Get You Back [Completed]

Chapter 10

"Welcome back to Rome. I'm Natasha," pakilala ng asawa ni Alexei, isa sa mga kaibigan ni Pavel.

"Alyanna," wika naman ng babaeng katabi ni Natasha.

Katerina stared at both of them. They look sophisticated and used to this kind of lifestyle. But she wondered if these women knew what their husbands were up to.

"Hi. It's extremely nice to meet both of you and to have some friends here at least," Katerina sincerely replied as she motioned for the two women to sit in the huge couch behind them.

They were now in the sitting room dahil nasa isang closed door meeting ang mga asawa nila. Konstantin is the head of the Denaro-Sokolov clan and is the husband of Alyanna. Samantalang asawa naman ni Natasha si Alexei, the mafia clan's second-in-command. At ang alam niya ay si Pavel ang legal advisor ng mga ito. He was dubbed as "the consigliere" doing bulk of the negotiations for the family, a position he inherited from his late father who died along with Katerina's stepmother in a shoot out years ago.

"I heard you have a son," masayang ungkat ni Natasha. "I'd like to meet him soon. Pavel seems to be too excited to discover him."

Alyanna looked a bit cautious. "We just wondered why you had to hide him from us. We're family anyway. Pavel is a reasonable person. He would make a wonderful father."

Reasonable? Pavel is a man who kills and who takes revenge when he deems fit. He does not see reason sometimes and hence is far from reasonable. But of course, Katerina didn't voice out her thoughts. No one knew about what happened that fateful night and how Pavel threw her away... and how she managed to escape his men who wanted to kill her.

She knew there was a reason behind his great hate. She just didn't know what it was.

"I was a coward. I was only barely eighteen then when I found out I was pregnant. And I didn't feel like he would accept it so I ran away," she lied. She didn't know why she had to lie when the truth would clearly show how heartless Pavel is.

"That's... quite scary, indeed," Alyanna agreed. "And I heard Pavel found you in the Philippines."

She nodded.

"That's my home country. Do you speak the language? Marunong kang mag-Tagalog?" Alyanna asked.

She smiled immediately at the familiarity . "Oo naman. I didn't know you were a Filipina."

"Half. I grew up there and moved here only when I met Konstantin."

She smiled at the woman in front of her. And her curiosity got the best of her because she couldn't imagine how these two women could sit here like their lives were normal and all rainbows. "How do you sleep at night?"

"Pardon me?" Natasha asked.

"How do you sleep at night knowing what your husbands are doing?" Katerina pressed on.

Natasha just shrugged. "I'm born into this family. Alexei is a far relative and we were married off to each other basically against our wills. But despite him working in such an inhumane world, he assured me that he never engaged in businesses that maltreat women and children. Alexei and I were both born into this world and we just manage to spot the good sides of it and expand it in our own little ways. My husband loved me and protected me through it all and that is how I know he's a good person. And he's been supporting all the foundations I've been putting up since we got married."

"It is the same for me. Konstantin only ever showed me love. But I am fully aware of who he is. He happens to be the most feared Mafia leader in town but deep inside, he's a little boy who just needs to be loved and understood. And he's more than willing to help people who need help the most."

But Pavel clearly is different from both of them, she thought.

"I'm sure Pavel is the same," Natasha interrupted her thoughts. "You just need to give him a chance. I mean, you just left before he could prove himself to you... and to your son four years ago."

If only they knew what happened that night...

"It looks like you're all serious," a baritone voice interrupted them all.

Katerina looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tall Italian man in a sleek three-piece suit. Beside him was her husband Pavel and another man.

Pavel walked to her side and gave her a peck on the cheeks. "This is Katerina," he introduced to everyone. "Katerina, these are my family Konstantin and Alexei."

"Hello," she managed to choke out.

"Nice to finally meet you," Konstantin said and smiled at her. Alexei did the same.

Pavel then pulled her up to stand beside him. "And I'm also taking this opportunity to announce to everyone that... I plan to marry this woman tomorrow noon. As soon as possible."

Katerina looked at Pavel in shock, and she also heard the gasp from both Natasha and Alyanna in front of them.

"Congratulations. I will be there to give my blessing," Konstantin agreed.

"You will be in good hands, Katerina," Alexei seconded. "And Paulo will now have to be introduced to the whole family, too."

Katerina's heart raced like it had never done before. She was scared for her life. But most of all, she was scared for Paulo. Marrying Pavel meant permanence of this world and she wasn't quite ready for it yet. She thinks she will never be.

And most all, she didn't want this life at all for their child. She wanted Paulo to have a normal life so he could grow up to be a morally upright person. She didn't want him dealing with illegal businesses and holding guns to protect himself.

This sent her mind racing for a quick plan of escape. But while her brain was busy plotting ways to exit this life again, she pretended to smile in front of everyone and kissed her soon-to-be husband with so much joy.

She saw shock in Pavel's face at her pretense. He didn't expect her to be too overjoyed. But nonetheless, Pavel took advantage and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. They would definitely talk later.

*****

Happy Easter, you guys!! ✨🍸

I wanted you to understand the character better and why she thinks a certain way. Hehe pero hopefully ma-convince siya ni Pavel otherwise at magkasundo na silang dalawa once and for all!