The Master (33 page)

“Dmitri found her body at the foot of the stairs.”

“That’s what’s been haunting him?”

“I wish that were all. It gets worse. Are you sure you want to hear?”

“I’m sure. Please.”

His chest rose and fell on a breath. “Two winters later, my father would’ve killed Aleksandr as well, but my brother defended himself, accidentally ending the old bastard. Certain
he’d be sent to prison in Siberia, Aleksandr ran off into the night, leaving Dmitri and myself behind. We were eleven and seven, and believed he’d abandoned us. Only recently I learned
that he thought we would be taken in by distant relatives, a thousand times better off.”

“What happened instead?”

“Orloff, a middle-aged ‘guardian’ from the nearest town, was appointed. The way he looked at Dmitri gave me chills, but I didn’t know why. I had no idea there were adults
who preyed on children like that.”

Oh, no, no.

“I didn’t like how much time they spent alone. Dmitri never complained, told me Orloff was a good man. And Orloff
was
different from my father. The man didn’t drink,
never struck us, never even raised his voice. He never spoke inappropriately.”

Just like Edward. Sometimes monsters pretended to be gentlemen.

“There was no reason to doubt his decency, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. So I went to Orloff and asked him why he was so focused on Dmitri.” Máxim hesitated. . .
.

“What did the man say? Please.”

“He told me that he only wanted to be a father to the boy, that Dmitri needed to lean on him to recover from the recent loss of both his father and his eldest brother. He wondered aloud,
‘Why would you not want Dmitri to be happy? Are you that jealous?’ The man lied so believably. I can’t express how skillful he was. He made me doubt myself. I walked away,
convinced I was petty and selfish.”

Gaslighting. No wonder Máxim didn’t trust.

“Over the years, Orloff slowly replaced all the servants, those who might help us, those who’d also raised their brows. By the time I was thirteen, we were without friends, trapped
in our secluded home.”

Sometimes,
friendless
was another way of saying
defenseless
. “Go on, please.”

“Orloff continued to spin his tales. And again, Dmitri was his staunchest advocate. I later learned that he’d told Dmitri he’d kill me—the last of his family still with
him—if anyone found out.”

“How did you discover Orloff’s lies?”

“On Christmas Eve, I sneaked into Dmitri’s room to assemble a train set I’d ordered for him. He wasn’t there. I found him in Orloff’s bed, with this chillingly
blank look on his face. The man had made my brother spend the night with him, because even a sick fiend believed he should be close to his victim—over the fucking holidays.”

That was why Dmitri had been blowing up the phone that particular day. And why Máxim hated the holiday.

“I attacked Orloff, but he was so much bigger than I was. When I regained consciousness, I was locked in the basement, my back flayed.”

His back. His scars. He’d carried them since he was a boy.

Máxim gazed past me. “Orloff wanted to break me, to silence me. The position was heaven for him—living in a mansion with so many luxuries—and Dmitri there for his . . .
use. The man would’ve done anything to remain. So he kept me down there. I didn’t see the sun for . . . some time.”

“Wh-what? How long?”

“Half a year.”

My lips moved wordlessly. This nightmare only grew more twisted.

Eyes gone distant, Máxim said, “He provided me little food or water, keeping me without light of any kind. When I wouldn’t break, he revealed his buried rage, whipping me till
his arm tired, reopening all my wounds. In that dark place, filth and blood caked my skin.” He shuddered. “It burned, itched, tormenting me. I was starved for sunlight. The longer I
went without it, the worse the affliction grew, spreading over my body. It got so severe, I would dream about not having skin at all.”

My eyes watered as I imagined his pain. So many things made sense now. His words:
Thirty-one years of misery is lifted.
Abused by his father first, then by Orloff. For decades later,
Máxim had been haunted by those memories.

“I sickened in that dank, freezing basement, and knew I’d die down there. So I attempted to behave as if he’d broken me, but I couldn’t deceive as well as Orloff.
I’d been sentenced to death at thirteen. As each day passed, my execution neared.”

I barely kept my tears in check. “That’s why you asked me those questions about my memories.”

He nodded. He’d wondered what I’d been doing—while he’d been dying.

That was why he hated winter. That was why he always wanted the windows and doors opened.

And this man called me . . .
his sun
?

“Worse than anything was knowing that Orloff still abused my little brother. Everyone was gone. Protecting Dmitri was
my
responsibility. And I’d failed.”

“There was nothing you could do. You were a boy.”

“Aleksandr said the same, though I believe he could’ve come up with some way to escape and save his brother. In fact, it was Dmitri who saved
me
. The night of a bitter freeze,
he woke from his haze long enough to comprehend I was about to die. He knocked the man out with a shovel. My brother knelt beside me, crying . . . as I strangled Orloff. I killed him before he
could ever wake.”

Máxim had been forced to do that? As a boy? My heart broke for him and Dmitri.

He gauged my expression. “My family is surrounded by death and destruction. Aleksandr killed young. As did I. Only I did it with my bare hands when the man wasn’t able to defend
himself. I crept out of that basement, some dark warped thing, desperate to kill. How can you not view me differently?”

“I do view you differently. I’m staggered by how brave you were to protect yourself and Dmitri from a monster.” I wish I were so brave! I clutched Máxim’s
shoulders. “I can’t feel more fiercely about this. I
hate
that the weight of this fell on you. But have you thought about the children you spared in that man’s future? Or
the ones you avenged from his past? And since Orloff was ready to let you die, why should we not believe he’d murdered before?”

My reaction took Máxim aback, but I needed to make him understand. “Sometimes people aren’t courageous enough to do what is necessary—adults aren’t.” In my
position, Máxim would’ve met Edward head on, fighting. “All they can do is dream about being brave. You did what had to be done when you were just a boy. So yes, I see you
differently!”

“I didn’t expect you to be so . . . vehement.” Máxim’s gaze flicked over my face, then slid to his right shoulder.

I was squeezing him? Self-conscious, I dropped my hands and cleared my throat. “What did you do afterward?”

He frowned at my reaction, but continued, “Dmitri didn’t want anyone to know what Orloff had done to him, so I got rid of the body in the woods. He was never found. We said he got
drunk, went out before a storm, and didn’t return. No one particularly cared. Years later, I learned he’d been suspected of abusing girls and boys from his own town. Afterward, an
elderly woman arrived as guardian. She didn’t hurt us, nor did she help us.”

“How is Dmitri now?”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “He was
displeased
to hear of my relationship with you.”

Máxim had said he wasn’t ready for his brothers to learn of me. “And I pretty much announced myself.”

“He would have heard by the time of this wedding.”

“So some of the angry phone calls have been about me?”

“It can’t be helped.” He exhaled. “Dmitri could not be more damaged. Every move he makes to get better seems to entrap him more deeply in the past.”

“Does he have anyone in his life? A partner? Friends?”

“He’s incapable of a relationship. We were alike in that, commiserating over it. While I had my script, he’d developed what he calls
protocols
. They are more
far-reaching, even . . . absolute.” He opened his mouth to say more, then paused. “You will meet him. I don’t want to color your perception any more.”

What more could there be? But I said, “I understand.”

“He blames Aleksandr for abandoning us. As eldest, Aleksandr had been a father to Dmitri. Then he was gone.”

“Is that why you said you resented him?”

“I used to hate him, imagining his carefree life under the protection of a good man like Kovalev. Yet I learned recently that Aleksandr lived on the streets before Kovalev adopted him.
Among so many homeless children, he was an outsider. He’d been raised with privilege—abused, yes, but wealthy—and he talked little by nature. Being alone meant he also had . . .
trials, was in no way freed when he left us. In fact, he used to believe he’d been singled out for torment. After finding Natalie, he believes he was tested so he would become strong enough
to protect her—that the purpose of his life was always to safeguard hers and ensure her happiness. What do you think of that?”

I softly asked, “How do we know that isn’t true? If you believe everything happens for a reason . . .”

He seemed to mull this over. “For decades, I could see no reason for my own trials as a boy. Insomnia plagued me. My appetite was deadened; I could take or leave food, deriving no
enjoyment from it. My hypersensitive skin made touch unbearable. For years, I had to grit my teeth just to wear a shirt. Even when I improved physically, my mind wasn’t ready to let go. If
anyone got close to touching my skin, I’d feel as if my chest was caving in.”

Just like mine did when I practiced revealing my past. “But things are different with you now. You have a sweet tooth. You sleep soundly.” I whispered, “I touch you.”

“I told Aleks of these developments, seeking his opinion.”

How odd to hear a man as self-reliant as Máxim getting another’s take. But then, Aleks was his big brother, newly reunited with him. “What did he say?”

“He believes a man knows his woman because he begins to evolve for her, to become what she needs. You told me if the incentive was strong enough, some men could change. Aleksandr wanted
Natalie more than he wanted his old ways, so he cast them aside. Isn’t that what you believe?”

“Yes.”

“I sensed something was different about you
before
we touched,
solnyshko
. When you grinned over your wineglass and told me the view from the Seltane penthouse was
‘adequate,’ I got a chill—because I had the impulse to grin. I responded to you as I never have to another, and it unnerved me.” Máxim grazed his fingers along my
cheekbone. “All those years ago, when I was down in that basement, I wish I had known that on the other side of the world, there was a bold little girl fighting for her pride. And that she
would come into my life one day to make it brighter.”

With a press of my lips to his forehead, I said, “Now I know that in the snowy north of Siberia, a boy was becoming a man under the harshest possible conditions.” How could
Máxim have grown so confident? So at ease with power? So remarkable in every way?

He said, “You told me it happened, it hurt, and better things await me. Do they? Am I becoming what you need, Katya?”

I drew a shaky breath. “Maybe you can move on now that you’re different? Maybe you want to move on?”

He was silent for long moments, seeming to make a decision. Finally he asked, “Was this too much for you to hear?”

“No. But I hurt with you.” For the scared boy he’d been. For the man dealing with his brother’s anguish. And his own.

“I do feel . . . better. Lighter. Aleks was right. It’s a burden lifted. I would’ve had to tell you eventually, so I’m relieved it’s done.”

Because he was that certain we’d be together? My heart clamored. I wanted this man so much! He
was
the yearning.

“If I’d known you’d react this way, I wouldn’t have dreaded the telling so much.”

“Thank you for trusting me.”

“And you’ll give me yours in return. So we can move forward.”

Dios mío.
I swallowed with nervousness. How could I not trust him?

I might have told Máxim even now—or tried to utter the words—but the look in his eyes said he needed something completely different from me. He wanted to lose himself inside
me. To know pleasure and bury pain. I wanted to give him whatever he needed.

As he took me in his arms, I decided that once we got back to Miami, I was going to trust him too.

My heart skipped a beat when I realized,
I’ll have to tell him eventually
.

After the wedding, I’d tell him everything.

W
hen I kissed Máxim good-bye that afternoon, he blinked open his eyes.

After making love twice, he and I had ordered room service, then fallen asleep again. I’d gotten up and dressed before he’d awakened.

Jess and Natalie had told me to join them at three to get my makeup and hair done with the bridal party, but even after last night, I hadn’t wanted to impose. Now that it was closing in on
five, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to show and see if Jess could use some last minute help.