That Summer In The Country

Thirty-six:

Thirty-six:

The dress that she wore to dinner was a little white thing. They took a black sedan to a fancy restaurant on the island. Mal was unusually quiet during the trip, and so was Aleksander. "Everything okay?" Alina asked.

"Genya's here," Aleksander explained, "his ex-girlfriend from high school. Her engagement party is this weekend. She invited him."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Alina asked. "I am supposed to be your fake girlfriend, and all of that."

Mal smiled sadly at her. "No. Um. I told Genya that Aleksander was here because he was squiring some girl around, so it would look strange if you and I showed up."

Alina bit her lip. "Okay."

Aleksander was sitting next to her, his fingers playing with her hair absent mindedly. "It's alright, Kiska. I'm meant to ravish you on this vacation anyway."

To Alina's surprise, there were no photographers at the restaurant. "No press?" she said.

Aleksander smiled at her. "No. It's one of the perks of owning half of The Island, including the airport. I decide who's allowed in, and who isn't. No blasted photographers or journalists unless I give them permission. Besides, they'll all be distracted by Genya's engagement party. She's the daughter of a powerful politician, so they'll be more interested in that then the heirs to a fortune."

"It's true," said Mal, "and Genya did some modeling as a teenager. She's far more interesting and far more pretty to look at then my brother and me."

Alina's stomach churned. She didn't like hearing Mal talk about his ex. In fact, she'd always hated hearing Mal talk about his other girls. It had been one of the worst things about being away from him. She hadn't been there, and she'd always had to hear about his exploits. Even though she knew nothing would happen with the way the brothers shared, knowing that Mal was going to Genya's engagement party left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Oh, shit," said Mal, "I'm going to have to get her an engagement present."

Aleksander rolled his eyes. "Just do what I always do. Make a donation to that orphanage she's always yammering on about."

"It's Genya. She was my first love. I've got to get her something special," said Mal.

"Don't, brother," Aleksander advised, "she's engaged to someone else. On her way to getting married and getting everything, she wants and deserves. Which is everything, considering all that our family put her through."

They pushed their way into the restaurant.

"What do you mean?" Mal asked.

Aleksander paused. "I'm just talking about us, of course. The car wreck, and all of that bullshit."

"Genya said some interesting things when we talked," Mal told him, "What did you do, Aleksander?"

He frowned. "What makes you think that I did anything?"

"It was supposed to be me, and her. It would have been me and her. You know she was pregnant at one point? We talked about getting married," Mal said, "and then all of the sudden she wasn't pregnant, and you two kept on having secret conversations, and she couldn't touch me, she couldn't look me in the eyes... it was like I repulsed her. What did you do, Aleksander? You take everything. So don't for one second tell me that you didn't----"

"STOP!" Aleksander thundered, causing the whole restaurant to look at them. He reached out and placed a hand on Mal's shoulder. "I know, you're angry, and hurt, and what happened with Genya was terrible. But you're part of our family. You're my brother. And I will always do what is necessary to protect what is mine, even if they don't like it. I didn't hurt Genya, Mal. I didn't even touch her. But leave it alone. Genya's made her choices, you've made yours."

"I didn't make my choices!" Mal spat. "I've never made my choices. Do you think I like fucking sharing my oldest friend with my brother? But that's the thing, Aleks. You were never my brother. Not really, were you? You're just my cousin. Nothing in my life has ever been about what I've wanted. It's always been about you."

"Mal," Alina called out, not knowing what else to do, "Mal, please. Come on. Let's go to dinner. You can talk about this later."

Mal shook his head, a kind of fury blazing in his eyes that Alina had never seen before coming from him. "No, Lina. I've watched him get everything that he wants for so long. I've watched him take everything----"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Aleksander demanded.

"You took her from me!" Mal shouted. "This arrangement was never about keeping the two of us from fighting. This arrangement was always so that you could get exactly what you wanted. You didn't like watching me have someone that you couldn't get."

Aleksander clenched his jaw.

Alina watched, horrified, not sure what to do.

"You think this is about what I couldn't get?" Aleksander said.

They were in the restaurant. The whole place was staring at them, and there wasn't a single sound besides the brothers raised voices.

"Yes," said Mal, "this is about what you couldn't get. She was mine first. She was always supposed to be mine."

Mal locked eyes with Alina. Alina could barely meet his gaze. She didn't know what to do.

"Is that so?" Aleksander said. He grabbed Alina roughly by the shoulders so that she was looking directly at him. "Alina, do you want to be with Mal? Is he the great love of your life? He's standing right there. Go to him. Go to him, and I won't even chase you. I will give you my blessing. I'll throw you a whole damn wedding in support of it, if Mal Oretsev---"

He said Mal's surname with derision. "----is exactly what you want, you can go to him right now."

It was like being a deer, trapped in a hunter's gaze with nowhere to go. Either move was a loss somehow. Finally, Alina did make a move. She ran out of the restaurant.