Chapter 9 #5
“Sienna!” Kenji shouted, gripping my face in his hands and lifting it to his, stopping my laughter.
He brushed my blood-matted hair from my cheeks, calling my name again.
“I killed her,” I whispered, my eyes locked on his, his filled with fear.
“I killed an innocent, Kenji. Again”. A crushing weight settled on my shoulders.
I was cold. I was exhausted. I wanted everything to stop. I wanted to live, not just survive.
“Stay with me, Enna. It’s going to be okay. You defended yourself,” he murmured, pulling me against him, my face burying into his neck as he pressed on my wound again but I felt nothing. Everything inside me was empty.
“I survived,” I whispered as my eyes slowly closed, “I survived.”
But at what cost?
Sasha
I woke up in an empty bed once again but at least this time, no nightmares had haunted me.
How could it have been otherwise, when I had held her in my arms all night?
Her scent, her voice, her presence had been enough to make me forget everything else.
I placed my hand on the spot she had occupied.
Cold. She had been gone for quite some time now.
In truth, I had heard her wake up at five thirty this morning.
I had watched her get ready, walking on tiptoe, thinking I was asleep and I had smiled when I saw her pout as she couldn’t find her sandals among her things, and I had listened to her footsteps and those of the other young women fade away, surely heading off to help with the preparations.
She had slept barely three hours. She had to be exhausted.
I lifted my arm over my face looking at my palm, jaw tightening at the memory of her warmth against it, her eyes locked onto mine when my fingers had slid along her nape, her breath spilling from between her lips to brush against mine.
And she expected me to keep my promise not to touch her again when she reacted like that beneath my fingers.
Her connection to the Indian mafia had been the perfect excuse to break that promise.
But the real reason had been the way all those men had watched her throughout the evening.
I wanted them to know. To understand who I was to her.
That I was there for her. That she was already mine and that I would not hesitate to prove it, with blood if necessary.
But that didn’t change the fact that I was deeply surprised by her familiarity with Ganesh Rajawat, a proper interrogation awaited her once we got back.
I pushed the covers aside and got out of bed before opening the bedroom door.
Hanging from the handle were my clothes from the night before, cleaned and ironed.
Ganesh’s niece, Anjali, was an incredibly kind woman.
Despite everything going on, she had taken care of me, without forgetting that she had given me this room.
I had understood the meaning of her wink when I had entered the room and found Sienna’s belongings there.
I would definitely have to thank her. A fine wedding gift.
Elif would know what to give. My phone rang on the bedside table and I picked up while placing my clothes on the bed, “Moy brat,” I answered as children’s screams echoed in the background.
“Sasha Ivanov! Where are you?” Elif’s voice suddenly snapped.
Speaking of the devil, I frowned and checked the caller ID again, no, it really was Grigori.
“Why are you calling me from this phone?” I asked as I walked toward Sienna’s suitcase, narrowly avoiding a hairbrush on the carpet.
I had to admit it, Sienna was messy person. Her room in Sochi, the one here, the kitchen after she cooked, the boys’ room after she played with them, she always left chaos in her wake. She had become Velma and Sena’s worst nightmare, which made me laugh every single time.
Her suitcase was wide open, and I could see the different things she had brought, socks, dresses, pajamas. I frowned when I spotted something red.
“Ivan dropped mine in the pool. It doesn’t work anymore,” Elif sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t see the point of calling it waterproof if it doesn’t survive water,” she grumbled before scolding the kids to stop running on the stairs.
Meanwhile, I bent down and pinched the red fabric between my fingers, lifting it up in front of my face and my mouth fell open.
It was a nightgown. One like I had never seen before.
Why had she brought that with her? She planned to wear it? Why? And more importantly for whom?
“Sasha?” Elif’s voice suddenly called, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“I’m with Sienna. I’ll explain everything once I’m back,” I said, my stunned gaze still fixed on the nightgown, my throat dry. Why the hell had she brought that?!
“With Sienna,” she repeated thoughtfully as I placed the fucking fabric back on the bed. There was no way she was ever wearing that… thing anywhere except in my bedroom. It would end up in my trunk before the end of the evening.
“Nikolai told me about the GPS thing,” she murmured and I closed my eyes.
Damn Nikolai, but honestly, it didn’t surprise me.
We told Elif everything. “You’re playing with fire, Sasha.
She’s not like Selina. She’s her exact opposite.
If she finds out, you’re going to suffer,” she warned me.
I knew it. Perfectly well, Sienna would rip my heart out and throw it to the dogs.
“I didn’t have a choice. She’s slipping through my fingers, Elif. I’m going to lose my fucking mind”. I sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and rubbing my face as Sienna’s scent still lingered in the room.
Lily of the valley and jasmine.
Rage and softness.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Sasha. Be careful, both of you. We’ll talk when you’re back,” Elif said before hanging up.
Yes. We needed to talk, this story about meeting Ganesh’s niece at a party and becoming like a daughter to him made no sense to me. Especially considering the way everyone treated her and looked at her, there was clearly no difference between Anjali and her in their eyes.
How? And why? I was going to find out.
—
I accepted the glass of water Kenji handed me as the final preparations in the garden came to an end.
The wedding ceremony was going to take place here, if I had understood correctly.
“I hope you had a good night, Ivanov,” Ganesh greeted me as he joined us on the terrace.
“Very good. Thank you for your hospitality despite my unexpected presence,” I replied, and he nodded with a faint smile.
“I have the feeling we’ll be seeing each other more often than you think,” he answered and I felt the same.
“Did you cry, old tiger?” Kenji asked him with a smirk and Ganesh shot him a look, “I’ll pray that you have a daughter one day, son, and then we’ll talk again,” he replied, which effectively shut the Korean up.
“If I ever have a daughter, I think I’ll make sure no boys ever come near her” I said smiling faintly, a daughter with Sienna’s gaze, perfection.
Ganesh laughed, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Kenji tense before pulling out a cigarette.
Ganesh stopped laughing and stared at the Korean in turn, a certain tension settling between them.
I looked from one to the other, trying to understand the problem, but before I could, laughter and women’s voices echoed from the veranda.
We moved toward the wide-open doors as several women entered, including the bride, now dressed, made up, and adorned.
But my attention slid immediately to one single person, and my breath caught.
When she had left the room, she had been wearing jeans and a simple T-shirt so seeing her like this shook me.
Sienna wore a long, deep green dress, simple and refined.
The fabric hugged her curves perfectly, flowing down to the floor in a fluid movement.
Over her shoulders, a light veil fell like a cape, embroidered with a fine silver trim that caught the light with every step.
The contrast between the dark green and the metallic shimmer gave the ensemble a look that was both understated and precious.
Around her neck, a necklace of pale stones accentuated the elegant line of her collarbone.
Her hair fell in soft waves down her back, and her discreet makeup highlighted the depth of her green eyes. She was stunning.
The young women sat down on cushions on the floor, forming a line, and the bride took Sienna by the arm to make her sit as well.
She tried to resist but eventually gave in to her friend’s pleading.
“This is the Kaleera ceremony,” Ganesh informed me, gently tapping his cane against the ground, “Anjali is going to shake the Kaleeras above the unmarried women,” he explained, nodding toward the yellow bells tied to his niece’s wrists.
Several golden threads and leaves dangled from them as she took her place behind the women.
“If a Kaleera detaches and falls on a friend’s head, it’s said she’ll be the next to get married,” Ganesh continued, casting me a knowing look with a slight smile. The next to get married?
My interest was instantly piqued. I took a step closer to the entrance as the bride began shaking the bells above the women’s heads.
Sometimes a golden leaf or thread detached and fell onto one of them; other times, nothing fell at all.
Sienna’s turn came quickly, and the last time I had felt this apprehensive was the day Elif gave birth to Dimitri.
Anjali began shaking the bells above Sienna’s head, and almost immediately pieces fell onto her body.
One of the bells detached and slipped into her dress, and all the women burst out laughing, teasing her.
She lifted her flushed face, shaking her head and our gazes locked.
She knew I was there, from the very beginning.