The door to our bedroom slowly creeks open, not enough to wake me but I shift slightly at the sound. I can hear footsteps slowly approaching the bedside. As the bed shifts to the weight of this mystery man, I reach for the remote under my pillow. When their body leans closer I pull out the remote and swing it to their head knocking them back slightly.
"NICOLE WHAT THE HELL!"
"Nadei?" I sit up and my eyes flutter against the darkness making out a shadowy figure of Nadei holding his forehead. Shit.
"Well, what the hell are you doing sneaking up on me sleeping huh!"
"Sneaking upon you?" Nadei eyes wander over to the alarm clock on my nightstand. "2 am? Fucking hell, I'm so sorry my love I didn't realize how late it was but. This is MY bedroom you do know that correct"
I playfully throw my pillow at him.
"You mean ours"
"You are right babygirl anything that's mine is yours" He begins to undress down to his boxer briefs, besides for his magnificent fucking body. He looks incredibly exhausted, his eyes are bloodshot red, his hair a mess. "Now move the fuck over so I can hold you all night long" he crawls beside me taking me into his arms.
"Is everything ok Nadei?"
"It will be. But we need to discuss something" every time he says that it involves me going into lockdown mode.
"Nah-uh Nadei I'm not going to halt my life because of your psycho brother! After Boris, you had me on lockdown and I was miserable, after Ari and I, I was also in lockdown. But not this time I'm going to continue to live my life whether you like it or not!"
I cross my arms and turn myself away from him standing my ground. Well, you know metaphorically speaking of course.
"Nicole!" he lets out a deep angry growl "Do not defy me on this! I will not lose you to him or anyone else! You are staying in this penthouse until he's fucking dealt with do you hear me!"
"Oh fuck off no I'm not bowing down to you! This is my fucking life we're talking about. I have a job now! I have friends! I won't stop my life, increase my security I don't care but I won't be caged up like some fucking animal!"
By this point, I'm sure the entire apartment can hear us yelling. I climb out of the bed standing just at the foot of the bed, Nadei remains seated his back against the headboard. He's fighting the urge not to just pull me back knowing damn well I'll give him one hell of a fight.
"I will tie you to the fucking bed if I have to you are not leaving this fucking place until I say so do you understand me!!!"
"Oh yeah! I'll stay in this dungeon once you start telling me the truth!" I slap my hand across my mouth as soon as those words left my mouth. Fucking shit I opened Pandora's box.
"What the hell did you just say to me? The truth? What are you talking about Nicole!"
Back to Nicole, welp I'm definitely in trouble. Might as well just continue and learn some things.
"Oh fuck it! I know you're hiding something you are all hiding something from me!"
He inches his way closer crawling on the bed like a lion stalking his prey and I take a few steps back.
"WHAT. ARE. YOU. TALKING. ABOUT?"
"Misha—he said" the mere mention of his name causes Nadei's entire body to flinch. "Misha said Alexandra isn't the first Romanoff wife to die"
Nadei body tenses up, I knew he was hiding something from me. All the color has drained from his face as he stares at me.
"Nicole, you don't know what you're talking about. Just come back to bed please baby"
"Oh no don't fucking baby me. I want the truth! Ivan's wife is still alive and Viktor lost Alexandra. So that means...NADEI WERE YOU MARRIED!"
"Nicole. Please, we can discuss this another time. Just come back to bed I promise, please baby"
The sorrow has washed over him and all his anger has disappeared. But I'm so tired of this, I'm tired of the secrets and deceit. Nadei hand reaches forward for me but instead, I grab my cell phone.
"Nadei" I fight back the tears as I watch his heartbreak a little knowing I'm walking away from him. "Until you can tell me the truth I'm going to sleep somewhere else"
"Baby, please don't leave me"
I swiftly turn my back to him, I know if I look at him I'll just fall back into his arms. But I need to put my foot down and get answers.
"I love you angel" he whispers as I begin to make my exit.
"I know Nadei"
I shut the door behind me and wander down the hall, I stop at the only door that I know will protect me. The only person that won't talk me into going back to Nadei. I quietly knock hoping not to alert anyone else.
"Hey....so. I'm pretty sure you heard everything that just went down. I just need some time to clear my head and....well if I go to Jillian right now she would probably punch me for waking her up. Nikolai would laugh and throw me back into my bedroom.....Alek. I just don't want to bother him with this mess right now and I need real answers. So can I stay with you tonight?"
"Of course malishka. Come on in"
I slowly ascend into Gerald's perfectly neat and orderly room. His bed barely looks slept in, not a speck of dust in sight, and all his clothes are either neatly folded or hung in his closet.
"Do you want to talk about it" Gerald holds his hand out guiding me to the small couch placed against his floor-to-ceiling windows. I smile before plopping myself down still wrapped in my blanket from my bed.
"The thing Misha said to me isn't sitting right with me."
"Babe. I told you he was just trying to get into your head-" I take a second to notice Gerald in a white T-shirt and gray sweats.
"Was Nadei ever married? BE HONEST WITH ME GERALD! I mean I don't care obviously, but why wouldn't he tell me. Did she die?"
"Malishka. I swear to you, you are the only woman Nadei has ever loved. He has never had eyes for anyone else as he does for you"
Well, that doesn't answer my question but I'll take what I can get. At least Gerald is always honest with me. There's never any second-guessing or blurred lines, out of all the men he's always been straightforward with me.
"Can you tell me about your tattoos?" I quickly try to switch the conversation. Maybe I don't want the real answer anyway, I'm just sick of being treated like a child. Gerald gives me a raised brow knowing what I'm trying to do.
"Ok pick one."
I look over both his arms, unlike Nikolai and Aleksander, Gerald isn't covered in tattoos but a few large ones and a matching tattoo I assume all of Nadei's men have. I spot a letter "P" on his right arm that seems to be the base of a tree and 5 "branches " each leading to a different flower with some script.
"Tell me about that one!"
"That." Gerald ponders over his tattoo for a few moments before taking a few deep breaths. "That's a family tattoo. The P is for my last name, the branches stand for each of us."
He begins pointing to each branch one by one. "My mother, my father, myself, my sister, and my baby sister"
"Can you tell me about them?" His eyes fall back to his tattoo, he never spoke much or at all about his family. He always told me Aleksander and Nikolai were like his brothers. "I mean you don't have to if you don't want to"
"My family history is dark malishka."
"Hey don't worry. We all have fucked up families. Tell me about yours I'll tell you about mine." I place my hand over his and Gerald sweetly smiles at me. He leans back into the couch getting comfortable and I snuggle up a little closer.
"When I was 7 my family moved to America. We didn't have much money, so my father worked two jobs just to pay the bills. My mother worked from home but did some seamstress work on the side. They were wonderful parents, every night they would dance in the living room while my mother sang. She had such a beautiful angelic voice"
"They sound amazing"
"They were" Geralds eyes water as he looks off into the night. "My older sister and I were inseparable, we were only 2 years apart. But when I turned 10 the baby, Ana was born. She was so beautiful and tiny my parents loved her instantly. Big blue eyes, jet black hair, cutest little dimples anyone has ever seen.....but once she was born the family changed"
"My parents worked, even more, to provide for us all and the little wanted it all. She was fascinated by the 'American' lifestyle and idolized everyone she saw on TV. Whatever she requested my parents went and got her, she became a fucking brat and handful. By the time she turned into a teenager, I was thankful to be out of the house. We barely saw our parents, they were either working or spending time with the little one. Then the worse thing happened, they died in a car crash one night" his voice slightly cracks and I move closer to him.
"Gerald I'm so sorry"
"Thank you malishka, but that's not the worse part. I moved back in to watch over little one, she was only 16. My parent's will wouldn't kick in for her until she was 18, so until then I had to provide for her but I wasn't enough. She started stealing, hanging with the wrong crowd, taking out fake credit cards. I owed a lot of bad people debt for her."
I hesitate for a second and ask the burning question.
"Is that how you met Nadei?"
"No my love that story comes a little later. When she turned 18 I came home and all my shit was packed and on the doorstep. She left me a note saying she didn't need me anymore because she was finally rich. But a year later she blew through all the money and I was back to take care of her. Our older sister, Polina, came back home as well after a failed marriage. Now I had to provide for them both, but of course, Ana wasn't happy"
"Wow. Not to be a bitch but she sounds horrible"
"Oh she fucking was, 6 months after Polina came home she fell ill and died. Ana was home with her when it happened, she said she ate something and started to seizure. The doctors said she was poisoned, I immediately pulled Ana into questioning and learned the horrible fucking truth. She didn't even hide it she didn't even fucking care!"
Gerald's body tenses up, I try to calm him by grabbing his hands in mine. He fights back his anger and smiles holding my hands tight.
"She told me she forged a will entitling herself to all of Polina and I's money. She fucking killed our sister for a few thousand dollars and didn't even bat an eye. Then she planned to kill me off as well, I fucking lost it. I raced home and burned the entire house down with all our belongings inside I didn't give a single fuck. I burned everything leaving Ana with nothing, my entire life up in ashes, and she was to blame. I wandered the streets after, stole from grocery stores and churches to survive. One night I was rummaging through the alley of a bar, I was in a dark place by then malishka. I did a lot of things I'm not proud of just to survive one extra night"
"Gerald I"
"Want to know the name of the bar I was at?"
"Oh fuck me no" I roll my eyes and Gerald just chuckles.
"You guessed it. Katia's he named it after his mother you know. He saw me in that alley that night, Alek assumed the worse and was ready to kill me but Nadei stopped him. Somehow he knew I was Russian, he didn't even ask why I was there he simply offered me a job that night cleaning the bar. Nadei saved me that night I don't know how much longer I could've survived on the streets I was just skin and bones by then, he took me in with no questions. A couple of weeks later I proved myself to him when I found someone was stealing money from his bar. 8 years later and they have become my family, Aleksander, Nikolai, Nadei they are all my family, and now you Nicole."
"So...Nadei just picked you up one day. I took you in when you had no home. Does he make a habitat of that?" I joke with Gerald realizing when I lost my home with Ariana Nadei did the same. He took me in and I never left.
"Yes. I guess you can say that. He gave me a home, you a home. However, he took you in for different reasons of course" Gerald laughs taunting me and I roll my eyes. "But look even Jillian, he tried to put up a fight but happily took her in as well. Nadei can read people well, he's a smart man and knows what he's doing."
"Gerald? Are you trying to tell me I should trust my boyfriend a little more?"
Gerald shrugs his response playfully smiling before grabbing me bridal style.
"Now It's nearly 3 am. You should sleep this day off here take the bed" He places me on his king-size bed and tucks me under the covers.
"I'll take the couch"
"Night Ger"
"Night malishka"
•••••••
"What did you tell her?"
"Nothing but the truth sir."
"Gerald"
"I didn't tell her everything, she doesn't know how I'm involved. But I won't lie to her if she asks me Nadei, I could never lie to her"
"Gerald, I'm doing this for her own good. If she knew the truth. She would be terrified of me or worse hate me."
"You know the two of you are more alike than you think, both so in love but so insecure about the other not loving them back. She's a big girl Nadei, she can handle the truth, she could never stop loving you trust me"
"Gerald my boy, I respect you but shut the fuck up and let me get my girl"
"Haha. If she slaps you I'm not helping"
"Shut up and go to the kitchen"
I snuggle under the covers a little more pretending to be asleep as I hear the door shut. Nadei lets out a soft sad sigh before sitting beside me.
"Printsessa, I'm sorry you are a part of this world now. I promise I will protect you, I will give my life for yours"
He pushes some hair behind my ears and gently caressing my cheek. I let out a faux yawn, my eyes slowly open to a smiling Nadei.
"Good morning my love, it's time to wake up"
"Nadei what are you doing here? I told you I don't-"
"I'm sorry"
I look at him confused, did he just apologize to me. Like a sincere "I'm sorry" no blaming me just straight to the point. Wow, maybe I should hide from him more often.
"Are you going to tell me the truth about what Misha said?"
"Tonight. But for now, we are going to eat breakfast, you're going to get dressed, and then we're heading to my office"
"Nadei I told you I won't go into hid-" he swoops me up bridal style. "Put me down you little shit!"
"One day off of work, just one day and I promise I will tell you everything tonight"
I stare into his eyes, his soft ocean blue eyes, fuck. He's being truthful.
"Pinky promise?"
"Printsessa a pinky promise?"
"Hey if you break a pinky promise you break all trust with me"
"I, Nadei Romanoff, pinky promise to tell you Nicole Ramirez my whole fucked up family history if you promise to spend the day with me at work today."
"Must you be so dramatic"
"I love you, angel"
"I know"
•••••••
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