Page 39 of Mistaken
The silence of the empty penthouse was jarring after the cheerful afternoon, with only me and Maksim left. Lights were winking on in the city as dusk fell, there was something magical about watching the city pulse and change with the day turning into night. I could see why Maksim loved it. Standing here, surveying his kingdom.
The soft click of his shoes meant I’d gotten distracted. I’d been getting so good at slipping away when he was in the same room, darn it! He stepped next to me, hands in the pockets of his coal-black suit, a red tie as his ‘festive’ note to the Christmas brunch. I turned to leave.
“Wait.”
I could feel his breath on my cheek, he was that close, staring down at me like- I don’t know. But I don’t care.
“Go change, put on something warm and comfortable. We have somewhere to be.”
Maksim…
I regarded Ella’s defensive posture with some amusement. She was plastered against the opposite door of the town car, staring out her window. She’d put on leggings and a thick, cream cable-knit sweater, looking just as lovely as she had dressed up in her diamonds and cashmere dress earlier today. The little line between her eyebrows that she appeared when confused appeared as we drove further downtown.
As the car pulled up to the rink at Rockefeller Center, Ella gasped, staring at the massive Christmas Tree and the laughing, stumbling skaters. She finally looked at me as Vlad opened her door.
I gestured at the rink. “Shall we?”
She looked away, not taking off her seatbelt.
Ah. “Are you afraid skating with me will tarnish the memory?”
Silence.
I got out, moving around to her side and crouching down. I tried to think back to how I would negotiate with my sisters when they dug in their heels with me. “We will have no expectations, yes? We’ll just skate a little, and have some hot chocolate. I brought peppermint schnapps for the drinks, of course.” Ella was looking down at her hands clasped together in her lap. “You know,” I looked away, watching the skaters, “I learned to skate along the Neva River as a child in St. Petersburg. The river would freeze very early, since the city is only 800 kilometers away from the Arctic Circle. But I haven’t skated in…”When did I last put on ice skates?“In a long while. So, your chances of tripping me are excellent.”
There was a little grin.
“Join me, Ella.” I tried to make it not sound like a command, but I was rusty at simply asking for something. We waited; I, still crouched by her door, Vlad, looking a little puzzled by the fact I was not simply dragging her out of the car, and my other guards silently hovering nearby.
With a long sigh, she finally got out of the car. I handed her some bright red cashmere mittens and pulled on my gloves. She laced up her skates, her fingers quick and precise. Stepping onto the ice, I held out my hand. Ella stared at it, not moving.
“No expectations,” I reminded her, “and your hand is safely covered, your skin will not even touch mine.” Yes, there was an eye roll, quickly concealed from me. Reluctantly, she took my hand and we were off.
It had been a long time, I could feel my thighs move in the old, familiar way, getting used to the overly groomed, smooth feel of the rink, instead of the rough hazards of the ice on the Neva River. Ella moved strongly alongside me, skating well with sharp strokes of the blade along the ice. Only two of my men knew how to skate well enough to follow us, so the others stationed themselves around the rink.
“I remember that it took Mariya years to learn to skate. She’d stand on the banks and cry, so I’d put her on my shoulders to skate with me. She was nearly ten by the time I realized she didn’t bother learning how to, as long as she had me to carry her around, the little princess.”
Ella chuckled, “She has those huge, innocent blue eyes. I’m sure she knew how to use them to devastating effect.”
It was her first sentence to me in five days. Surprising me, how good it was to hear her. “She was shameless,” I agreed. “The youngest, the smallest of us. I don’t think she learned to walk until she was two because someone always wanted to carry her around.”
She took a small, sideways glance at me. “You have a good memory for little details like that.”
“Our sisters are precious to Yuri and me.” We were skating faster, the lights circling the rink blurring just a bit. “My father planned to marry them both off to form useful alliances. He attempted to marry off Ekaterina at only thirteen to a vile old Pakhan in Moscow. I could never allow that.”
“I’m glad,” was all Ella said. But I knew she wanted to know more about the use of women as marital commodities in the Bratva. She’d used that phrase during a phone call with Tania. It was grim and clever at the same time.
But tonight was not the time. Giving my wife another reason to be enraged on Christmas seemed unnecessary.
She looked behind us and put a mittened hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. “I think your boys are wearing out.” It was true, both men were panting and red-faced, but still keeping to our backs.
Pulling her to the side of the rink near a fire barrel, I nodded. “Let’s give them a break. Americans… no stamina. In St. Petersburg, they’d never last the winter.”
I found myself counting each smile, each laugh Ella gave me as we skated and talked until she took pity on my men and suggested we end the evening, pretending that it was because she was cold. But I didn’t miss her sympathetic looks at them.
When we returned to the penthouse, she faced me. “Thank you, Maksim. That was wonderful. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I’m tired.” She nodded firmly. “Goodnight.”
Searching her determined face, I nodded. I could seduce her. I knew the ice skating had thawed her considerably. But… this had been a good day. “Very well.” Raising her hand, I kissed her knuckles. “Goodnight,????????,”
