The Last Hope

18

"Madame Ivanov?" a voice suddenly says behind me, making me jump, and I see one of the women unpacking the clothes upon my arrival. "I... I'm not..." but my words get stuck in my throat when an arm wraps around my waist. "Thank you for coming to help my wife and sister-in-law, Miss Lugovaya," says Nikolai, widening my eyes as Sienna stiffens, giving me a puzzled look.

"You're welcome, Mr. Ivanov. It's an honor to assist your family. Without Mrs. Elif, I would never have been able to open my boutiques."
She turns away, pulling a cart with several dresses of all colors, more beautiful than the others as I raise an interrogative look at the man next to me who still hasn't removed his arm. He smiles at me before bending down and whispering, "It's better to keep your identity a secret for now" I furrow my brows before grabbing his shirt to prevent him from stepping back. "So, I become your wife? Just like that? It seems like a completely forced marriage," he laughs near my ear, and my god, that voice, "believe me, Solnychko, if we were ever to get married, you wouldn't even have time to think about an answer," he says, tightening his grip around me, making me close my eyes, my hand gripping his shirt.

He steps back, his eyes shining with something I don't grasp, his jaw clenched. He finally releases me before moving towards the various clothes as I slowly release a breath that I hadn't even realized I was holding. What am I doing?

"My dear brother-in-law, may I know the purpose of all this?" Sienna asks, grabbing a dark dress that she examines with a dark look before raising the same look towards Nikolai, who returns her gaze with a smirk. "Well, my angelic sister-in-law, I thought you needed clothes tailored to your size and tastes, even if I would never question Elif's tastes, at the risk of losing an eye," he replies, turning away to fetch a long emerald dress.

I see my sister fuming, her lips pressed together, sending her darkest look at Nikolai, "I don't think we need anything. What we have is enough for the coming week," my sister says, emphasizing the word "week" but Nikolai ignores her, moving towards me with the emerald dress in his hands, "you'll have to try this one," he says, handing it to me. I look at the dress, then at him and my sister, who continues to glare at the man.

I sigh, grab the dress, thanking him, and follow one of the women behind a dressing screen. The young woman reaches out to help me remove my dress, but I recoil, my breath caught in my throat, my scars itching as if they wanted to be exposed while I try to hide them. "Leave it, I'll help her," my sister's harsh voice growls as she slips behind the screen as well, the woman nods and leaves us alone as Nikolai starts talking to Miss Lugovaya again, and the children start playing and shouting.

Sienna starts unbuttoning the top of my dress, her eyebrows furrowed, her jaw clenched, clearly angry, "Sienna..." "I don't know what game you're playing the two of you, Selina, but it needs to stop," she murmurs so softly that I can barely hear her. I grimace at her words; I don't even know what's going on with Nikolai. She helps me take off my sleeve, being careful not to touch my hand brace, I was able to get rid of my cast just yesterday after Dr. Semionov's visit, who prescribed me an ointment to apply on my almost healed fingers, even though they still ache from time to time.

"We need to leave," she continues, still weakly, unzipping the emerald dress as I raise my wide-eyed gaze to her face, "that's what we're going to do in a week, mia sorella...," "no, tonight Selina, we're leaving tonight," she cuts me off while pulling the dress over my head. "What are you talking about? We can't just leave like this without saying anything...," Sienna grabs my arms, her dark gaze piercing into mine, making me flinch.

"Wake up, Selina, damn it! We've known these people for barely two weeks, do you think we can trust them? Believe me, mia sorella, at the first opportunity, they'll sell us out, because it's in their nature. I've made this mistake several times in the last years, and it cost me way too much. It won't happen again, especially not if you and Rafael are in the picture."
I freeze as I catch a glimpse of the fear and mistrust she's trying to hide behind her tough exterior, with trembling lips, I gently stroke her cheek, "what happened to you, tresoro mio?" I whisper. She freezes in turn under my touch, her mask cracking for a few seconds, during which I see that sixteen-year-old girl, trembling and lost, but she recoils, erecting her walls again. "Be ready for tonight; I'll come pick you up," she says, zipping up the dress before leaving.

I sigh softly, clutching my trembling hands against my stomach, so, we're leaving tonight?  "Selina? Is everything okay in there?" suddenly asks Nikolai's deep voice, making me jump, I inhale deeply, slowly exhaling, smoothing out the folds of the dress, its softness unlike anything I've ever touched before.

I raise my gaze and freeze as his eyes trail down my body, lingering on the slight neckline that stops just above my chest, then up my neck before finally meeting mine. I audibly swallow, moistening my lips slightly as I unconsciously squeeze my thighs together, "you look stunning, Solnychko," he says, approaching slowly, but I step back for some reason, and he freezes at my gesture.
What if my sister was right ? Two weeks isn't enough to trust anyone. And these closeness we have, these exchanged glances, the words that soothe my mind, all of it scares me, no, terrifies me. What if all of this was a way to distract and occupy me until reaching an agreement with Antonio? A sudden idea pops into my mind, leaving me breathless, if Nikolai Ivanov asked me to stay at the end of these three weeks, I would be inclined to accept. "Selina?" Nikolaï asks, his eyebrows furrowing, taking another step towards me, but I shake my head, stepping back again, "I... I'm feeling tired. I'm going to go upstairs and rest for a bit," I reply.

He stares at me for a few seconds, trying to understand what's happening, but eventually nods, stepping back several paces to let me pass. I head towards the stairs, my head bowed, and quickly make my way to the guest room where I begin to gather our things.

My sister is right, trust doesn't exist in this world, and certainly not in the mafia.