A Treacherous Killer-Dark Bratva Romance

thirty five

Nadia

Maks sneaks out right before my parents arrive back home. I can't seem to stop smiling even when his silhouette disappears down the darkened driveway and I go back upstairs to lie in bed alone.

How had my life felt seemingly over just a mere four hours ago? Now all I can feel coursing through me is pure giddiness. Tomorrow morning I was going to wake up and tell my parents that I wasn't marrying Emil and that I was moving out.

I could see myself being content with spending my days with Maks. Even if the prospect of getting married never happened or we never defined what our relationship was, I was content with just being with him. Caring for him the way he cares for me.

I turn over on my side and spot the engagement ring over in the corner of the room where Maks had tossed it. I was going to have to tell Emil that I no longer wanted to become his wife. I was worried about how he would react. He's been easy going so far but I didn't know how someone of Emil's status would take being dumped.

It didn't matter how he would react. Even if he threatened to ruin my social status, none of that mattered to me anymore. I just wanted to spend my life being around people that made me happy. Somehow, Maksim Vasilyev had gone from being a constant thorn in my side to the one person who could light that tiny spark inside of me that was close to being burnt out forever.
***
The next morning, I wake to the sound of loud voices in the foyer. Curious, I quickly get dressed to see who would be visiting us this early in the morning. I exit my room and pad down the stairs to the kitchen but my feet get rooted to the spot when I see Emil standing with my father over by the kitchen island.

Both Emil and my father look tense, shoulders taut and severe expressions marring their faces. Father looks up and notices me standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Nadia, good you're up," Father says. His tone is strained and I don't miss the way his eyes flick over to Emil nervously.

"What's going on?" I question, not daring to move into the kitchen any further. "Where's Yarina?" I just noticed Yarina's absence in the kitchen. Even though it's early, she would have already been up bustling around the kitchen preparing us all breakfast. The kitchen was spotless though, nothing seemed to be out of place.

"She's no longer in our service," Father says flatly. I feel my heart bottom out in my stomach. He had let her go?

Yarina, the woman who had pulled my first tooth and taught me how to ride a bike. The woman who had brushed my hair and sang me old Russian folk songs. She was gone. How could father dismiss the one person who cared so deeply for his children? She wasn't some stranger than had just wandered into our lives, she was family.

"Why?" I say, my voice small.

"That doesn't matter," he bites. "Go pack a bag. Emil is taking you on a pre- honeymoon trip."

I feel the room slowly closing in on me. The impending pressure of the walls squeezing the life from my lungs. They were both crazy if they thought I was going anywhere with Emil.

"Where is mother?" I demand. Father shifts on his feet and runs a hand through his thinning hair.

"She's upstairs. She's not feeling well," he says.

"Did she have an episode? I need to go check on her if Yarina is not here to care for her." I turn to leave but father strides over and grabs me roughly by the upper arm.

"She's fine Nadia. I will see to her. Now do I as said and to pack a bag."

His voice is low, as though he wanted the words to just be between us. I glance over father's shoulder to see Emil standing menacingly by the dining table. His face is blank, but from the set of his shoulders and the heated words he was exchanging with my father before I walked in, I'd say he was pissed about something.