CHAPTER 21
Naomi
“Come on! There is so much to show you!”
I looked at Gavril’s departing form until I couldn’t see him any longer, having the strange desire to call him back and not have him leave me here alone. It wasn’t because of his sisters. They were definitely different from their brother, but I could still see the family resemblance.
Aleksandra was tall and thin, with long dark hair that brushed her lower back in perfect long curls. She was dressed casually in a pair of joggers and a T-shirt but walked around effortlessly in stiletto heels as if she were wearing sneakers.
Katarina had dramatic blue eyes to match her dark hair, though hers was fashioned into a chin-length bob that swayed as she walked. She was the livelier of the two, as the younger one usually was. Her hot pink pants and bright yellow pullover clearly showed off her personality.
They were both a surprise, and it had been clear to me that Gavril doted on them, his demeanor completely different when they had greeted us.
I allowed them to pull me down the hall, ogling the expensive wallpaper and super old knickknacks along the way. Even the oil paintings looked like something that should belong in a museum. “This place is lovely,” I remarked as we passed through.
Katarina’s nose wrinkled. “Lovely? It’s full of old shit.”
“Language,” Aleksandra warned her sister, shooting her a look. “If Mama hears you…”
Katarina promptly ducked her head, and I was intrigued. Gavril’s mother was here? Would I meet her?
Suddenly, I was super nervous. It was one thing to fool Gavril’s sisters, but what about his mother? Would she see through our ruse immediately? I mean, she had to be upset about the wedding already.
Me being here probably wasn’t going to smooth over anything.
Still, I let the girls pull me through the house, showing me their mini suites along the way. The house itself was like a bunch of small interlocking apartments situated on the banks of the river. Walking through it, I almost felt like I was transported back in time.
“This is mine,” Aleksandra stated as she pushed open a door, revealing a functional sitting room littered with books and papers. “Sorry,” she said apologetically, a dimple appearing on her cheek. “I’m looking at options for college.”
I returned her smile. “That’s a very exciting time.”
She blushed, pulling the door shut. “Mama wants me to stay in Russia for my studies, but I’ve been looking at colleges in the US as well. Since Gavrushka told me I could join him at eighteen, it makes sense for me to want to attend college there. Well, that was before you came along.”
I reached out and laid a hand on her arm. “You are still welcome to our home,” I replied, hoping that I wasn’t overstepping my boundaries. It would be refreshing to have someone with her exuberance around the mansion, and I would love to show her around LA, to immerse her into American culture one day. “I would love to have you come.”
“Let me show you my room,” Katarina butted in, grabbing my arm and moving me through another set of doorways until we reached hers. She pushed it open, and I smiled as I saw the hot pink rug and mood lighting that was strung throughout her living room. “See? Isn’t it awesome?”
“It’s fun,” I said honestly, returning her bright smile. “Are you an artist?”
“That’s right,” Katarina stated proudly. “I’m the creative one. Aleksandra is the fashionista, and Gavril is musically inclined.”
That floored me. “What?”
“He didn’t tell you?” Katarina asked. “Of course, he wouldn’t. Oh, that lout! It’s not cool to admit that you can play five instruments, is it?”
I couldn’t imagine Gavril seating himself behind any instrument, to be honest, but it was yet another layer that was my husband that I had peeled back. “We haven’t discussed much about our personal lives.”
The sisters’ eyes rounded, and I silently cursed myself for giving them a reason to question our marriage. “So it was love at first sight then,” Aleksandra sighed dramatically, placing the back of her hand on her forehead. “I knew it. The moment I saw you two together, I knew that my brother was in love with you.”
I almost snorted, pulling it back at the last moment.
Love.
Love wasn’t in the equation of this marriage, and whatever the young girl saw wasn’t love.
It was more like a warning so that I wouldn’t screw up and reveal the truth.
“Let me show you where you will be staying,” Katarina replied, tugging me further along the hallway. “You can have Gavrushka’s apartments. Mama always makes sure to have the cleaning staff keep it ready for whenever he comes home.”
I realized that they talked a lot about their mama, but no mention of their father. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask, but I swallowed it. It wasn’t my business to question his sisters, and likely their father was just like all the other men in some position of power: off living another life while his family was at home, oblivious to what was truly keeping their father and husband away.
Katarina skipped down the hall ahead of Aleksandra and me, and I stopped briefly at the bank of windows that lined the hallway, giving me a glimpse of the river outside. My watch told me it was well past midnight, but the sky was lit up like it was the afternoon instead. Lush greenery covered the land between me and the river, and I could see moored boats of all different shapes and sizes tethered to the docks in the distance.
It was lovely.
With a sigh, I moved on through the open door and halted as my eyes landed on the shiny black piano in the middle of the living room. “This is Gavril’s?” I asked, running my fingers over the surface.
“It is,” Aleksandra replied softly. “So is the cello. There’s a violin somewhere around here.”
I moved to the bench, trying to picture Gavril seated there, his long fingers moving over the ivory keys as gracefully as he moved over my skin. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe the girls; it was just hard imagining the man I knew doing something so, well, out of character.
“He has taken lessons all his life,” Katarina replied, her eyes staring at the piano wistfully. “I can’t believe he hasn’t played for you yet. He would spend hours playing for us when we were younger.”
“He could have played for the Mariinsky Theatre,” Aleksandra added. “He was that good. Maybe Gavrushka will take you while you are here.”
I didn’t respond, my heart wrenching in my chest. There were so many things I didn’t know about Gavril.
“You will stay here,” Katarina finally said, falling on the leather sofa. Like the other apartments, Gavril’s matched his mood and style, with dark leather furniture and a large TV mounted on the wall over a fully stocked bar.
Deep down, I couldn’t help but wonder how many people had seen this apartment with him, namely of the female form. Had he ever brought someone back to share this place with him, to play the piano and show off his many talents?
A spurt of jealousy rose deep down, and I clamped my mouth shut to keep it from spewing forward. Of course he had. He must have. Gavril was not just a man of power. He was a man of danger, a man who had needs.
“If your brother wants us to stay here, then we will.”
Katarina suddenly rose from the couch, her eyes wide before she cast her gaze submissively at the floor.
I watched as Aleksandra did the same, and when I turned, there was a woman in the doorway, glaring at us. She had dark hair peppered with gray, severely pulled back off her face and fashioned into a bun at the nape of her neck. Her clothing was rich with color, her short jacket a deep emerald green with gold embroidery, matching her deep gold pants. Diamonds twinkled at her ears and throat, not to mention the large ring on her left hand.