With This Secret

The sun was shining as I strode towards the plane. As she came down the steps, I arrived at the bottom of them. Her lashes fluttered with surprise and I stared into the enthralling blue eyes of the woman I loved.

“Levan,” she called, surprised. “Are you okay?”

I nodded and opened my arms to her.

She came into them and kissed me with a soft, intimate, drawn out caress that had my heart racing. It was incredible the effect this woman had on me. With all the other women I’d ever been with, I became less and less interested as time went on, but with her, the opposite happened. The more I knew her, the deeper into her spell I fell.

“I fell asleep in the plane and dreamed about you,” she whispered.

I smiled. “What was I doing in it?”

She placed her hand to my cheek.

My skin felt scorched at the contact. I pressed my hand to hers, and held it in place at the sweet delicious burn.

“I don’t remember, but I know you got hurt and I was terrified.”

I saw the plea in her eyes for me to keep myself safe, not just for my wellbeing, but for hers. I lifted her into my arms.

“What are you doing?” she squealed and tried to get down.

I wouldn’t let her wriggle away. Other men could say confidently, they would carry their girl over the threshold as a bride, but I may never get to carry her again. What little time we had together was precious. I carried her from the last step of the plane, into the waiting car. Aldie got into the front passenger seat while I settled Bianca into the back much to her chagrin.

Going around the other side of the car, I joined her in the back and we were on our way.

Thirty minutes later, we passed quaint villages with medieval architecture and arrived in the town of St. Agaró, on the Costa Brava, headed towards the closed access, gated community where I had spent part of my childhood. The memories were not good ones, and once I left, I had never returned.

Yet, here I was, returning, and bringing my most precious possession. Despite the tragedy that happened here ? as in my mother losing her life here ? it was still the safest place I knew to put Bianca.

38

Bianca

The Ivankov’s family’s villa was distributed over three floors, and set upon the isolated promontory containing a sprinkling of exclusive homes. We were at the far side of the marina, to the south, and when we arrived at the extensive grounds of the villa, I saw that they had the most picturesque view of a coarse sand beach divided by a large spur of rock, my heart felt at peace.

“That’s the Sa Conca beach,” Levan informed us.

When we got down from the car, Levan showed us to one of the many reception rooms. It truly felt like I had stepped into an exquisite palace from centuries earlier. It held an air of old world glamor.

The paintings on the wall seemed to be museum quality and gigantic. I felt as though I could walk into them. The upholstery and treasures around the room all told their own tale of just what it meant to be staggeringly wealthy. Beyond that lofty room was a wall of glass doors which had been folded away to let in the island’s cool breezes.

“Wow!” Aldie gasped, as she headed over to the low stone balustrade that separated the room from the magnificent cypress trees below and the infinity pool that seemed to float over the bay.

I turned to meet Levan’s gaze.

A silent uniformed staffer came and took our luggage.

“They’ll move them up to your rooms,” Levan said.

“God!” Aldie squealed. “Look at all of this, Bianca. Is it even real? Wow. Is it even possible to be this rich, Levan? And to think you made us think you were a simple college student. What great secrets you kept from us. You’re the absolute worst.” She turned to give me a mischievous smile. “And how the hell did you fall for Bianca instead of me?”

Levan’s phone began to ring then, and he took the call and turned slightly away from us.

I watched as he listened quietly, his gaze expressionless and set far into the horizon. I sensed the cold, hard energy that came over him towards whomever he was speaking to. When the call ended, he quickly excused himself and said he had something important to attend to and we were to amuse ourselves for a while.

I spent a few more minutes with Aldie. Even though she gushed and was wildly appreciative of the beauty and luxury around us, I was unable to even mildly appreciate the paradise I found myself in. Eventually, I decided not to be a killjoy to her obvious delight. What I most needed in the moment was to rest for a while in peace. Maybe think. About Levan, about my father, about Bogdan. About what I would do if Levan ended up in prison because of me.