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“Don’t say her name or bring her up at all. She means nothing.”
She stared at him and he stared at her, shook his head, thinking she suddenly looked so young, yet so sensual and emotional as tears filled her eyes.
“Listen. Just listen to me please Ivan. I need to tell you.”
He stared at her as she gripped her dress holding it up against her body looking sexy and so damn beautiful he knew he would never let her go the moment he claimed her body as the only man to do so.
“When I was young, thirteen, my parents owned a store front in Manhattan. Only about six blocks from Gables.” She started to tell him probably because he had been silent and caught in his own dreary thoughts of how he didn’t deserve her.
“I was there one weekend working, going through deliveries in the storage room, which was small, so I could see through the doorway to the register where my mom was, where my brother and father spoke to customers coming in to buy things or as they rearranged displays in the store. I remember really not wanting to be there, but that I had to on my days off from school. I needed to work and help with the family business. A man came in, a regular a short time before we were going to close for the night. He wanted this special oil and vinegar set he had purchased before. They were beautiful and imported from Italy. He needed a last minute gift and as my parents talked to him by the front of the store, my brother was fixing a display next to them. I had been undoing the packages so I was looking into the box and found the set he wanted.”
Ivan swallowed hard, he could see the tears begin to form in her eyes, then one fell, the way her body shook and he listened attentively wondering where this was going and then she shocked him.
“There was a loud noise, a sound I will never forget, nor the way the power of it shoved me through the air and all the way back into the storage room as I hit the door. The flames were everywhere. The smoke so thick, and I couldn’t breathe. You know when the wind gets knocked out of you and you can’t catch your breath?” She asked, her hand against her throat.
“An explosion, from what? What happened to your parents, your brother, the customer?” he asked stepping closer.
“I couldn’t see them Ivan. And the fire spread so fast, it was coming at me and I could hardly move from the pain the impact of that explosion caused, but I needed to try to save them, so I reached for the fire extinguisher and I felt the fire lick my skin, I cried out and then pulled the clip and sprayed at the fire stopping it from spreading over me and taking me too. As I looked toward the doorway there was nothing but smoke, fire, and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t get up and open the door. I couldn’t leave them, Ivan and then the door burst open. Firefighters, their masks, their coats are what I remember before darkness. When I woke up it was days later my family was all dead.”
“My God Annabella. What was the cause?” He asked her as he stepped closer and caressed her arms. The tears streamed down her face, those gorgeous green eyes were filled with emotions.
“The investigation had pointed to arson initially, but then it just disappeared, and was labeled accidental.”
His chest tightened as the thought hit him. He could hardly swallow.
“Where was this exactly and when?”
“Six blocks from Gables. A little more than ten years ago.”
Like a knife to his heart he felt instant pain. He stepped back, putting it together quickly that the explosion wasn’t accidental but a hit put out on his parents for not complying with Kolikov’s demands. His parents weren’t there at the time like they had planned to be but were in the city discussing options with other members of the family. Many concerned about the power, the dirtiness of Kolikov's business dealings. My God, it was Annabella’s family who died along with the employees from his parents’ store. Did they not know about Annabella and her family?
“Ivan?”
He shot his head up to look at her. What were the chances of Ivan meeting Annabella and wanting her, getting this close to another human being wasn’t in his character. Was this a setup? Like he had thought from the start? Was she part of some sort of trick to invade him from within, break him down and then attack? How else would she have really known about Berin, and reacted the way she did when he had a gun on her? The way she immediately was willing to risk her life for him and his guards? His mind was going into a thousand directions while his gut, his heart told him none of that wer
e true. That somehow fate had played a trick on him and after all the pain, the grief, the loneliness and darkness he accepted and embraced was now somehow replaced with this woman. This young, gorgeous, caring woman. Was he losing his mind?
“Ivan please, you’re scaring me. What is it? Talk to me, tell me why you’re reacting like this when I’m the one who is scared. I’m the one who lost my family in that fire and had to survive and move on alone.”
His mind continued to ask a million questions.
“Annabella, I know of the fire, of the tragedy.” He watched her body language.
He was good at reading people, at seeing if they were lying, or if they were being honest. It was more difficult analyzing Annabella because he had such strong feelings for her and he was really hoping that this was real, and that somehow beyond the darkness of their lives and the decisions, and choices he was forced to make, that somehow there could be good, a happiness, and he could swear it was Annabella.
“What do you mean you know of it?” She asked, stepping back.
“The family who owned the Russian store were my parents, Savin and Nicolai. They weren’t there when the explosion happened. Their employees were.”
“Wait, your parents? The owner’s last name wasn’t Sokolov.”
“It was under the worker’s name. Annabella, you know what I do for a living, or somewhat. Confidentiality, staying undetected can ensure that things like businesses run smoothly. My parents were doing that when someone who wanted a piece of the action, to take more than was deserved or required, and they resisted.”
She stared at him, her nostrils flared. “Are you telling me that the explosion was a hit, Ivan? That this man, this person of power was sending a message to your parents by destroying their storefront and killing all those people? That my parents dying and me coming so close to death was from the actions of a man out to put pressure on your family for money?” She raised her voice and more tears fell. He clenched his teeth.
“How did you hear about the job at Gables?” he asked her.
“Mr. Von Wind, a professor from college is friends with Griska. They both knew my aunt Grace. They…”
