Chapter 17 #2
Like an echo, the last note dissolves before my eyes like smoke. Until today, it had a name and a dream around it.
But everything is over.
The knot in my throat becomes painful, but when I rise to my feet and turn toward the audience, a storm of applause and admiring cheers strikes me so hard that my tears of pain mix with the emotion of the moment they are giving me.
Several people come toward me, their arms filled with enormous bouquets of flowers, and Anna joins me to help with them.
She is crying.
Her tears take me by surprise, just like the smile spread across her whole face.
“It was sublime, Ekaterina,” she says, deeply moved. “Art. You took the piano to another level with this concert.”
I still cannot believe it, and because of that, all my movements are mechanical. I bow politely to the audience, surprised to see them continue clapping and whistling with admiration.
A truly brilliant moment for me.
Yet shadowed by one man.
Backstage, someone helps me with the flowers, and Oksana throws herself into my arms.
“You made me cry,” she says, looking at me through damp lashes, her tears having slightly ruined her makeup, mascara smudging at the corners. “You broke my soul. If only you could have seen yourself up there... you were one with the music.”
“People are still crying,” Anna exclaims, amazed, clapping her hands with enthusiasm. “You were astonishing!”
I look at both of them, but it is Dima’s somber face that makes me speak.
“But I was alone,” I whisper.
I take a few steps toward him, but his cold expression betrays nothing except a shadow darkening his eyes.
“So it’s true.”
“I don’t know,” he says through his teeth.
“I do.”
An enormous bouquet of white roses is waiting for me in the dressing room, but I am certain the sender is not the one my sick heart is still hoping for.
Of course it’s not.
I pull the card with golden filigree from among the flowers, recognizing it from the other bouquets I have received from him, and read Oliver’s elegant handwriting.
“My heart was with you, even if I could’t be there in person.
I am proud of you, because I know with certainty that you were extraordinary.
I love you, and I cannot wait for us to be together again in two days.
Love, Oliver”
Even if I wish I had heard those words from someone else, I know it is useless to expect anything from a traitor anymore.
A Pakhan does not break his promise. But Artem did.
Oliver, on the other hand, proves to me once
again that he is a man I can rely on. More than that, he gives me hope that together we could have a relationship built on trust and respect.
Even if he is not physically present, today he is beside me through a gesture of enormous meaning.
He gives me the push of confidence I needed so badly, which, apparently, matters more than a passing passion.
Maybe Artem made me feel good physically, but he abandoned me when I needed him, so he could entertain himself in a club with cheap women. With his mistress.
And I don’t need people like that in my life. I
need stability, and that is something I will not find beneath the roof of the Koronov house.
“I’m staying at Oksana’s tonight,” I suddenly announce, but my gaze goes to Dimitri.
“Hell yes,” my friend exclaims, delighted. “We haven’t had a girls’ night in forever.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” the Russian intervenes.
“I don’t think you are in any position to tell me what to do, Dimitri.” My harsh words catch him unprepared, and he blinks, confused, probably remembering his place. To protect me, not dictate my schedule.
“Pakhan...”
“Is busy enjoying himself with someone else,” I shut down any reply he might have with cold precision. “And he has no right to tell me what to do either.”
I take the bouquet from Oliver while Oksana struggles with the flowers received from the admirers who were there for me tonight.
The ones who matter, who value me even though they do not know me.
On the way to Oksana’s car, I try to think through my next steps, but I know I must start by quickly taking my things from the house of the three brothers before Artem returns from the club where I am certain he is still spending his night.
With that woman.
Without realizing it, I slip in some automatic mode. My expression goes blank, stripped of every emotion, and when I speak, the words come out hollow and tired.
By the time we reach the mansion my pulse has risen significantly. Dimitri gets out of his car immediately and comes to my side, wearing the same expression as before.
“Please, don't leave this place,” he says quietly, but sincerely. “It’s much safer.”
But I ignore him.
I hurry past him, focused only on getting this over with and leaving.
The house is quiet. I hurry toward the stairs leading to the second floor, and silence accompanies me even when I reach Artem’s room, where I quickly gather the personal things I had already moved into his bathroom.
Before leaving the room, I cannot resist my heart, which begs me to look around one more time.
Towards the dressing room where I saw him completely naked for the first time, and I walked out blushing with embarrassment.
The bathroom where he kissed me after coming one breath away from killing me.
And towards the bed where I slept beside him so many times, discovering pleasures I never believed existed.
But all of it was fake.
With tears in my eyes, I rush to my room and take only some of the essentials, knowing I don’t have time to pack everything.
The plan is to send someone tomorrow to collect the rest of my things.
For now, I only have one bag on my shoulder with my laptop and tablet, and a larger one where I have thrown a few changes of clothes, enough to last me until tomorrow.
I know I can also use Oksana’s wardrobe when it comes to clothes, but my laptop is vital to keep close.
As quickly as I came, I plan to leave before running into anyone.
But when I come down the stairs toward the ground floor, luck is no longer on my side.
“Ekaterina.”
He doesn’t shout. He doesn’t ask.
Only one word, spoken in a single breath.
My heart stops, and my stomach is invaded by a million contradictory emotions.
As always, he looks impeccable. The same entirely black outfit dresses his tall body, and his eyes seem to be trying to tell me something.
But in this moment, I no longer want to know.
I no longer want to feed again on the illusion this man managed to bind me to so easily in the weeks I spent here. A beautiful lie, but toxic. Just like him.
But I can be toxic too.
With superhuman effort, I manage to keep a cold mask on my face, one that barely covers the pain still tearing my heart apart. Especially when his deep voice makes my feet stop where they are.
“Why did my father call to tell me that, starting tonight, you’ll be staying somewhere else?”
It seems the conversation I had with Vor Leonid on the way to the house has already reached Pakhan’s ears.
With iron confidence and an icy stare, I manage to form the words.
“And who did you want to do it?” I shoot back, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “The King of England?”
He frowns, but I notice the muscle ticking in his clean-shaven cheek.
“I’m sorry about today…”
“It’s better this way,” I cut him off shortly, moving toward the door.
“Why?”
“Because now I clearly saw which direction I need to go from here.”
“And you think leaving is a good idea?”
I roll my eyes, slowing when I reach his side. Then I fix him with a stare cold enough to rival the demon himself.
“Oh, I’m certain changing the scenery is a good idea,” I say slowly, but firmly. “I got bored with this one.”
His face darkens, and I know this is the moment to walk away.
But he catches my wrist and stops me.
“Katya...”
I tear my hand from his grip so abruptly he does not have time to react.
“Don’t you fucking dare touch me again, Voron,” I hiss through my teeth, with a fury that makes him frown at me.
But he moves his face closer to mine, stopping only a few inches away.
“Don’t you fucking dare believe I won’t.”
I narrow my eyes, feeling caught between the longing to have him close and the anger urging me to walk away from the man who betrayed my trust.
“I don’t think your father would be pleased to find out you are touching a married woman,” I hiss back.
He clenches his teeth. “You will not marry him.”
I snort, faking amusement, but I use it to take a step back, only because I need distance from his large, dominant body.
“But I will,” I answer shortly. “And do you know why? Because I can rely on him. Because, right now, he is the only man I still trust.”
“You’re making a mistake, Ekaterina.” I don’t let myself be swayed by his warninglaced voice, nor by those eyes that seem shadowed by a pain I don’t believe anymore.
“A mistake was everything I allowed to happen for the last few weeks, Artem.” My voice is so cold I can feel the air around us chilling.
“That picture was taken out of context. I don’t have a mistress, and I never have. And since you stepped into this house, I haven’t been able to touch another woman, because you were the only one in my head.”
He strikes his temple hard, with his index finger, but his words, no matter how deeply they might have moved me under normal circumstances, weigh far too little compared to the order of priorities in his life.
The fact that he confirms he was in the club while I was waiting for him, only makes the wound in my soul grow deeper.
It no longer matters whether he was with another woman or not.
He chose not to be beside me, and that thought tortures me.
I trusted him.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, don’t you understand?” I shoot back at him, my voice loaded with pain. “You broke your promise! And I don’t care that it was the word of Pakhan. It was your word to me!”
Toward the end, my voice rises, and I jab one finger into his chest.