Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Lilith
The steam hadn't cleared from the bathroom yet. I leaned against Andrei's chest, heard low male voices downstairs, then footsteps climbing the stairs.
Andrei swept my hair off my neck and pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Gotta go down. Business."
"Okay."
I nodded. He threw on his clothes and left. After a while, I got dressed and headed downstairs too.
Several men stood in the living room—faces I'd seen before. Sharp suits, stone expressions. They nodded when they saw me, polite enough, but I caught the wariness in their eyes.
I smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, am I interrupting?"
I thought they'd finished and was about to leave when Andrei pulled me down beside him. His hand settled naturally on my knee. "You're fine. Won't interrupt." Then back to Dmitri. "Continue."
Dmitri paused, then spread files across the coffee table and started his report—English and Russian mixed together. I couldn't follow most of it. Something about shipments and accounts. So Andrei was in transportation?
His hand stayed on my knee, squeezing occasionally, but his focus never left those files. That expression—sharp, intense—I didn't see it often.
I sat quietly, sipped water now and then, and let my eyes wander to the garden through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Don't know how long they talked. Then Dmitri glanced at me. "Boss, ma'am—about the wedding guest list, should we add Luca?"
I froze.
Luca.
I looked at Andrei automatically. His expression didn't change. "Of course, add him. He's my son. He'll be Lilith's son too, eventually. I need to introduce Lilith to him properly."
A pleased smile tugged at my lips. Picturing Luca's face when he saw Andrei and me at the wedding—God, I couldn't help feeling satisfied.
"I'm really looking forward to meeting my dear stepson at the wedding."
Andrei and I shared a look, grinning. When I turned back, I caught Dmitri's mouth twitching. My face heated. I nudged Andrei with my elbow.
"You guys keep working. I'm gonna go out for a bit."
He frowned but didn't stop me. Just turned to Dmitri. "Have Marcus go with her."
"I don't need—"
"He'll carry your bags." Andrei raised an eyebrow—clearly not negotiating. "And he'll watch for me. Make sure no asshole stares at you too long."
The other men all turned away, looking pained.
Heat crawled up my neck to my face. I should've been annoyed at his possessiveness, but instead, my traitorous heart started racing.
Fine. Shopping with a bodyguard it is.
I'd barely taken two steps when the doorbell rang.
Dmitri answered. Rebecca stood in the doorway wearing a beige sweater, hair half-pinned, face pale and sickly. Still beautiful, though.
She saw me and coughed weakly, managing a smile.
"Lilith. Long time."
"Long time."
The air went weird for a second. I still remembered what she'd said at that pool party. Hadn't completely let it go. Andrei came out from the living room, stood beside me, and looked at Rebecca once.
Sharp look. Rebecca's body visibly trembled. Her smile faltered, face went whiter. She took a deep breath and turned to me. "Lilith, what I said at the party—I was out of line. I'm sorry."
Then, before I could react, she slapped herself twice, hard. Tears spilled down her cheeks instantly.
"I realized I said something wrong and rushed to find you—I was so panicked I got hurt." She rolled up her sleeve and showed me her bruised arm. "Then I got a fever. Today's the first chance I've had to apologize."
Rebecca was practically crying her eyes out, coughing between sobs. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just liked you so much, wanted to talk to you—didn't think I'd almost ruin things between you and my brother... Lilith, can you forgive me?"
She looked at me pitifully, eyes full of sincerity.
Seeing Rebecca's swollen face, my heart softened. Then Andrei spoke softly in my ear.
"Lilith, you have the right to say no."
Rebecca's head dropped. Her shoulders sagged, trembling slightly. I glanced at Andrei. "Don't scare her."
"It's okay, Rebecca," I said. "I'm not holding a grudge."
Rebecca exhaled lightly and relaxed a little. "Really?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "Andrei and I cleared up the misunderstanding. And if it weren't for you, we wouldn't have figured out our feelings so fast. So really, thanks."
Rebecca froze for a moment, then slowly smiled. "That's—that's wonderful." Her eyes dropped to the bag in my hand. "Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, thought I'd go shopping. Buy some things."
"Shopping?" She paused. "Let me come with you. I know this area really well—I can help you find whatever you need. Call it my way of making it up to you. Please?"
"Of course."
I'd been wondering what to get Andrei anyway. Rebecca was his sister—she'd know what he liked.
We took Rebecca's car. Marcus followed in another vehicle. Rebecca kept the music low and chatted about good places to shop nearby.
She drove into the commercial district. I watched the boutique windows pass by, and naturally, the conversation circled back to Andrei.
"You're throwing Andrei a birthday party?" Rebecca sounded surprised.
I nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. Andrei's been so good to me. I want to do what I can to make him happy."
"But I don't really know what he likes yet. Don't know what he'd prefer. Rebecca, could you help me think of something?"
"Of course!" Rebecca blinked. "You asked the right person. Nobody in the world knows Andrei better than I do." She leaned closer and whispered. "You know what? Back when he was sleeping around, I was the one buying his condoms. Those regular ones were always too small!"
That comment made me uncomfortable. She even knew Andrei's size? My smile faded. She panicked, probably noticed my expression change.
"Lilith, sorry—my mouth runs too fast. Those women were just for his physical needs. He never saw any of them twice. You're different. I can see he loves you."
"Forgive my big mouth, okay? If Andrei finds out I said something wrong again, he'll kill me!"
Rebecca looked at me pathetically. I knew she didn't mean harm, so I forced a smile. "It's fine. I won't tell him."
"Thank God, thank you, Lilith!" Rebecca beamed. Soon the car stopped in front of a men's boutique.
"Andrei's hard to shop for—he has everything. But he has this habit; he's really particular about details. Suits, cufflinks, stuff like that." Rebecca pulled me inside. "He has this old pair of silver cufflinks. One of them's cracked. I offered to replace them. He ignored me."
"Thanks. Let's go buy him a pair of cufflinks then."
"You're welcome. You're throwing him a birthday party, right? Can I come too, sister-in-law? Please?" Rebecca pressed her hands together, pouting.
"Of course. You're his sister. Of course you can come."
We walked into the boutique and stood at the glass case displaying cufflinks for a long time. Finally, Rebecca helped me decide—a pair of silver ones with delicate cross engravings. Beautiful craftsmanship. The inside could be engraved. I had the clerk etch two initials—A.V.
When I got the cufflinks, I examined them carefully. They were exquisite. Andrei would look amazing wearing them. I paid without hesitation.
After saying goodbye to Rebecca, I went to Amy's cake shop. I'd already texted her before leaving.
Amy's bakery was on a quiet side street, open twenty-four hours. She was almost always there, apron permanently dusted with powdered sugar. The moment Amy saw me walk in, she rushed over. "Lilith! I missed you so much—it's been forever!"
"Amy! I missed you too. So much has happened—I haven't had time to visit. Don't hold it against me, okay?"
I automatically acted cute with Amy. She was my most reliable friend, a few years older than me. At first, I was just a customer in her shop. Even though I always bought the cheapest pastries, she'd always pile on extra cream generously. Gradually, we became close friends. I loved her.
"Never!" She helped me wash my hands and tied an apron around me enthusiastically. We went into the kitchen. "Is the cake for Luca?"
"Uh, no."
She paused for two seconds and looked up at me. "What? Didn't you say it was for your fiancé?"
"Right, but Luca is not my fiancé," I said. "He doesn't deserve to be!"
Amy's eyes went wide, then she let out a shriek that echoed through the kitchen. "What! You switched guys? When did this happen? You sneaky thing! Who is he? Is he hot? I always said Luca wasn't good enough for you."
"Super hot." I couldn't help smiling. "Gorgeous. Taller than Luca, way more charismatic... basically better than him in every way imaginable. Being with him made me realize—what I felt for Luca wasn't even close to real affection."
Amy covered her face with both hands. "Oh my God, Lilith! That's amazing! I need to see what kind of man is lucky enough to marry you!"
"I'm the lucky one," I said firmly. "I'll bring him by sometime."
Amy winked. "You better! But for now, let's make this cake for your special someone."
Amy teased me, making me a little embarrassed, but thankfully, she got serious when we started baking. No more jokes.
She guided me through mixing and whipping cream, showed me how to layer the cake properly, then handed me the piping bag. "Babe, this part's all you."
I wrote Andrei's name on the cake in cream. The letters were a little wobbly but overall neat enough. Then I switched to a smaller tip and carefully drew designs around the sides—the outline of guns, thorny vines, and right in the center, a tiny lily.
Amy leaned over to look. "What's that pattern?"
"His chest tattoo."
Amy went quiet for two seconds, crossed her arms, and frowned slightly in confusion. "That kind of tattoo—pretty dark. Not common. Sounds like your guy has a story."
"Ha, the tattoo's for his mother. She loved this design—lilies."
I kept my head down, adding piping to the cake's edges, and didn't say anything, but I couldn't stop my mouth from curving up.
While the cake set in the fridge, I had Amy help me go over tomorrow's party details again—balloons, candles, string lights.
She made me a checklist. Before leaving, I hit up the home goods store nearby, bought every decoration I could use, and came out with bags piled high.
Marcus silently took everything from me, face blank, not one word of complaint.
I felt a little bad. "Sorry for the trouble."
"No trouble, ma'am." Poker face, but his tone had an unexpected gentleness. "Where to next?"
"Take me back to my sister's hospital, please. Thank you."
"Yes, ma'am." Marcus opened the car door.
Back in the car, I checked everything—gift boxes, decorations, all accounted for. The excitement inside me wouldn't settle down.
I pulled out my phone and wanted to post about my excitement on social media, but then I thought—couldn't post pictures of the cake or gifts. What if Andrei saw? That'd ruin the surprise.
I thought about it, finally just posted one line.
"Starting a new life. With the man I love."
Within two minutes, Amy replied with a string of hearts.
I closed my phone. Outside the window, neon lights flickered on along the evening streets.
I settled back in my seat and imagined Andrei blowing out candles tomorrow.
Would he show that rare, genuinely happy expression?
Would he lean down and use that voice that made my heart race to say he loved what I'd prepared?
Probably would.
I sank deeper into the seat and hid my smile in my collar.