CHAPTER 26: ROMAN VLADIMIR IS BACK
CHAPTER 26: ROMAN VLADIMIR IS BACK
NIKOLAI’S POV:
I could clearly see the blush that creeped on Lily’s cheeks when Galina suggested we were dating.
‘Does she look like the kind of girl I like?’, I wondered. I like them tall, supermodel shaped, fair skinned, siren eyes, straight legs, blonde, red or black hair and sex appealing. But with Lily, she looks soft, she isn’t tall, her body is okay but not my cup of tea, She has doe eyes and is very disrespectful.
I stopped thinking about it as I saw Lily hurriedly went upstairs just to avoid the topic and I half smiled.
“Who is she really?”, Galina’s question brought me back from my thoughts.
“A friend”, That was all I could say, I couldn’t come up with a better excuse.
“Friend?… Brother, she doesn’t look like the kind of female friends you usually have”, My not-so-little sister said and I was interested in her thoughts.
“Really? How do my female friends look like?”, I asked. I walked to my study room and she followed behind me.
“Nothing! Because you don’t have ANY female friend!”, She said and I stopped in my track, blinked twice and nodded.
“That is true”, I said and continue walking.
We got to my study room, I poured myself a glass of whiskey and sat at the main chair and watched Galina folding her arms.
“Well, except for Irina and… Elena–“, She said and I hit the glass on the table, not too much pressure to break it but enough to make a loud noise.
I stared at Galina with a death stare and she pouted with her head bowed.
“I’m sorry Koyla”, She apologized.
I sighed and stood up, I approached her and grabbed her by her shoulders and made her look at me.
“No matter what you do, do not mention Elena in front of Lily, got it?”, I instructed her and she nodded slowly.
I let go of her shoulders, took the whiskey and empty the content from the glass into my mouth.
“I need you to tell me why you’re here in America? What happened in Russia?”, I asked her. I know my sister too well, even though she misses me like she claims, something serious must have happened for her to come without informing me before hand.
She walked to the sofa in the room and sat down and crossed her legs.
“Wow, nothing get past you huh?”, She teased and I chuckled.
“I’m a Vladimir, remember?”, I said and she nodded.
“Truth is… Roman is back”, Galina said.
The empty glass I was still holding came crashing down and it shattered into pieces.
“NIKOLAI!”, Galina exclaimed and stood up, she tried coming to me but I stopped her by pointing my hand at her.
“Call a maid to clean this up”, I told her and she looked at me for 3 more seconds before going.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
Roman Vladimir is back.
***
It was the next day. Galina, Lily and I were having breakfast, or should I say just Lily and Galina were the ones eating while I was playing with my food, thinking about what Galina said yesterday.
I barely got any sleep, not like I usually get enough sleep before, the news of Roman’s return added to my inability to sleep for a short while.
“Hello… Nikolai! Did you hear what I said?”, Galina snapped her finger at my face and I frowned.
“What?”, I asked her, coming back to reality.
“So I have been talking to myself all this time?! Anyways… Mother said you should visit her before the year runs out or she will really kill herself this time”, Galina said and Lily choked on her food, I hurriedly carried a glass of water to give to her but she was holding water already. She looked at me with a brow raised and drank her water.
I cleared my throat and placed the water down.
“You know mother is only joking right?”, I said to Galina.
“Oh come on!! What if she succeeds this time?!!”, Galina pouted.
“Then it means she succeeded on her fourth trial then”, I shrugged.
“Is… is your mom really suicidal?”, Lily whispered but I heard her loud and clear.
“She isn’t, she just claims she is”, I replied her and she looked at me and nodded after a few seconds.
“Why are your under eyes this dark?”, Galina asked and I tried stopping her from talking the more.
“Is your insomnia still severe”,Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
“Galina–“, I tried again but she interrupted me.
“Aren’t you taking your medications?”,
“Gali–“.
“Are you still having those nightmares?”.
“Stop it Galina–“.
“Are you still scared of ice wat–“.
“SHUT UP GALINA!!”, I roared, hitting the table with both my hands and Galina and Lily shivered.
Galina happy expression changed and she pouted, I sighed and stood up and left the table, my food was barely touched.
I got to my room and banged it shut, I paced around the room and I got angrier by the second. ‘Why would Galina say that in front of Lily?’, I asked myself.
I heard a knock on the door followed by Galina presence. I pinched the space between my eyes are sighed.
“Why are you here? Are you done eating?”, I asked in the calmest voice I could come up with.
“How can I eat when you’re mad at me?”, Galina said, she walked to me and hugged me tight, I patted her head like a pet.
“I’m sorry if I was nagging too much”, She said.
“No need to apologize, I know you didn’t mean any harm but I just want you to watch what you say in front of Lily”.
“What? Scared that your little girlfriend would breakup with you if she finds out that the almighty Nikolai Vladimir is scared of the cold?”, Galina teased and I laughed. She stopped hugging me and looked me straight in the eyes.
“Tell me the truth… have you told that girl what you really do? She looks too pure and innocent to be involved with you and our kind of world”, With a serious face, Galina asked.
It was true Lily was too pure for such a life but she took the way I revealed things about me pretty well.
‘Why do I even care, that not why I bought her for!’, I reminded myself.
“She knows about me”, I replied Galina and she gasped.
“Really?! And she still stayed?!! She must be really into you huh?”, Galina said. I smirked and nodded.
“I mean she has no other option”, I muttered under my breath.
“What was that?”.
“Nothing”, I quickly responded.
“Well, if that’s all, I should go keep Lily company”.
“Just remember, mind what you say around her… and don’t use phones, laptop or any means of internet near her, if she asks you for a favour, tell her to come ask me okay?”, I needed to be careful.
Lily is a smart girl, she might see how nice Galina is being and make her to use her phone, I can’t risk it.
I have already sent Irina back to Russia with a minimal punishment of being a striper at one of my club for 3 months. She should learn how to shut up.
“Fine, I’ll just bond with her the old-fashioned way”, Galina said and left my room.
I sighed and sat on my bed, touching the nape of my neck and feeling the scar there. The scar was about 4 inches long and I was 8 years when I had it.
As my hand grazed the surface of the scar, the image of Roman came flashing back.
“Why did he come back to Russia?”, I asked myself. Roman left Russia for more than 5 years now and cut all contact with us, my father has searched everywhere for him, my mother have cried and threatened to kill herself if he doesn’t come back but nothing happened. Why is he back now? It can’t be because he misses his family right? Or is he here to finish me off and take over the underworld we both fought for?
‘I won’t let you defeat me brother, just watch out and see’, I declared, biting down on my teeth and making a tight fist.
I stood up, got the car keys and headed out, I have some fucking matter to attend to.