Isn't It Bromantic (Bromance Book Club #4) - Lyssa Kay Adams Page 0,21
journalist called us, Vlad. For comment. We didn’t even know!”
“Let me talk to him,” his father said in the background. Then, a moment later, his father’s voice boomed clearly. “If you weren’t already injured, I’d break your other leg.”
“Papa, I’m sorry. I haven’t had a chance to call until now.”
“You haven’t called in months.”
“Let me talk to him again.” His mother returned to the phone, this time with a slightly softer tone. “How are you? Are you in any pain?”
“Not right now. I can’t really feel anything.” In his leg, at least. His chest was caving in on itself.
“Josh said you’ll start rehab in about a week?”
“Yes, I hope so.”
His mother paused, and he could hear her brain working. “You are going to need someone to help out.”
“The team will provide someone—”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Elena will do it. She’s almost done with school.”
And there it was. Elena had found her way into the conversation like he knew she would. “Mama—”
“Have you called her yet? She must be so worried.”
Vlad dropped his head to the pillows and closed his eyes. “Mama, listen to me—”
“Please tell me you’ve called her. How are you ever going to have a normal marriage with her if you always hold her at arm’s length?”
His eyes flew open. “What are you talking about?”
Mama made a dismissive noise.
Vlad pressed his hand into the bed to sit higher. “She is the one who moved to Chicago. You told me to let her go.”
“Yes, but I never told you to make her believe she would never be welcomed back.”
Vlad wanted to pound the heel of his hand against his head to make sure his ears were working correctly. Was Mama blaming him for the state of his marriage? She had never spoken to him like this. Never. “All I have ever done is give her the space you said she needed.”
“You’re right. It is all you’ve ever done. So call her now, Vlad. Tell her you need her now. Before it is too late.”
Vlad had to clear his throat twice to form his next words. “It—it is already too late.”
“Not if you call her.”
“Mama, you’re not listening to me.”
His mom’s silence was as loud and bone-shattering as a defensive hit against the boards. He could imagine her standing straight in the kitchen, her hand fluttering to her ever-present strand of pearls. They’d been a gift from his father on their tenth anniversary, and Vlad had never seen her without them.
His mouth was suddenly dry. “Mama, Elena and I—”
“No.”
“We’re getting a divorce.”
“Why, Vlad?” she asked in a voice that finished him off.
He closed his eyes against the assault of guilt. “You know why.”
“No, I don’t. You two are meant to be together. You always have been—”
“She’s coming back to Russia,” he blurted out, cutting her off.
“What?” His mother breathed. “What do you mean?”
“She wants to come back and become a reporter like her father.”
“No. That can’t be true. She married you so she could get out of Russia.”
Yeah, and that was the only reason, which was the problem. “I guess she changed her mind.”
“And I suppose you’ve done nothing to try to stop her.”
There it was again. The insinuation that this was all his fault. He swallowed against the burn of irritation. “Of course I tried.”
“Really? Because it seems to me you just did your normal shut-down-and-withdraw routine.”
“What does that mean? What is my shut-down-and-withdraw routine?”
“You’re like a skittish, hibernating bear when you are scared, Vlad. You shut people out and go into hiding. Like an absolute bear.”
He resisted the urge to growl like one. “She’s leaving me.”
“Leaving you. Is that how you see it?”
“How the hell else am I supposed to see it?”
“If you opened your eyes, maybe you’d see that you left her a long time ago.”
“I—I can’t believe you’re saying this. You are the one who has told me for years to keep hanging on, to give her time, to—”
“Have you ever told her you love her?”
It was his turn to go silent.
“I assume that means no,” she said.
“I told her that when she was done with school, I wanted a real marriage with her.”
“That’s not the same thing as telling her you love her.”
“There’s no point. Not when there is only love on one side.” Oh shit. He slapped a hand over his eyes and held back a groan. But it was too late. His mother pounced like a panther.