grand tragedy, but now I realize those were the idiotic ideas of a young woman who hadn’t understood the reality. Now all I want is peace and quiet. It seems Liza is correct.”
He sits and looks at me, then he takes my hand. “You are soft, Cassie, and that’s what I like about you. You’re good and kind, and yes, you have a wildness and craving for adventure, but it would never be at the expense of hurting others.”
“Unlike your wildness,” I say.
He nods. “Unlike my wildness.”
“You said once you thought we were similar because of that wildness, but we aren’t. You’re hard, and I’m soft, and hard breaks soft.”
“No,” he says, as serious as I’ve ever seen him. “Hard protects soft. Most people, they end up roughed up as life thickens their outer shells. Let me be your shell, Cassie. Let me protect you, and you can stay as beautiful, kind, and sweet as you are now.”
His words are in some ways lovely, but they’re a lie. He can’t protect me, keep me soft and pliant by taking me to his castle like some fairy tale princess. If I stay in his world, the poison of it will slowly fill me too.
“I want the fairy tale, Konstantin,” I tell him, letting him see my vulnerable side.
“What’s the fairy tale, Cassie?”
“Love, and happiness,” I reply.
“I can’t offer you everything, but for now, right now, I can keep you safe.”
“In your bed?” I snap. “One of your whores?”
“I’ve never slept with a whore. I might have made some questionable choices, but I never saw those women as whores or treated them as such.”
I laugh, and it sounds as hollow as I feel. “No, maybe not, you treated them like dolls. Kept them. Petted them. Dressed them in fine clothes and designer bags, and fucked them like a sex toy, then you simply discarded them when you got bored and moved onto the next model. It’s like with me. You asked me what clothes I wanted, told me to write a list, and instead of getting me what I asked for, you got me sexy lingerie and low-cut swimsuits.”
“You have an amazing body, and it’s a crime to hide it away,” he says.
“I’m not your doll,” I raise my voice, getting angry now. “You don’t get to dress me up the way you see fit. You called me jailbait, sunshine; all these names, they aren’t me. You don’t see me. You don’t know me. I doubt you even want to. You only want to know the surface, what you think I am.”
He stands and paces a few times, not speaking. Then he turns to me.
“I do want to know the real you, and there’s hardly anyone in this world I’ve felt that way about. The trouble is I don’t think you’ll like the real me.” He sighs heavily. “I have a war on many fronts, Cassie, I don’t need one with you. I have to know that in the coming weeks you’re safe.”
“For the next few weeks only, until you win this war?”
He doesn’t answer me.
“Those are my terms, Konstantin. For the next few weeks only. Once you win this war, I’m going home.”
“Fine,” he snaps. “Do you want anything to eat?”
Oh God, the thought. My stomach roils, and I shake my head. “No, I couldn’t eat a thing.”
“You’re in shock; you need a drink.”
“I can hardly start downing vodka in here, can I?”
“No, but I can bring you some sweet tea. It won’t be peach, but the sugar might help.”
“Thank you,” I say sincerely. He’s being sweet, and he’s agreed to my terms, so for now, we can have a truce. He’s right, he can’t fight too many wars at the same time; no one can. And winning this war with the Armenians is what matters. It’s the only way I get my life back, so I will try to cause as little trouble as possible. I won’t be a distraction, so that he can do what needs be. Then, when he’s made it safe, I will finally get my life back.
He leaves to get me a tea. I lie back and close my eyes.
The swish of the curtain has me snapping my eyes open, expecting to see Konstantin coming back to ask if I want anything else, but it’s Andrius.
“May I?” He points to the chair.
“Yes, of course.”
“How do you feel?” he asks.
The question should be how does he feel? His nose is stuffed with gauze or something similar, and