What Lies Ahead

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I lay horizontally across the king-sized bed with my feet propped up in Maksim's lap. His fingers worked wonders as he rubbed my soles, and I had to bite back a moan each time he found a sensitive spot. I never thought I'd ever get him to give me any sort of massage, but after watching me trying to relieve the pain on my own, he'd offered to do it for me.

"You've been too quiet this evening," he said, eyes trained on the TV.

I looked at his profile through heavy lids, unwilling to tell him that I was still trying to accommodate to my new reality with him. "How much does Anna actually know about Dima's job as your right-hand man?"

His hands paused on my feet as he met my gaze. "Enough so he doesn't have to lie whenever he leaves in the middle of the night."

"But she doesn't know the gory details." Like me, I wanted to add.

"No. It's safer for everyone she doesn't have information that could be extracted from her in case of a police interrogation."

His honesty disarmed me. When he'd promised me answers, I didn't expect that level of sincerity from him.

Maksim had stopped rubbing my feet altogether, so I sat up, tucking my legs underneath me. "What about me? What about what I've seen?"

His eyes flashed with some dark emotion I couldn't pinpoint. He caught himself almost immediately, banishing any semblance of feeling from his face. I wondered if it was some sort of coping mechanism – hiding everything so it didn't make him feel vulnerable. "I trust you, and as I've said before, that was my mistake. You won't be seeing anything like that again."

Although I wanted to believe him, something in my gut told me there were things even he couldn't control. I didn't think he'd make empty promises to me, but his life was much too unpredictable to organize in pretty boxes wrapped with pink bows. Anything could happen, at any time, and we both knew it.

Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I entertained a new idea. I was certain he was going to flip about it, and I suddenly didn't care that much. His temper would have to learn to take a break from time to time, because I refused to be afraid of speaking up my mind in front of the man I loved. "I wanted to ask you for something."

"Tell me," he sounded almost relieved that I was changing the subject.

"Can Aleksei and Lori have dinner with us, maybe at the new house?"

As expected, barely contained distain dripped from his every pore. "Why would I invite that woman into my home?"

I sighed. "Because she's your brother's girlfriend now. You should at least try to get to know her."

"No."

"Maks –" I was cut off before I could formulate another sentence.

"I said no, Evelyn. End of discussion." He stood from the bed, clad only in his boxer briefs. Walking into the bathroom, he shut the door behind him a little too forcefully.

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics. A moment later, I heard the shower start.

I didn't know what had gotten into me, but I decided right then that I was going to meet with Lori on my own. It really bothered me that she was being shunned out by Maksim without a reason other than her former occupation. I found it unfair and frankly quite hypocritical of him.

Ava would have joked that I was channeling my inner Mother Teresa again.

Tomorrow, I would find an excuse to get Aleksei's number from Vova. He would get me in touch with Lori, and I could invite her out for coffee or lunch.