~ phoenix ~
I had never before been so happy to see the towering gates of the compound as we approached.
Seeing as Ilya's signature Lamborghini was unsuitable for the family accompanying us, we took a large, intimidating SUV, which I had to bribe Mikhail to get in. His reaction to the car was adorable. First, there was fright but that quickly dissolved into intrigue. The little boy clasped my hand the entire journey as we sped along the highway heading home. His sister, Viktoria was fast asleep in her car seat. Their mother seemed expressionless, often biting her lip, lost in thought.
Sitting in the seat directly behind Ilya, I played with the ends of his hair, occasionally massaging his stiff neck. I wondered why he was so tense. Did he expect someone to jump out at us?
I noticed a figure standing between the mechanical gates as they opened. I squinted to see it was Aleksey and I had to clench my hand to stop it from waving. Without doubt, the apathetic Hulk would ignore it.
Nonetheless, as he moved forward to open my door, I didn't hide my grin. To my surprise, the ends of his mouth quirked up. I considered throwing my arms around him... but nah, I shouldn't get ahead of myself.
"Welcome home, сука," he smirked, helping me down.
I narrowed my eyes at the endearment. "It's nice to see you too, Mudak," I shot back, remembering the curses Rina taught me. [Asshole]
"What is Мудак," Mikhail innocently questioned.
I stumbled for a response, hissing, "This is your fault," to the now grinning Hulk.
Huh, who removed the stick from his ass? Although to be honest, I wasn't sure if I liked this side of him either.
"Игнорируй их, детка," Lavinia sighed as she unstrapped her daughter from the car. [Ignore them, baby]
I shot her a guilty smile.
Aleksey then proceeded to help down little Mikhail, smiling down at him. I was pretty positive my jaw was hanging down.
Okay, seriously when did he get a personality transplant?
All this time, Ilya remained silent. With a soft smile, I walked over to him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
"What's wrong?" I whispered, pulling away.
He stared at me intensely, scrutinising my expression. Then, he asked, "Are you happy?"
It suddenly made sense. All along, he was unsure about how I felt - as if I'd change my mind.
I sighed. To be fair, I had been quite bipolar with him.
"No," I replied, seeing his face fall. Then, I grinned mischievously, "I'm ecstatic."
Glaring at me, he stamped another hot kiss on my lips. "Good."
Aleksey coughed loudly.
To my satisfaction, Ilya's narrowed eyes turned to him. I spun around and poked my tongue out at him, to which he rolled his eyes.
We entered the mansion together. Again, Mikhail's warm hand was enclosed in mine. No doubt the large glass balconies were daunting to him. We took the elevator to the penthouse, where we had decided Lavinia and her children would stay with us in the spare bedrooms until better accommodation was arranged.
When the elevator pinged at the top floor, I guided Mikhail to the games room, which I had only discovered a day before my kidnapping. A mini basketball court was set up with a plush ball. I showed him how to throw it into the hoop and watched him excitedly try to score. Aleksey strolled in after us, sitting at the pool table.
Leaving the door open, I made my way to the other side of the apartment to Lavinia's temporary room. It was bright and airy, hopefully mimicking the openness of the Siberian plains.
"Hey," I greeted softly.
The dark-haired woman collapsed onto the bed after carefully placing little Viktoria in the cot that Ilya had ordered. I creeped in, taking a seat beside her.
"Thank you, Phoenix," she mumbled with closed eyes, "You've been so kind even though you barely know me."
Heart warming, I argued, "I know everything that I need to. And for the record, I know how much you mean to Ilya which automatically means you mean everything to me."
She chuckled, pulling me down so I was lying beside her.
We stared up at the white ceiling silently for a moment.
"Lavinia," I said.
"Hmm," she hummed in answer.
I smiled like an idiot. "Nothing."
There was another moment of silence.
"Phoenix," she called.
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
In seconds, we dissolved into giggles. I felt her face gasp into my hair as she laughed.
That's how Ilya found us. We heard him clear his throat.
Struggling to sit up, I grinned at him. He raised a brow but didn't comment.
Instead, he said, "You have a guest."
Furrowing my brows in confusion, I followed him out into the hallway. True to his words, there she was, arguing with Aleksey like her life depended on it.
When her eyes landed on me, she gasped and flew toward me. We both toppled, falling to the ground with her sitting on top of me.
The men watched the exchange with slightly amused expressions.
"Birdie!" Rina cried, "I'm sorry. I missed you. I-"
"Geez, you saved my life, hoe. Shut up," I retorted, trying to catch my breath after the wind was knocked out of me.
"I should've done something..."
I zoned out of her apologetic rambling when my gaze landed on her plastered arms. Identical bandages wrapped around the skin from her wrist to her shoulder on both arms.
"What the fuck happened?" I demanded, cutting her off.
She looked down at her arms sadly. "That psycho bitch happened. She cut me after I tried to go after you."
Rage bloomed in my chest. I evened my breathing, remembering that Milena was dead.
"Let me see." Taking an arm, I inspected it. "Fuck, Rina," I hissed.
"Yeah, I know, Birdie. I won't be able to dance for a week."
Ignoring the joke, I looked into her eyes. There was something dark swirling in those sapphire depths - something like fear. Of course, she was bloody traumatised: she was tortured by a psychopath.
Wordlessly, I wrapped her in a hug, looking with tear-filled eyes at a grim Ilya. I brushed the sadness away when I noticed Mikhail approaching.
"Hey, little man!" I exclaimed, swallowing the grief.
He regarded me with scepticism. "Do you want Jammies?" he questioned.
Laughing, I shook my head and just like that, the sadness evaporated. "I'm fine!" I reassured him, "Besides, you have to meet one of my sisters!"
Katarina turned around slowly and eyed Mikhail warily.
I groaned internally. Did she not like kids?
Nonetheless, I glared at her, urging her to introduce herself.
"I am Katarina," she said finally. "You can call me Katarina."
With the same caution, Mikhail also said, "I am Mikhail. You can call me Mikhail."
Facepalming, I pulled her up and smiled at the boy. "Go play with Aleksey, sweetie."
Eagerly, he turned to the blond, who glared at me. I flashed him a sugary smile.
"You don't like kids, Rina?" I sulked, leading her towards Lavinia's room.
"Yes, I do," she replied without explanation.
With a sigh, I knocked at the door. "Lavinia?"
"Come, Phoenix!" was the shout from inside.
I swung open the door, revealing both Katarina and myself.
Lavinia, who was hanging some clothes in the armoire, looked between us unsurely.
"Hi!" Rina exclaimed, jovially, "Я Катарина!" [I am Katarina]
Struggling to contain my incredulity, I glanced at her suspiciously.
"Я Лавиния," the former replied with a small smile. [I am Lavinia]
"Shut up, Rina," I retorted, "The baby's sleeping."
"What ba- Oh."
Hesitantly, she moved towards the cot, glancing at Viktoria. Her expression was awe-filled.
"She's beautiful," Rina breathed. "What's her name?"
"Viktoria," Lavinia answered proudly.
With a soft smile, Rina returned her attention to the sleeping angel.
"Tori it is then."
NOTE:
Three chapters for Christmas, babes!!!
Did I mention how excited I am for the sequel? Cuz I AMMMM!!!
I literally cant wait for 2021 - hopefully it'll be way better than this shitty year!
Enjoy hoes, xo, Rosavi