Page 43 of Bedazzled
“W- what are you talking about?” I wheeze, “My job is in New York. My apartment. My life.”
Maksim was looking at me with something close to contempt. “What did you think would happen when you barged into his wedding to someone else?”
“You don’t have to be nasty,” Ella defended me. “This whole situation is a mess and Yuri kicked it off with his little disappearing act.”
I ran a hand through my hair, which was already falling out of its tidy ponytail. “I didn’t think. Obviously. I hoped to keep Yuri from making a mistake he would regret for a lifetime. I thought there was something to salvage between us.”
Forcing myself to look at him, I saw… nothing. No expression on his beautiful, scarred face. No light in his eyes, none of the tenderness he used to let me see.
Granted, I had only “seen” Yuri theSovietnika handful of times, his stern expression when taking a business call or when we were out and ran into one of his “work” buddies. They always looked me up and down and then quickly away when he gave them the look. He was always just my Yuri. Funny, charming, kind.
He was none of those things now. He and Maksim were wearing identical expressions during this disastrous talk, cold, focused, set expressions that gave nothing away. No warmth in his eyes. He treated me with the same courteous indifference he would use on unwelcome people trying to get his attention. Women, especially.
I took a deep breath and held it. Suddenly, all I wanted was to be back home. Alone. I’ve been alone before and I was just fine with it. I will live the rest of my life single if it keeps me from feeling this burning humiliation ever again.
“I was wrong. However, this is an unusual situation and not a real gangster alliance… union… thing. I’m sure you can get this annulled quietly. There must be dozens of pretty Russian princesses waiting for their shot at you.”
“My marriage to Ella was not an alliance,” Maksim said, “and I assure you, your union is just as permanent as the one Yuri would have made with the Balabanov girl.”
“My place is here in St. Petersburg,” Yuri added. “I asked for this. I wanted it.Youmay not have wanted this, but it is done and we must be here together.”
My skin was burning, and I was so angry and scared that I couldn’t even think of anything to say. My mouth opened and closed a few times while they watched impassively.
“Okay, wait,” Ella to the rescue. “Why can’t we go back to the old system where you both kept your home base in New York and traveled back and forth from here?”
Yuri shook his head. “We are still rebuilding after all the destruction from the Sokolov attacks. And even without the Balabanov alliance, I have made several new agreements with organizations in Moscow designed to strengthen our position here. My focus is here in Russia.”
He looked at me. Coldly. TheSovietnik.“And this means that your place is here, too.”
Chapter Fifteen
In which wedding cake and girl talk keeps Tania from bolting back to Manhattan.
Tania…
No one stopped me when I left the library, barely stopping myself from barreling down the hallway and up the stairs. On the left-hand side up to Yuri’swing.His own wing. Notourwing because I was getting out of here and this pathetic period in my life would be gone and I would never think about it again.
Taking the stairs two at a time, I returned to my guest room and shut the door, leaning against it with my palms and forehead pressed against the wood.
Well, wasn’t that a punch to the heart?
I can’t fucking stay here. I just can’t.
Yuri…
“That could not have gone any worse. Thanks, guys.” Ella’s acidic comment made me refocus on her instead of the door my new bride had just disappeared through.
“You knew how this conversation was going to go,” Maksim said calmly. “Tania can’t be that naive to our way of life after all this time.”
“It’s not about that,” she argued, “it’s you two sitting in judgment as the Bratva Death Twins. We’re all trying to recover from yesterday, you could have been kinder.” She pointed at me accusingly. “You didn’t really want to marry Ksenia anyway. Admit it.”
I shrugged, “I did not intend to spend much time with her, particularly since she stole my watch at our first meeting. I was not sure if it was her family’s uncertain financial position or if she was a kleptomaniac.”
“Oh my god,” Ella groaned as Maksim tried to hide his laughter. She stood up, glaring at both of us. “Yuri, you can’t fool us. We know you love her. We know you’re struggling with everything that happened to you-”
“Which is why we will not rest until we wipe the entire O’Connell clan off the face of the earth,” snarled Maksim.
It showed how much she had grown into her role as thePakhan’swife when Ella didn’t even flinch at his statement. “Hopefully, that will give you peace. Please, don’t take this out on Tania. She risked her life for you. Give her room to process this. You could use some of that, too. Don’t drive her away by being a cold-hearted bastard.”
