The Price of His Redemption

Roman had made no effort to contact him.

Neither had Nikolai.

One letter five years ago from Sev was all he had from his past.

It wasn’t much to go on. It didn’t instil the necessary confidence it would take to tell her the hollow disappointment he felt tonight.

She was surely better out of it.

CHAPTER TEN

LIBBY WASN’T SLEEPING.

As she stepped into Daniil’s old bedroom it would seem that it wasn’t just helicopters that Libby was averse to because she had the strange feeling again of the floor coming up to meet her. She sat, a touch dizzy, on the bed and wondered if maybe she’d eaten something that hadn’t agreed with her.

Or drunk something, perhaps?’

But that didn’t work because even the glass of champagne she’d taken to toast his parents had tasted bitter and she’d struggled to swallow a sip down.

She was overtired, Libby decided.

Of course she was. After all, she’d been busy with her new business and rushing around with the banks and open nights and things.

That made no sense, either, because what might seem an exhausting few weeks to some felt like a holiday to Libby—she was used to being up at six and warming up, ready to start her first dance class at eight. Rehearsals had commenced at ten, then there had been matinee and evening productions, and, even if she’d been playing the smallest of roles, it had still been well after midnight before she’d got into bed. And as well as all that she’d had to rehearse for roles she’d been understudying.

So, no, despite feeling drained, there was no real reason to be tired, or was she simply in turmoil from falling head over heels for a man who had warned her from the get-go not to get too attached?

Perhaps he should have been more specific; perhaps he should have also told her not to go and do something as foolish as to get pregnant!

Libby voiced it for the first time in her head as she lay there, staring up at the intricate plasterwork on the ceiling, and then she chided herself for her complete overreaction.

She wasn’t even late.

Well, barely.

Amenorrhea was the dancer’s curse, Libby told herself.

It just didn’t ring true tonight.

She jumped when she heard a knock at the door, knowing Daniil would never knock and wondering if Richard or Katherine was about to burst in.

There was another knock on the door.

‘Come in,’ Libby said, and as the door opened she saw that it was Marcus with a tray. She let out a sigh of relief.

‘I thought you might like some tea.’

‘I would.’ Libby smiled. ‘That’s very kind of you.’

There wasn’t just tea, there were biscuits and a slice of cake, too, as well as a jug of iced water. It was rather nice to have supplies while she was shut away!

‘Is Daniil still speaking with his father?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Marcus said, as he poured her tea, and then he gave a tight smile that spoke volumes. ‘I expect they shan’t be too long.’

‘Is it always this tense when Daniil is home?’ Libby asked, as she took her cup. Oh, she knew she was talking out of turn but she simply couldn’t help herself. She expected to be chastised or for some vague, polite, dismissive answer but the cup rattled in the saucer as Marcus, far more directly than Libby was expecting, responded.

‘It’s always this tense.’

She looked up at Marcus’s kind lined face, surprised at his indiscretion, wondering if he would retract or attempt to cover up what he’d said. She saw that he was looking directly at her, almost inviting her to speak.

‘And yet you’re staying on after your retirement?’

‘Oh, no,’ Marcus replied. ‘Sometimes we just say things to appease, though, of course, Daniil has never mastered that art.’ He looked around the room. ‘I remember the day he arrived here. I was just about to hand in my notice—the last thing I needed was another spoiled pre-teen telling me what to do—but then he arrived and...’ He shook his head. ‘Well, there was so much damage...’

Libby swallowed and then opened her mouth to speak. It hurt to hear Daniil described as that but her protest died on her lips as Marcus carried on talking. ‘Far too much damage to leave a child to deal with, especially one who spoke no English.’

It was the biggest insight she had ever had.

‘So you stayed?’

‘Yes, I chose to stay for a few weeks to ease him in and that turned into a few months, then years. I decided to leave when Daniil started university.’