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She gasped and held her dress against her chest.
“You bastard. You think I’m some kind of set up? That I wound up at Gables in some sort of covert operation from the Russian fucking mob? Are you kidding me Ivan?” She asked but her voice cracked and she cried, looking so defeated and hurt and he felt like a dick. Like a monster for having no trust, to acceptance to weakness and vulnerability.
“Damn it Annabella.” He pulled her into his arms and held her close. She tried pulling back, her body rigid and unaccepting. He whispered into her ear, “You don’t know the life I’ve had to live. The one forced on me because of that explosion, of the violence against my family. He killed my parents, my brother and sister in front of me.” He kissed her ear and held her tight.
She cried.
“I did what needed to be done. Twenty-six years old at the time, I left the military to assist my parents and learned of their troubles with a higher power. It was bad, and getting worse. This man was a monster, Annabella.”
“The same man who killed my family?” She asked and sniffled.
“Yes.” He whispered into her ear, his palm against her head and his other arm around her waist holding her so close against his body. His heart raced.
“Where is he now? How did he get away with it? The police knew nothing, the investigation labeled accidental.” She said, her voice cracking with emotion.
“Pay offs by him. Deals made to cover his tracks. He was out of control, taking things, money, earnings, property, businesses, and a whole lot more that wasn’t his, and if people defied him, they were beaten or killed. He was out of control Annabella. A monster.”
“Where is he now Ivan?” She asked.
He was breathing against her ear. He never talked about it. About that night, about his actions and the hatred.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is how you and I were brought together like this.”
She pulled back, the tears not running from her eyes but an expression of anger he never saw on her face ever. “Where is he now?”
He cupped her cheeks. “Dead Annabella. He got what he deserved.”
She looked into his eyes. “You, Ivan? You killed him?”
He didn’t say a word, and was shocked when she hugged him tight. Squeezed him around the waist and she cried. “All these years I longed to know the truth. To what really caused that fire and explosion. The sound of it, the results of such a powerful force nothing in this life would ever compare to that memory I have. It was like a bomb went off. That’s probably what it was, right? Some kind of military type bomb?”
“I don’t know, Annabella.” He said to her and caressed her bare back, kissed along her neck.
“I was all alone after they died. Fourteen and forced to live with an aunt I hardly knew, but we wound up so close to one another. I wanted to die too, Ivan. So many times I just wanted to die to be with my family, yet something stopped me from taking that action, and instead I focused on the life that God gave me. On pursuing my dreams, and making my parents proud. I studied hard. I got scholarships to school. I made friends to last a lifetime. Friends that are my family, Ivan, and the decision to return to New York had been easier knowing that my friends wanted to come this way too. That we wanted to pursue better lives together. Going to the city, getting that interview because of Mr. Wind…”
She covered her mouth and stepped back.
“What? What is it?” He asked looking at her face, absorbing the shock. Tears fell.
“He knows Griska.”
“And?”
“How? How would a man, a professor like him know Griska, know my aunt who died?”
“He knows my uncle too.”
“What?”
“I found out yesterday, and didn’t have my men look further into you because I realized that it was a coincidence, that Mr. Wind and Griska were talking about the position because they’re friends and Wind recommended you and Griska trusted his instincts.”
“Or he also knew who I was. Who my parents were, and perhaps your uncle wanted to give me the opportunity to succeed knowing what happened to my family.” She said to him and he thought about that. About how Griska liked Annabella immediately and so did everyone else, but when he showed interest, they showed their care for her even more.
He cupped her cheeks and stared down into her eyes.
“We’ve both been dealing with our own wars, our own pain, Annabella.”
“You still feel that you don’t deserve me? That you can’t make a commitment to me because of this dangerous world you live in?” She asked him.
