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“You’re white as a ghost and sweating. You’re not fine, and it’s already organized. Max is on his way.” She walks over and gives me a sideways hug. “Let’s finish what you were doing.”
“Sophia, I’m seriously okay. I’m buying dinner. I’ll walk home once I’m done.” That feeling of having no control winds around me. It’s like having your arms and legs being cuffed, making you helpless. I haven’t had this feeling since I married Demetri.
She freezes. “Demetri hasn’t given you a bodyguard yet? Is he trying to get you killed?”
“Oh please. No one’s managed to do that yet, not even myself.” She gives methatlook, like a mother. “Everyone talks about it. Why isn’t it okay for me to joke about it? Listen, I’ll call Vadim, or if it pleases you more Demetri.”
I hate doing that. Especially if it’s over nothing. But if it’ll mean I can go on my way, then I’ll do it to please her. Now that I’ve seen my best friend, I really am fine. That tingling sensation is gone. This is why I was trying to push it away; I knew it was nothing but my imagination trying to scare me.
“I see Max already. He’ll take you home, and Demetri never has to know.” She leads me closer to the cashiers, and I feel like a small child instead of a responsible adult. My jaw grinds, and my feet attempt to pause.
“Sophia, stop trying to help, because you’re causing more harm than good.” Her head whips back like I’ve physically slapped her. “Demetri and I don’t have secrets. I don’t need my family to get in the middle of him and me just because you think I can’t handle grocery shopping. I’m an adult, with children.” I gesture to my kids. “I have this.”
Max strolls up to us, grabbing the basket off the stroller. He stands there looking completely at ease, not realizing there’s tension lassoing around my best friend and me. I would much rather have Vadim here.
“I’ve always had your back, Katrina. Don’t treat me like shit because I actually care and that scares the shit out of you.” She storms off.
Sophia and I never fight. My gut twists at the thought that I’ve lost another friend. Maybe I was about to have a panic attack when Sophia showed up and just wasn’t able to recognize it?
“I’m done. Let’s go,” I tell Max, disappointment clinging to my heart. I’m typically confident; I don’t let things bother me for long. I just wanted to do something normal for my husband.
Max pays for the groceries, and I wait at the exit. I stay silent on the car ride home, but Max and Charlotte talk enough that I don’t need to.
My breath freezes in my throat when I see Demetri standing on our doorstep, his arms crossed over his chest. He’s not happy. My eyes flutter closed as I force my breath out, and when I inhale, it feels like razor blades.
I open the car door with fake confidence. “Husband,” I purr. “It’s so nice of you to welcome me home.”
He growls under his breath, looking from me and our children to Max.
Max waves. “Don’t mind me. I’ll be positioned here day and night.”
Demetri growls again. “We need to have a discussion about your family interfering with us.”
“Max, be a doll and bring me my groceries.” I hand our daughter to Demetri, practically forcing her into his arms to distract him, and then meet Max halfway back to the car. Charlotte bounces past us toward her dad and hugs his leg.
Demetri tries to give Capree back to me as he stomps toward Max, but I refuse to accept her. Charlotte is now sitting on his foot, asking for a ride. I rip the bags from Max and shove past Demetri, leaving the groceries on the kitchen counter. So much for a nice dinner tonight. I go straight into our bedroom and lock the door behind me.
My tears drown my eyes, and a few topple over my lashes. There’s nothing worse than crying, but how can I not when even my good deeds work against me?
The door handle rattles before Demetri’s booming voice sounds. “Katrina. Open this fucking door.”
“No!” I yell back. “I was trying to do something nice, and you ruined it!”
He’s silent on the other side of the door before I see the knob twist, and he walks in with a key in his hand.
“Katrina,” he says my name with softness in his tone, but his eyes look angry. “Were you planning on making me dinner?”
I flop down on the bed, exhausted from all the adrenaline finally depleting. “It doesn’t matter. It seems like I can’t do much of anything right.” I sniffle. “You know, when I first saw you at the bar, I thought you were just a normal guy. I mean, still stupidly good-looking, but… normal. I wanted that life. I dreamed of being average, of having an existence where no one knows me or my family. All I want to be isnormal.”
Demetri sits on the bed and moves me so that I’m cuddled in his lap. “You’re right. You’re not normal. But it’s because you outrankeveryonein my world. Yet I admit you might also be misunderstood. All I want is for you to let me in so I can understand you better. I love who you are. I have since our first meeting.”
“You make me feel important, and that scares me the most. I worry that I’ll start to believe you, and then like always, the floor will open up beneath me for no reason, and I’ll fall as usual. But this time, I won’t be able to help myself back up.”
“I’ll never lie to you. And letting you fall won’t be an option.”
I nod, his words immediately making me want to divulge everything I went through today. “I got a little spooked at the store. I thought maybe Eva was following me. But then I got it under control. I should have called you right when I got the bad feeling, and I’m sorry.”
My forehead rests against his cheek. My eyes close at the comfort from us just being together.
