Nikolai
“If she findsout you’ve done all this, she’s going to be pissed.” Viktor stares at the papers on my desk.
“I owe her this much.” I brush off his concern.
“Have you bothered to talk to her?” Viktor asks. His face is pulled into disappointment, a look I’ve gotten used to seeing in these last few weeks that Charlotte has been gone. The open wound in my chest from her absence isn’t enough for me to deal with; I have to constantly be reminded by Viktor that I’m an asshole for just walking away.
“She made up her mind, Viktor.” I sign off on the final payment. The hospital was going to move Mark to the VA hospital once he was stable, but I stopped them. He was getting good care where he was, and it was easier for Charlotte to visit him as often as she wanted. So, I handled it.
“She was stressed, and in pain, Nikolai. Her brother had just put a gun to her head, for fuck’s sake. I thought you were smarter than this.” Viktor folds his thick arms over his chest.
“If you’re trying to intimidate me, it’s not going to work.” I close the computer and shuffle the papers into a neat pile before slipping them into an envelope.
“She’s probably worried about Oliver; when do you plan on telling her what you did to him?”
I look up. “When he’s ready, I’ll let him go see her.” Oliver’s debts have all been paid. The asshole had racked up another hundred thousand in the short time Charlotte had been mine. Fuck, just thinking those words makes my chest twist.
“How’s he doing anyway?”
“He’s learning.” I check my phone. A horrible habit I’ve carried over from when Charlotte was with me. Always checking on her, seeing if she’d messaged. Now when I look at my phone, it’s just a blank screen. Even when there are messages from anyone else, I look right past them.
“Go talk to her.”
“And say what?” I stand up from my desk and tuck my phone into the inside pocket of my suit jacket. “She made her decision. I have no rights to her, Viktor.” Which is all bullshit. There’s never been anything off limits to me before. If I want something, I take it. Nothing will get in my way.
But Charlotte’s not a thing to be stolen away.
“If you want her, Nikolai. Then you earn her back.” Viktor takes the envelope from my desk so he can bring it across town to the attorneys.
“Make sure those get there before one.” I point.
He shakes his head. “Is your father back yet?” He finally drops the topic of Charlotte, the one thing I try to keep from invading my thoughts and failing pretty much every fucking minute of the day.
“Next week.” I walk over to the windows of my office and push one open.
“Have you spoken with him?” Viktor’s voice softens. He really knows which buttons to push today.
I take out a cigarette and light it. Blowing a gray cloud of smoke out the window, I shake my head.
“Not since it was done.” My father took Ivan to Russia. A friendly vacation, but only my father is coming home. He never gave the details, only that it was finished, and Ivan was gone. No funeral would be held for him. No memorial service. Nothing. He was a traitor to our family, and he died as such. There would be no celebration of his life.
“It’s been a shitty few months,” Viktor says.
I take another drag of my cigarette. Not all parts were shitty. There was a bright ray of light cutting through all the darkness.
But that’s gone now.
“It happens.” I look over my shoulder. “Don’t be late with those.”
He nods, but disapproval is written all over his face.
As soon as I’m alone, my phone rings.
Boris.
“Yeah?” I answer, taking another long drag.
“I found the crews working the rebuild. They’re estimating a two-month construction and another three weeks for interior,” Boris informs me.