Ava
Three days.
That’s how long it’s been since my brother contacted me.
Three days is also how long it’s been since I lied to Nikolai by telling him that I got lost in the art store when I got home and found him looking like he had lost his mind without me.
Two days is how long it takes for me to try my brother’s phone again. It goes straight to voicemail.
I still haven’t fully been able to wrap my head around everything Aaron told me. Learning that we no longer shared the same father, and we apparently never did, to begin with, felt like a missile launched in the middle of the desert, unexpected and unpredictable. And as if that wasn’t enough, his biological father was none other than Raican O’Sullivan, the former head of the Irish mafia who wanted Aaron to take his place, and what’s worse is that my brother was actually considering joining the Irish mafia as their new leader.
It all felt so… jarring. Growing up with Aaron I’d never once considered that he was unhappy with his life. That he was unfulfilled. Maybe if I had known, I would’ve… I don’t know tried to make him feel like he was needed? Or maybe helped him find himself.
A lot has been going on, and with everything, it felt like I was being pulled deeper the harder I tried to escape. It was honestly so ex…
“Ava, are you listening to me?”
I blink, focusing my gaze on Kat, who already has a scowl forming on her brows. Shit, did she say something?
“What?” I ask dumbly. She shakes her head slowly while muttering something in Russian, clearly, she found my lack of attention frustrating.
“She asked if you wanted to go with her to the hospital”, Kira pipes up from beside me right as she stuffs her face with a forkful of pancakes from the stack in front of her. Hospital? Yes, that. What would I ever have done without the chubby-cheeked five-year-old seated by my side…
Wait a minute, hospital?
My brows knit together as I turn my gaze back to Kat, worry evident on my face. “Are you sick?”
Her lips pull downward as she shakes her head once more. “No, I’m not but I need to check in with my doctor. Nothing serious,” She says, “Just a routine checkup’
Relief instantly floods in my chest and I release my hold on the fork currently locked in a death grip in my hands. Kat’s been my rock ever since I moved into the Volkov mansion, and with everything that’s been going on, I’ve come to rely on her in more ways than one.
I would’ve completely hated myself if I hadn’t noticed she wasn’t feeling well while dumping everything I’ve felt on her in the last few days.
“Okay,”, I reply, then peek over at Kira, who seems blissfully unaware of our conversation as she munches away on her stack of pancakes. Dark curls kiss her forehead, and according to Kat, she has once again entered into her princess phase because today she’s dressed in a pastel pink tutu with a tiara perched slightly askew on her head.
“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Kat adds, and I turn to her, shaking my head.
“No, it’s fine. I want to come. I’ve been looking for a reason to go to the hospital anyway”
Besides, I need something to help take my mind off my brother and everything that’s been going on, even if it’s only for a couple of hours.
“Can we get ice cream after?” Kira asks, her big, expectant eyes shining with hope. It’s kind of hard to say no to her when she looks at me like that and she knows it. But fortunately, not everyone is a sucker for the irresistible charm of a five-year-old.
“You’re not coming remember? You have lessons today with your tutor,” Kat reminds her, arching a brow.
Kira’s lower lip juts out in a pout, right before she shoves another bite from her pancakes. Her cheeks puff up at the bite and I can’t help but giggle at the sight.
I finish the rest of my scrambled eggs before heading upstairs. Nikolai left early this morning, so imagine my surprise when I walk into our bedroom and find him rummaging through one of the drawers.
“You’re here,” I say, stopping just inches away from where his back is turned to me.
His shoulders stiffen, and he straightens, turning around to face me fully. He’s wearing a simple black button-down long-sleeved shirt that stretches across his broad chest and dark jeans that hug his muscular thighs. Even dressed down, my brain still thinks that he’s the most beautiful thing to walk on planet Earth.
His lips peel back in a slow smirk, one that sends an unwelcome shiver down my spine. “Where else would I be?”
“In your office.” I say, then add, “I thought you had business to attend to since you left early.”
His gaze flickers over my face, sharp and assessing, like he’s trying to memorize all my features in one go.
“I do. I just came up here to get something” He says.
“Which is?”
“This,” He says then lifts a sleek black pen.
I arch a brow, “You came up here to get a pen?”
He nods, “I did”
“Why?”
“I needed it to sign a document”
“Don’t you have any other pen lying around in your office?”
“I do”
“But?”
“But I only use this pen to sign documents”
“Why?”
“Because it belonged to my brother.”
I don’t know what I expected him to say, but it most certainly wasn’t that. My gaze flickers to the pen in his hand-a sleek, elegant thing, no fancy design and nothing particularly special about it at first glance, but yet it’s special enough that it’s the only thing he uses when signing documents because it’s one of the few things he still has of his brother.
Something tight coils in my chest.
“Oh, well then I’ll leave you to it then.”
I brush past him, heading over to the door leading to the walk-in closet.
I push the button that flips his clothes to reveal mine, and almost immediately, I feel his presence at the doorway.
“Are you going somewhere?” He asks, voice laced with mild curiosity.
“I’m heading out with Kat,” I tell him. From the corner of my eye, I see him lean against the entrance, arms crossed over his broad chest. His gaze burns into my back as I sort through my clothes, searching for something comfortable to wear. Maybe this skirt? I shake my head before shoving it back. Too stretchy.
“Where are you guys going?” His voice is casual enough but I can still hear the restrained edge with which the question is laced in.
He tries not to show it, but ever since I went ‘missing in the art store,’ Nikolai has been on high alert. I still haven’t told him the real reason why I disappeared, but I feel like he already knows that my getting lost in an art store isn’t exactly a plausible event.
I pull out a simple pair of jeans and a soft pink sweater before glancing at him. “To the hospital. Kat has a checkup.”
He lifts a brow, “is she sick?”
I shake my head, stepping past him toward the bathroom. “No,” I say, closing the door enough so only a thin gap remains.
“Then why is she going to the hospital?” he asks, and I can hear the genuine confusion in the tone of his voice.
I shove off the sweatpants and shirt I wore for breakfast and tug on the sweater and jeans before emerging from the bathroom.”
“She says that it’s just a routine checkup”
Nikolai drags his gaze over my body, lingering on the places the jeans hug my curves and I feel my body warm all over.
“Do I look weird?” I ask, unable to stop the prickle of self-consciousness already blooming in my chest. The jeans I’m wearing aren’t exactly my favourite but it’s the most comfortable option I could find. I do love the sweater, though, and I most certainly would not change it even if he asked me to.
“No,” he says after a beat. “You look… good. Perfect.”
I don’t know why those simple words make my stomach flip. But It does and I don’t entirely hate it.
“Well, thanks,” I mumble, brushing past him toward the vanity to fix my hair.
When I’m satisfied with the final look, I turn around to find Nikolai still in his spot by the bathroom door. His eyes haven’t left me since I started doing my hair, and I have no idea why he looks completely enhanced by the mere act.
He closes the distance between us, hands reaching up to cup my face.
“Ty vyglyadish’ ideal’no. Ty ideal’na. Kak mne tak povezlo, chto takaya ideal’naya veshch’, kak ty, stoit v moyey spal’ne.”
(You look perfect. You are perfect. How did I get so lucky to have such a perfect thing like you standing in my bedroom.)
The way he looks at me makes my body flush all over and I want nothing more than to drown in the words he says that I have no idea what they mean but coming from him they sound so beautiful.
His hands are warm against my cheeks, his thumbs brushing soft circles against my skin and it takes everything in me to step back and break the contact.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours”, I tell him, and like it’s the most casual thing in the world, I push up on my toes and place a tender kiss. Right. On. His cheek.
A small sigh leaves his throat when my lips make contact with his skin and like the fucking flash,
I don’t wait for the awkwardness to set in before I grab my purse and dash right out the door.