to me with knowing damn well I would never be able to have her.
Not when she was meant for my son.
If I would’ve intervened sooner, if I wasn’t so caught up in the contract and loyalty to her family, if I wasn’t so caught up in tradition, the abuse she took would’ve never happened.
I tighten my hold, my fingers digging into her body hard enough to leave bruises which reminds me to relax. I don’t want to leave one mark on her. That would kill me. The last thing I want is for her to see a bruise from me when she looks in the mirror.
Then, she will be reminded that I’m my son’s father and come to the conclusion we are more alike than she thought.
Over my dead body.
Giving the lake my back, I duck a tree branch and walk into the woods. It’s cooler in the shade provided by the canopy of the trees. A chill waiting in the dark sweep over Mia and she trembles in my hold.
My jacket is long gone. I had to take it off in the lake so I could swim faster.
“You’re okay. You’ll warm up soon, Mia. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
Her fingers play with a button on my shirt, and we look at each other at the same time. Her wet lashes are spikes while her brown eyes are warm and inviting. Her teeth clatter together from the cold. Her dress is weighed down from being soaked and will take ages to dry.