by Jennise K
“We’re here.” River’s grave voice instantly filled the car’s dreary silence. My grasp on my handbag tightened, and I smiled at the suddenly gleaming security guards, watching the large castle doors coming closer and closer.
Finally, the car stopped, and I found myself automatically getting out of it. Turning around, I leaned against the open window and stared at my best friends with uncertainty.
“You can do it, Liv,” Abigail said and nodded encouragingly.
“Call me if you need me to come get you or something.” River smiled at me pitifully. I felt my chest constrict with the realisation that he was actually considering this not going well.
“Put your black belt to good use, Olli. Kick ass. You’re definitely going to have to defend yourself.”
I grinned at Jaydin, nodding in his confidence in me, before I turned around and began walking towards the door.
The sound of the car driving away behind me drifted to my ears while I walked onwards—closer and closer—towards the large doors. My hands had almost touched the knob when it was suddenly pulled open, and immediately, I was pulled into a warm embrace.
“You’re finally back! I’m so happy child!”
“Marsha.” I giggled as I hugged the middle-aged woman back, wondering how she knew it was me. “How did you know it was me?”
“You smell like passionfruit.” A grinning Orik beckoned me inside as he closed the door behind us.
It was only when I had taken my eyes off the two when I realised that the whole house help was all gathered in the foyer, grinning at me.
“Wow! If I knew I’d be welcomed so lovingly, I’d have come back earlier.” I grinned at the crowd. “Thank you so much for loving me this much, you guys. I missed this house and you all, as well.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. It means a lot knowing you thought of us during your stay home. This old girl felt very cold here without you.” Hubert, the castle butcher, beamed at me as he motioned to the castle.
“And not to mention the master. He’s a mess. He has barely eaten since you’ve been gone,” Marsha whispered as she ushered the whole group and me further inside the castle.
Romanov hadn’t eaten. He hadn’t eaten since I’d left.
My wide concerned eyes peered into Marsha’s as I tried to formulate my next question without panicking and half hoping she could see what I was trying to ask.
She could.
“Master Romanov is currently in his study, Olivia. But I don’t think now’s a go—”
I rushed away before she could finish her sentence. I passed by the stairs and almost flied through the corridors as I made my way in the direction I knew the study was.
I was angry. I was also very worried. How could he behave this way? What the hell had even happened to make him behave this way?
I passed corridor after corridor, stair after stair until I found myself staring at the large varnished door. I stopped. My eyes stared at the dark door. Beyond that door was Romanov and a very loud argument in a manner of minutes the moment I would walk in. I took in a deep breath, and my hand gripped the doorknob.
One…two…three.
Twisting the doorknob, I walked in.
The first person my eyes met was Aunt Meryl, who sat on the two smaller sets of sofas right before a medium sized one which faced away from me. Then my eyes found Romanov.
His dark eyes stared into mine as I took him in. Even his immaculate dressing couldn’t save him today. His full eyes, the dark circles underneath, and his hollowed cheeks gave me all the red lights.
How dare he. How dare he not take care of himself when I had left for his convenience?
“Olivia!” Aunt Meryl spoke, visibly surprised and excited to see me.
My eyes fluttered over the woman, and I tried to give her a small smile. “Hi, Aunt Meryl.”
Then my attention was right on Romanov again.
“You! Where have you been? Exactly what did I do to get you so upset, huh? It’s been two days! Two days and you haven’t even tried to call! To get me!”
Romanov blinked, turning his head towards Aunt Meryl. Then his gaze moved to the sofa that faced away from me. “Excuse me.”
I felt something inside me drop with shock. Romanov had company, and I had just yelled at him in front of them.
Romanov’s eyes snapped to mine.
“Do you feel no shame asking me that? When you’re having an affair!” He spat the last word like it was some unsavoury food he was forced to eat.
What the hell is he talking about?
The anger in me blazed higher. “What?”
Instantly, Romanov’s eyes blazed golden, and he took a step towards me. Then he stopped. “Stop pretending! I heard you! I heard you talking over the phone, making plans to go to England without me so you can have time with him and have fun together! Saying you miss him!”
I frowned at him. Never have I ever made any plans with anyone except for…oh. That only made me angrier.
“Oh, don’t give me that look. You were in the bathroom! You said you needed to tell me everything so that you won’t feel guilty! Guilty for what? Now you feel guilty? It’s been two days, and have you called? Two days and still you look like you’ve been having the time of your life! Isn’t this what you wanted?!”
“Romanov Naight! Can you please be quiet before the babies start crying!” A tiny, dark- haired woman suddenly shot up with a baby in her arm and glared at Romanov. Immediately, Romanov shut up, and he glared at me as he shook in silent anger.
The woman turned towards me, and I took a step back in surprise at her beauty.
Immediately, as I thought this, a large man stood up as well beside her. His towering and lethal frame betrayed the smile he had on his lips as he watched me, another warmly wrapped baby snuggled comfortably in his arms as well.
His smile turned into a grin, and he moved his hand in a wave. “Hi.”
“What’s going on? Why are you two yelling at each other?” The door behind me suddenly opened, and Matthew rushed in. Stopping beside me, he turned towards me, and I turned away. I didn’t know what I was feeling anymore. The fire blazing in me was still present. I wanted Romanov’s blood. I wanted to hit him. To cuss him out! How could he think I was having an affair! Arrrgh, this was insane.
“You. Come with me.”
Romanov breezed out of the room, his cologne touching my skin with softness as he moved past me.
Awkwardly, I turned towards the audience. This was embarrassing, but I had to do it. I sighed as I slowly let my head fall and said, “I’m sorry about that,” then quickly turned around and rushed out of the room.
When I came to a stop behind him, Romanov suddenly turned around and asked, “Tell me honestly, are you having an affair?”
“What’s the use of asking now when you’ve already assumed that I already have?” I hissed back, glaring down at his fisted hand.
“Olivia!”
“If—if you think this is some crazy tactic to get me to leave you because you’re suddenly tired of me and afraid of this whole curse thing, then you’re totally wrong! It’s too late! You’re stuck with me!”
Romanov paused and sharply turned around, a gust of wind slapping my face, his coat flaring in the wind.
“Oh, yeah?”
Oh. My. God!
“Yes, you jerk! And for your information, the person I was talking to was Isabelle! For God’s sake, I’m not telling you to change your nature and not be jealous or possessive, but can you at least have trust in me?”
This is it. This is all I had for today. I can’t…
I let my shoulder slump. I’d had enough for today. I needed to get somewhere else. The kitchen. Right. I needed to go to the kitchen.
It was such a shame to have soulmates but no guarantee that you could trust them. No guarantee that you could work this out and make it work till the end.
“You know what? Go back to your guests. I’m going down. It’s fine if you still want to cont
inue not trusting me, but at least don’t turn to self-destruction. Please. You look like you’ve starved yourself.”
My eyes misted as I turned towards the stairway, and I bit my lips to muffle the sob that threatened to wrench out as I began moving.
The heavy pain on my chest was growing heavier and heavier, and I just wanted to escape it. I was tired of feeling sad. To have soulmates was such a blessing…but also a curse.
I was about to take another step forward when suddenly a familiar, strong pair of arms slipped around my waist, pulling me back in a tight embrace.
Immediately, the tears began pouring—the tears I had held for two days that I masked with anger. I began twisting in Romanov’s arms and turned around to pound my frustration on his chest.
He stood there, holding me as he took it all in—every blow of frustration and anger and pain.
“I’m sorry,” he began chanting in whispers as I continued to hit his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“Do you know how confused I was?” I choked out between my tears. “How painful it was not to know what you were so upset about? Do you know how difficult these two days were?” I asked between sobs as I grasped his shirt and weakly shook him. “Why? Why can’t you trust me? Why?”
“I’m sorry,” Romanov whispered as his hand found the back of my head and leaned my face against his chest as I continued to loosely hold on to his shirt. All my energy was now spent as my anger faded. “I’m sorry.”
I was just so sad and tired but so content to be in Romanov’s arms again. I missed him so much.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I love you. I’m sorry.”
The feel of his fingers pressing tightly against my skin was the most calming thing I had felt for days.
“Don’t do this again, please. Yell at me, clear it out, but not this. Please, I can’t take it,” I said, letting the tears fall as I shuffled to get as close to him as I could.
“Is everything all right here?” A woman’s concerned voice echoed around the cold corridor, and I almost made a move to step away from Romanov when he pulled me back, refusing to let me leave.
“I love you,” he whispered as if he hadn’t heard the woman at all. This time, I tilted my head back so I could look up at him, and immediately, Romanov turned his face away. My heart stopped.
The wet trails on Romanov’s cheeks broke my heart. Romanov was crying for me.
I found myself getting on my tiptoes, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. The tips of our nose touched, and I closed my eyes, feeling the warmth of contentment settling itself in my heart as I felt Romanov’s arms around my waist tighten. “I love you so much.”
“Till your last breath?” The question came from behind us, but my reality faltered when Romanov leaned in and took my lips into his.
The kiss broke as the need for air won. Still in Romanov’s embrace, I took in a shaky breath against his neck and said, “And beyond that, too.”
The shutter sound of the phone camera rung in the air, and immediately, both Romanov and I turned towards the source of the sound.
“What?” The beautiful woman from the study shrugged. “I’ve never seen Rome like this! It’s a moment to capture!”
~
“So what light do you see Olivia in, Rome?”
I frowned. Turning my attention from the tiny bundle of joy in my arms to Theia, who held the second twin in hers, I asked, “What light?”
After the huge fight and make up three hours ago, everyone now sat in the living room, drinking hot chocolate and eating muffins.
Introductions were made, and I found that the large man who had smiled at me was actually Romanov’s cousin, Alexander Bryce Wilhem. He was also an alpha king, and the beautiful woman was his soulmate and wife—and also Romanov’s best friend—Theia. Matthew was Alexander’s royal beta.
“Back in high school, Romanov was a real thug, you know? Once, he and I were paired for art class, and he said I was golden.” Theia giggled as she snuggled into Alexander.
“Was he into you or something?” I chuckled as I looked down at the little child in my arms when she pulled at a strand of my hair. Her bright blue eyes resembled her father’s. However, on her left eye, a small portion remained brown. Seeing her made me miss Letty. I made a mental note to call Prue and check up on her.
“Honestly, I really thought he was into me. But he wasn’t. My husband here had actually told him to keep an eye on me and keep me away from hormonal boys,” Theia replied, smiling as if she were relieving those days.
“Actually, almost every guy was into Theia when she first came to Piedmont. Including me.” Matthew stopped when Alexander let out a low growl, but then after a pause, he continued, “Funny thing, though, she never realised about the ones who were really into her but instead thought Romanov’s irritation at babysitting meant that he was.”
Somehow, a small part of me felt something was missing from this story. “Hmmmm…” I cocked an eyebrow up at Romanov as he walked towards me with two refilled cups of chocolate.
Setting them down on the coffee table, he settled down on the sofa and threw his arm around my shoulder.
“I mean I thought she was too good-looking for my cousin, but not really. Girls are generally just very irritating.”
“I’m a girl!”
Romanov grinned, flashing his white sharp canines at me. “I know, but you don’t count.”
“Excuse me?” Theia exclaimed.
“You’re a married woman now, Thi. You don’t count either.” Romanov rolled his eyes and stretched forward to play with the jovial baby.
“I’ll let you know I’m very offended.” Theia huffed in response and pouted when her soulmate chuckled in response.
Suddenly, Theia straightened in her seat, and her eyes found mine. She leaned closer, eyeing me carefully. “I’ll be frank. I was beginning to dread that you didn’t exist. Rome always kept saying how he doesn’t have a mate in his lifeline.” She turned towards Romanov and smiled. “Told you the gypsy lied.”
Beside me, Romanov chuckled genuinely, nodding as he leaned closer and pressed his lips against my temple, keeping his lips there for a second more. “Yeah.”
All of a sudden, the all too familiar sound of hurried footfalls on the floor filled the suddenly quiet room, and I looked up just in time to catch Dominic trying to school a worried expression on his face as he walked towards us, his hand grasping his iPad.
“Prince Dominic, it’s wonderful to see you. Have you been well? You look a little tense,” Alexander spoke with a hint of mischief in his voice as he grinned carelessly at Dominic.
“Yes, King Alexander. Thank you for asking. I have been well. It’s very good to see you, too. I hope you, too, have been well?” Dominic bowed a little as he directed his attention to Alexander. Then he turned towards Romanov, and his expression immediately changed. “The DNA reports have come out, Alpha.”
Romanov froze beside me. With each step Dom took closer, his grip around my shoulder tightened.
“Thi, could you please take Snow from Olivia?”
I agreed. As much as I didn’t want to disturb the sleeping beauty in my arms, she could get hurt if Romanov continued to squeeze me like this. I gladly placed Snow into her mother’s arms right before Romanov pulled me back against him.
I turned towards him to find him staring into the iPad. The whole room was suddenly quiet.
“Well? Did it match with someone in here?” Aunt Meryl enquired, moving forward in her seat in curiosity.
“Yes,” Romanov replied emotionlessly.
“Whose is it?” I asked, not liking the expression on Romanov’s face.
Immediately, Romanov’s eyes snapped to mine, and I felt a shudder slip down my spine.
“It’s mine.”
What…
“What?”
This couldn’t be happening. This didn’t make sense. How could it be Romanov’s blood? How? No. It couldn’t. Someone was trying to frame him!
“I�
�ve hacked the number that sent Olivia the message—”
“And?” I said, cutting off Dominic. The fear in my chest kept rising, pushing further and further until I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore.
This was the only hope. The cell phone couldn’t be Rome’s. I had his number. It couldn’t be his, so this was the way we’d find out who was trying to frame him.
Dominic’s gaze fluttered before it turned towards the floor. “It’s yours, Alpha.”
~
“No!” I shouted. “It can’t be his. I have his number, and it isn’t private.”
What the hell is happening?
“It’s his work phone,” Dominic mumbled back, looking very unsettled as well.
“Okay, clearly someone is framing you, Rome.” King Alexander frowned as he bopped little Cole softly in his arms.
“Livi—” I flinched.
The extreme warmth of his hand around my suddenly cold body had me jumping in my seat. Romanov was burning up. I immediately turned towards Romanov to apologise when I noticed his expression.
His dark eyes stared at me with disbelief. “You can’t be afraid of me now, right?”
“Of course not” I shook my head, bringing my hands up to hold him and try to calm him down.
“You can’t be, right?” Romanov asked with wide eyes that was suddenly alight with shock. Grabbing my hands, he pulled me forward and slammed me into his chest.
“Stop it, Rome. Can’t you see you’re scaring your mate!” Alexander warned Romanov as he tensed in his seat. I, on the other hand, continued to stare into Romanov’s dark angry eyes.
“This is my kingdom and my mate, cousin. Lay off,” Romanov snapped back. His grip on my hand tightened as he pulled me to sit over his lap.
Oh my God, this can’t be happening. We literally just made up!
“Do something! She’ll bruise!” Theia whispered worriedly from beside me, and I silently cheered her on as the pain in my hands grew more intense.
Still, I couldn’t stop looking at Romanov as he stared into my eyes. His breath hit my lips, and I felt the bite of hot colliding with cold again. I shivered. Romanov’s eyes blazed golden.