That Summer In The Country

Forty-five:

Mal went to the engagement party. It was late afternoon. The Safin family residence was down on the beach. He wasn't the slightest bit dressed for it. He was in a t-shirt and jeans. There was a butler at the entrance that was greeting people and when he went up to him the butler looked at him skeptically. "Young Mr. Morozova," said the butler, "are you supposed to be here?"

"I was invited," Mal said, "ask Genya if you don't believe me."

The butler winced. "That won't be necessary. I'll take your word for it. Only----"

Mal was sure the butler was going to say something about how he was dressed. But the butler seemed to think better of it. Mal patted him on the shoulder, and then slipped into the house. Everyone else was in their Ravkaan best with their designer clothes. Dresses, suits, and enough jewelry that they could have opened their own jewelry shop. There was soft jazz music playing in the background, and waiters and waitresses circling with appetizers and drinks. One came around with a glass of champagne so Mal grabbed one, taking a drink for the liquid courage he would need to face Genya.

"Mal!" Genya's voice called.

He looked over at her. She was wearing a white sun dress, with a wide brimmed hat. Her red hair was down. She was gorgeous as always, and Mal's heart ached a little when he saw her. Even though he had no right to. It was particularly difficult given that Alina had just rejected his offer to come with him away from the Morozova's. He walked over to her.

Genya looked him up and down. "Are you okay?" she asked.

He leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "I fucking know."

Genya stiffened, her amber eyes wide. "Know what?"

Mal shook his head. "Don't lie to me, Genya. I've been lied to enough. You're coming with me, and you're going to tell me the truth about everything." He grabbed her by the hand.

"Mal please," Genya begged, "I'm at my engagement party."

"Genya," a voice said, "are you alright?"

Mal saw a handsome young man with jet black hair, brown eyes, and brown skin wearing a light purple dress shirt and black slacks. Genya smiled sheepishly at him. "I'm fine, David. This is Mal. He's my old friend. I've got some things that I have to talk to him about, okay?"

"Okay," David, the fiancé, waved politely at Mal. Mal grimaced, and waved back.

"I'll be right back, sweetheart," said Genya.

Genya allowed Mal to lead her up the stairs to her old room. He remembered every inch of the house, having spent many summer vacations there. "Mal please," she begged, "can you let go of my hand? You're gripping it a little tightly. It hurts. Please, let me go."

Mal shook his head. "If I let you go, how quickly will you run out of here?" he asked.

"I'm in heels," she said.

Mal shook his head. "That's never stopped you before."

Genya glared at him. "What do you want, Mal?"

"I know. I know about Mika."

She froze. "How?"

"I wasn't going to come today. I ran into Zoya, and she convinced me not to come. When I got home, Mika was there. And Aleksander told me. He told me that you..."

"Were raped?"

Mal's stomach clenched then. It took everything in his power not to throw up. "Yes! Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded. "I could have helped you. Instead, you went back to Aleksander? Why?"

"I wanted to tell you," said Genya, "I wanted to tell the police, but Aleksander was there that night. He saw that man stumbling out of your room where I was and...."

"Did he make it so that you wouldn't tell?" Mal asked. "Was he worried about the business?"

"No, he said that Petyr was threatening to kill me if I talked. He was in a rage. He convinced Petyr that I wouldn't talk by having me sign an NDA agreement. Petyr gave me money to...." Genya couldn't even bring herself to say the words.

"Get rid of it?" Mal finished.

Genya nodded. "I couldn't bring myself to. And when I didn't take the money, Petyr made it his mission to destroy me. That's what the car accident was, Mal. He convinced one of your servants to cut the breaks."

Mal frowned. "Which servant?"

Genya shook her head. "I don't know. I don't care. But Aleksander sent me away after that, and he had to make you believe that we couldn't be together, so I guess he wrote you a letter pretending to be me."

"Saints!" Mal exclaimed. "He made me fucking hate him. He came up with this elaborate scheme..."

"What are you talking about?" Genya asked. "Does this have to do with those rumors? Zoya mentioned some things, but I thought she was just Zoya being Zoya...."

"We've been sharing girls," Mal said, "Aleksander claimed it was because we were always fighting. Alina's the girl that we're sharing with him right now."

Genya's face softened. "The girl you always had a crush on?"

Mal nodded. "I'm not going to share anything anymore. I've waited long enough to take what's mine. I'm going out on my own. Where's Zoya?"

Genya raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because," he said, "I've got business for her."

"She's down by the bar, I expect."

Mal left Genya alone, and then he went downstairs to where Zoya was indeed standing by the bar. Zoya looked up in surprise. "Mal. What are you doing here?"

"I'll do it," he said, "I'll come work for you. And I've got an announcement you can put in the newspaper, too."