Instead, I sat next to her on a chair and watched her for a while as she slept. Then I closed my eyes and let myself rest. I was well used to sleeping wherever I got the chance, and tonight it was watching over Molly. My lifelong obsession was finally within my reach. No power on this earth would take her from me.
19
MOLLY
Iwoke feeling sore in new places. It was a weird, cliched feeling to be suddenly aware of my non-virgin status, but there it was. I wasn’t changed in any ground-breaking way, but I was sure I had a few bruises and some tender places. The most important fact of the night was finding Kirill. The back of my hand itched and annoyed me where the IV had been inserted in the hospital, and between my legs felt vaguely like one giant bruise, but the ache made me smile.
I rolled around in his vast, black-sheeted bed for a little while. The walls were white, sterile almost, with a couple of black and white photographs on the wall. I got up and padded over to them. One was a church, Russian orthodox, I judged, from the onion domes. The other photo seemed like a graveyard, which was more than a little creepy.
I turned away from the photographs—I never got modern art—and stared at the city. Central Park stretched away, only separated from the building I stood in by one street of low houses. It cut a huge green rectangle in the gray jungle around it. Sunlight was shining in the window, cool and pale, but still, it was the sun.
It wasn’t cold in Kirill’s apartment, but I needed something to wear. There was a dark doorway to the side of the room next to the ensuite bathroom. Venturing into the dark room, I found a well-stocked dressing room and borrowed a large pair of sweats and a t-shirt that hung to my knees.
I didn’t want to snoop around further—it felt wrong—so I made coffee in Kirill’s high-tech machine and drank it overlooking the city. I couldn’t get my head around the last few days. I’d fainted for the first time in my life. I’d found Kirill again. And I’d had sex. A day of monumental events. My brain was tired of trying to process it all, but a deep rightness filled me despite that weariness. I’d found Kirill. Nothing else mattered.
I found my phone and called Theo.
“Girl! What happened last night? I need all the details,” he said. “You went to that sexy beast’s house and didn’t answer my texts.”
“I know. I got caught up reminiscing. I’ll see you later and give you all the juicy details.”
“Wait! There are juicy details?”
“Speak soon.” I laughed as I promised to fill him in later and hung up on his questions.
I stared at Kirill’s fancy kitchen. I had no idea what had happened to him since I’d last seen him. I had no idea what he did for a job, how he’d made his money, or what had happened with his father.
I twisted my phone in my hands, and my mind strayed back to the moment Kirill’s friends had walked into The Blue Rabbit. Theo had called the men with Kirill a Brighton Beach crew and claimed they were the mob which seemed utterly ridiculous.
In short, there was far too much I didn’t know. I needed answers, and whatever they were, I knew with certainty that I’d accept them. Whoever Kirill was now, I loved him. I couldn’t stop. Loving him was my fate.
I changed and prepared to leave, a little self-conscious in the ripped dress. I tied the top together and covered the most indecent parts by zipping up my jacket. I was about to leave Kirill a note when my phone rang.
“Mallory, you’re up.” Kirill’s voice met my ears.
I immediately stilled, and a stupid smile floated to my lips.“Well, calling me would have achieved that if I weren’t.”
He was quiet. We hadn’t gotten the hang of banter yet, it seemed. “How are you today?”
“Good. I can’t believe last night was real. I was starting to think maybe I’d hit my head and imagined it.”
“What are your plans today?”
I leaned against the counter, my ridiculously happy smile stretching further across my lips. “Why? Do you miss me?” My heart thudded in my chest as I asked.
“Yes,” Kirill said flatly, thrilling me with his certain tone.
“Well, I guess I could stick around a little longer if you wanted me to.” I’d have to find someone to cover my shift, but I suddenly couldn’t care less if Rafael was angry with me.
“I want you to,” he said. Muffled talking reached me in the background. “I have to go. I’ll see you later.” He hung up abruptly.
Huh. It looked like I wasn’t leaving after all. I set down my bag and went to stare out the window. In the bright light of the early afternoon, the city beyond the windows looked shiny, new, and full of possibility. It was a feeling I hadn’t felt for a long time. The last time was when Kirill was in my life. Something warm and soft filled my chest, expanding and making me giddy. Hope flourished inside me after so long.
Kirill was back in my life. Everything was going to change.
* * *
The front doorlet out a series of electronic beeps, and the confident stride I’d been waiting for echoed through the apartment. I rushed around in the kitchen, lighting a candle and putting the finishing touches to my masterpiece. I poured wine—ruby red and achingly expensive—into crystal glasses and turned to wait for him. I’d spent all day waiting for Kirill and had finally decided to make a game of it. I’d cooked for him with the only stuff I could find in the cupboards. Ironically, it had been the perfect find and the only thing I could make, though I fully expected him to order takeout after he saw it.