10. Alek #3
We fall into a comfortable silence, quickly unloading the bags. Mia pops bread in the toaster and I start on scrambling all the eggs. It’s a simple breakfast, but I’m starving.
Nikolai cuts up some cucumbers and avocados.
It doesn’t take long. Plates are prepared and after heating up our coffees and adding whatever we like to it, we take our food outside where we can hear the river.
I planned for us to talk while we eat, but everyone is famished. Mia places her eggs on her toast, eating it like it is a pizza. Nikolai doesn’t look up from his plate.
Satisfied that everyone is eating, I dig in.
“So, who is going to catch me up?” Nikolai asks eventually, pushing his empty plate across the coffee table.
“If you’re leaving me to connect the dots, I’m afraid the only connection I have is seeing you two here, barely dressed.
” He sips his coffee. “There are a lot of blanks for you to fill.” He leans back, crossing one leg over the other as he waits.
Nikolai is a man of patience. He always seems calm, collected, as if nothing can bother or surprise him. I wish I was that good at hiding my emotions. I’m afraid my impulses control me.
“It isn’t Alek’s fault,” Mia begins, tucking her legs under her. “I ran away. I stole the car. I didn’t know Alek was in the backseat. He didn’t reveal himself either.”
“I was enjoying the ride.” I shrug, bringing the mug to my lips.
“The car. Where is it?” Nikolai asks.
“It’s in the river,” I explain. “I startled Mia when I revealed myself and we crashed into the river. It was horrifying. I had issues getting Mia out. I had to give her CPR.”
“No!” Nikolai gasps. “Your chest must be killing you.”
She nods in agreement. “Like I got hit by a bus, but I’m thankful or I wouldn’t be here.”
“Mia had a plan but it was poorly executed on my behalf,” I add and she throws a crumbled up napkin at me.
I explain so Mia doesn’t have to relive it all.
“Mia had the Beetle in the woods at the state line, only when she stole the car from the church, she went the wrong way, so when we crashed, I carried her to the state line, and found the car.”
“He dislocated his shoulder. He still needs a sling,” Mia chimes in.
Nikolai nods in understanding. “And you left Ivan because he was abusive piece of shit, Da?”
Mia’s coffee spurts from the rim from Nikolai’s blunt question, but I’m not bothered in the least. Nikolai likes to get down to the point.
“I’m not an idiot. I, and everyone, sees what that man does to you, Mia. He treats you horribly. I am glad you escaped. You’re a brave woman. I know that isn’t easy considering it’s the Bykov’s. You risked your life.”
“I had to.” She holds her mug with two hands, staring in the milky liquid she calls coffee. “Or he would have taken it.”
I growl low in my throat and Nikolai slaps my knee, trying to be supportive. “No one wanted to tell me? I had to learn this from a fucking diary, and I only became suspicious at the bridal shower.”
“I am good at covering up bruises.” Mia tries too hard to take the blame of my shortcomings.
“No, don’t do that. Don’t take the blame. You did nothing wrong,” I reiterate.
“How is Ivan?” Mia ignores me, giving her attention to Nikolai.
He blows out a breath. “Things aren’t going well. He is furious you left him at the altar. He says you made a fool of him, and he wants to make sure you’re found so you can be given a punishment.”
“A punishment?” I shout. “He isn’t allowed to give those kinds of commands.”
“You aren’t to be found, Alek. Remember? I am here with you. He is in charge. He thinks you and Mia ran off together.”
I scrub my hands down my face. “This is a disaster.”
“We didn’t. If anything, I kidnapped Alek. He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for me. You should go back,” she says, her words a dagger to my thawing heart.
“Absolutely not. I’m not leaving you here. There has to be a way for me to keep my position and not lose you!” I blurt, my emotions getting the best of me.
“So, it is you two that want to be together? That makes more sense than Ivan, if I’m being honest. Your son is an asshole, Alek. What do you need me to do about it?”
“I want him banished from the organization. I want him stripped of the Bykov name. He is no longer my son. He violated our most sacred rule. And I dislike everyone allowed it to go on,” I seethe through tight teeth.
“It’s the contract,” Nikolai tries to explain but the reasoning is weak.
I slam my mug down on the coffee table, breaking off the handle. “I do not give a fuck about the damn contract.”
“Do you have it with you?”
“No, it’s back in my office.”
Nikolai hums, leaning back on the swing as he thinks.
“What?” I ask, peeping a glance at Mia.
“I’m just wondering if the person she has to marry in the family is Ivan. If it says she must marry a Bykov, then that opens up other…” He smirks around the rim of the mug. “…options.”
Mia gasps and I’m left going over a contract in my head her father and I made all those years ago. I can’t remember every clause, but Nikolai has a point.
There might be a way out of Mia marrying Ivan.