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I go into my office and slam the door shut, taking deep, calming breaths. I walk over to my computer and turn it on, catching up on the many emails that have accumulated already this morning. It was my intention to stay home today and help Kat adjust, but I can see now that’s not going to work. It’s better for me to stay locked in my office until she has a proper wardrobe.
I call for my staff members to meet me, and they assemble inside the room a few minutes later, waiting patiently for their instructions. Edward is my personal assistant, and I ask him to go shopping for Kat. I don’t know her exact sizes, but I give him my estimations and a credit card.
“Should we send for her things?” he asks. “It’s my understanding that they were sent to her husband-to-be.”
“No,” I say harshly. “I don’t want anything that will tie her to her old life. She needs all new things. Clothes, shoes, anything else you can think of.”
One of the maids chimes in. “Mr. Sidorov,” she says carefully. “Perhaps you should let me go shopping for her. I have a better idea of what a young girl needs.”
I nod at her, and Edward passes the card to her, a faint blush coloring his face. Of course, she makes a valid point. What the hell would Edward do in a women’s clothing store? I feel thick and totally unprepared for this. Clearly, taking a girl away from her wedding wasn’t my brightest idea.
“If I might be so bold,” Edward says. “I’ve been looking into the young lady’s history, and I think it would be a mistake not to at least send for her things. There are many factors to consider here. Firstly, she’s in a strange place, and she would probably appreciate having her own things to keep her company.”
Again, I can’t help but feel like an idiot. I want to claim Kat as my own, but she did have a life before me. Edward is right, it would be pretty shitty of me not to try to get her things from her family.
I nod at Edward and motion for him to continue. He steps forward and hands me a folder.
“Your young lady is also on the Dean’s list at Colombia University. It’s my understanding from my research that her father made a deal with her. She would marry the Zaitsev boy in exchange for a college education.”
The news hits me like a ton of bricks, and I hear a few gasps from the other staff members. Dimitri really is a son of a bitch. The words he shouted to her at the church suddenly snap into my head.
“It seems that since you took the young lady away from her wedding, that deal is now nullified.”
I look down at the folder in my hands and assess the spectacular academic record she’s maintained. Her grades haven’t dropped below a 4.0 average in two years, and she has glowing recommendations from her professors.
I’ve robbed her of this opportunity. Why didn’t she say anything to me?
“In any case,” Edward continues. “I imagine she has books and school materials that need to be collected.”
I nod at him and ask him to arrange to have her things brought here. I will spare no expense to have her comfortable in my home. And I’ll need to find a way to get her back in school. It makes my blood boil to know that Dimitri held her education over her head like this. She’s a brilliant girl who deserves to follow her dreams.
I instruct my cook to bring her a variety of breakfast foods until her clothes arrive and she feels comfortable leaving the room. With that, I dismiss my house staff and turn my attention to my real business.
The branch has several tasks to accomplish in the next few weeks, not the least of which include getting Dimitri in line. My blood boils again just thinking about him. How could he deprive his daughter of everything the world has to offer?
I look back over Kat’s academic records and realize how ambitious and brilliant she is. I understand she wanted to please her family, but a woman of her intelligence could be running the world. She shouldn’t be a plaything in some war she probably knows nothing about.
Dimitri should pay for this, but I won’t start a war because of my feelings. I’m sure he’s going to provoke me again. He isn’t the sharpest crayon in the box. The second he steps a toe out of line, I’ll be ready to retaliate, and he’ll deserve everything that’s coming to him.
There’s a knock at the door, and I tell the person to enter, hoping that it’s Kat. I want to learn everything about her and understand how she came to be in this situation. I want to know how someone so brilliant was so willing to throw her life away for her family.
When the door opens, though, I see it’s one of the maids, Elisa, and she’s holding a very ugly-looking package in her hands. A look of fear and confusion covers her face.
“Mr. Sidorov, this package came for miss Mikhailov,” she tells me quickly.
I motion for her to bring the package to me and I assess it. It’s wrapped in plain brown paper, but on the paper are written horrible slurs. It is indeed addressed to her, but there’s no return address. I’m sure it was sent by her father, or someone else in the Mikhailov family.
I tell Elisa in no uncertain terms to get rid of the package. It will only upset Kat, and I don’t even know what’s inside. But the packaging is enough. It infuriates me that they would treat her so poorly.
Edward calls me a few minutes later to tell me that we won’t be able to get Kat’s things after all. It seems her ex-fiancé and her brother have trashed all of her possessions. I think back to the package and wonder which of her treasures was in that box.
Those stupid pieces of shit. I understand the jilted groom could be upset about the turn of events, but I don’t know why her brother is so angry with her. Their actions prove what immature children they are and that Kat deserves better than what she got.
No matter. She’ll need more things than I’d initially thought, but that isn’t a problem. I’ll spend any amount to replace what was lost. Clothes are a given, but she’ll need more than clothes to be comfortable here, and I can’t expect my staff to know what she needs.
I call my accountant and have her added to my credit account. I’ll make sure Edward arranges for her to get the card while I’m away this week. It’s a terrible time to leave her, especially in light of the nefarious package she received from her ex, but I had business responsibilities before I whisked her away.
Note to self: think through the consequences of your actions before you decide to ruin a girl’s wedding.
