You Don't Own Me: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (The Russian Don Book 2) (18 page)

August

Zane

I
’m just reminding you, little fish, that Andre Rieu’s concert is only a month away. I’ll be playing at the Royal Albert Hall in front of hundreds of people but the performance will be just for you. There is a box seat waiting for you. Will you please try to come and watch me play, Dahlia? After all, this is your dream …

Olga

‘At midnight I saw the sun shining as if it were noon.’

                                                             -Apuleius, The Golden Ass

I
bend down and stroke her hair. ‘It’s time to wake up,’ I tell her, as I have done every single day since she came back from hospital. ‘Come on. You can do it.’

All these months I got no reaction, and yet today something is different. I can feel it. I touch her cheek. ‘Wake up, brave American eagle and catch your snake,’ I whisper fiercely.

Then I straighten and watch her.

There.

A twitch.

Her face twitches.

I clasp my hands together and start praying. I should go call the nurse, but I don’t. Instead I will her to wake up.

‘Wake up. Wake up. Today is a very important day. You must wake up. Come on. Zane needs you today. You must wake up, brave eagle.’

I wait.

Then.

Her finger … moves.

I stop breathing. Oh God, please let her wake up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQHsXMglC9A

Dahlia Fury

I
n the beginning I heard indistinct voices, but I could never tell if I was dreaming or not. They seemed to be very close to my ear. I dropped in and out of consciousness effortlessly and without any control. I had strange dreams. Often there were balls of fire. I thought I was a child again walking in a meadow.

Sometimes I’d feel my body being moved around on the bed.

Slowly, I heard the voices of all the people I loved. I understood everything they were saying and I wanted to reach out, oh how much I wanted to talk to them, but I was like a tree, voiceless, unable to move my limbs on my own.

I know that the big concert is today.

Zane will be playing the piano at an Andre Rieu concert. I am so proud of him. No matter what, I cannot miss this performance. I pull my eyebrows upwards with all my might and manage to half-open my eyes. The light is like knives, entering my eyes and piercing my brain. It blinds me and I snap my eyes shut. I feel a rush of movement, then I hear the curtains being drawn closed I struggle again and open my eyes, this time fully. In the dimness of the room I slowly make out a blurry figure. The figure comes closer to me.

‘Oh, my darling, darling girl, you’re awake!’ the person says excitedly.

Olga. That’s Olga’s voice.

‘This is amazing. You woke up today. I knew you would. Zane is playing the piano at a concert tonight. He is already at the concert hall. I’m going to go and call him. He’ll be so happy. This is a miracle.’

I dart my eyes to the side and back to her, and she frowns. ‘You don’t want me to call Zane?’

I move my eyebrows and blink.

For a while she stares at me, then realization dawns. ‘You want to go to the concert. You want to surprise him.’

Tears fill my eyes and run down the sides of my face. I move my eyebrows and blink again.

She starts crying. ‘You have really learned to fly, haven’t you,’ she chokes out. ‘OK, I’ll call Noah and Stella. They’ll know what to do. Stella will make you pretty, and Noah will sort out how to transport you there. Don’t worry, between us we’ll get you there.’

I wriggle my eyebrows. There seems to be more movement and it was so much easier to perform. At that point I feel myself slipping into sleep again, but I know they will wake me up in time for the concert.

When I wake up again it is because Stella is screaming in my ear. I open my eyes without difficulty, and the room is pleasantly dim. I open my mouth and one word struggles out.

‘Kebab.’ It sounds high-pitched and strange to me.

‘Oh, you big idiot, you,’ she says, and hoots with laughter. She grabs my face in both her hands and kisses me on the mouth.

‘I love you, Dahlia. I love you,’ she sings.

I smile up at her.

‘I’ve called Molly,’ she says, ‘and she’s bringing a dress for you. Two sizes smaller. I’m afraid you’ve become one of them skinny bitches,’ she says cheerfully.

‘I … don’ … t … want … t … o …  wear … a … dia … per,’ I say.

‘I agree. It’s not a good look.’ She grins.

Olga brings pillows and puts them behind me so I am propped up. Slowly, bit by bit, the words start forming and exit from my stiff, out of practice, throat. Stella calls my mom and Daisy and both of them sob with happiness. Daisy declares it a miracle, but I know it is something else. Love. Zane’s deep love reached out and touched me while I was in that still white world. I was always waiting for him. Always.

After the call I watch in a daze as Stella gives me a manicure and a pedicure. My nails are painted pearl pink.

‘Mark,’ I say.

And her eyes light up. ‘Oh, Dahlia. I think I’m in love with him.’

I beam with happiness. ‘Really?’

‘Yes, really. He’s wonderful,’ she gushes.

‘Happy. So. Very happy for you,’ I say. 

At that moment Molly arrives with the dress.

‘I’ll tell you everything tomorrow,’ Stella promises.

‘OK.’

The dress is unveiled and it is beautiful: velvet, halter neck, deep green, and long. Both girls help me dress, then Noah comes and gently, as if I am the most precious thing on earth, lifts me off the bed and puts me into the wheelchair that Zane apparently ordered nearly a year ago.

I look up at them all, full of love and gratitude.

‘I love you all,’ I whisper. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZXxI2kQwns&nohtml

From my box I watch the musicians come on the stage and take their places. My heart beats frantically as I wait for the pianist to arrive. Finally, he comes into the spotlight. Oh! Wow! How beautiful he looks in his white tie formal orchestra dress code: long black tailcoat, white wing-collared shirt and bowtie.

That there is my man
.

I tremble with love for him. He turns towards the crowd and bows stiffly. The audience claps.

Then, as if against his will, his eyes stray towards my box. He does a double take when our eyes touch. Suddenly the rest of the audience falls away. We stare at each other. He shakes his head as if he can’t believe his eyes.

I smile at him.

His mouth drops open as his hands rise up in a gesture of incredulity. His eyes move to my left and fall on Noah. Only then does he believe his eyes. A fellow musician touches his arm, and he glances around at the man. He says something to him then immediately turns back to me, as if he is afraid that I am only an apparition. His face full of joy and love, he takes a step as if to come to me, but I shake my head slightly. It stops him.

‘Play for me, Aleksandr Malenkov,’ I mouth and smile at him.

He nods slowly before going to take his position at the gleaming piano. From there he gazes at me until Andre Rieu comes on stage and he is given a standing ovation.

To my shock he starts telling the audience about me!

About a woman who secretly found her boyfriend’s music notes and took them to a fellow musician. He made it funny by adding in the bit about the masseuse connection.

‘It’s a tale of great love. This brave woman while trying to save him fell into a coma that lasted a year. The doctors thought she might not make it, but against all odds she is here today. Please welcome Dahlia Fury.’

He raises his right hand and waves it towards me. Every eye in that place settles on me curiously as they clap.

Heat flames up my neck and face. How on earth could Andre Rieu know I’d be here? In my confusion and embarrassment I look to Zane. He smiles at me as if his heart would burst with pride. I turn my head to look at Noah, and suddenly I know.
Oh, Noah. Silent, strong and loyal to the bone. You told Andre Rieu
.

‘Now … for the first time ever … in his debut performance, ladies and gentlemen: Aleksandr Malenkov.’

The entire audience erupts into applause.

Zane’s composition is beautiful beyond words, but so familiar to me it is as if I have heard it a thousand times. Even though I fight the cloak of sleep with all my might, I slip back into unconsciousness halfway through. I have no awareness of how I get home.

I come back again to the blurred sight of Zane sitting beside me in our bed.

‘You’re awake,’ he says, and it feels like no time has passed. Was it not yesterday I took his notes to Eliot’s apartment? The rest is fuzzy. I was running. Fast. Nearly falling. There was an explosion. A ball of fire. I flew. Then blackness. I frown trying to remember.

‘What is it?’ he asks.

‘Someone was trying to kill you,’ I whisper.

He nods.

‘Who was it?’

‘It doesn’t matter now. It is all in the past. The only true regret I have is what happened to you. Especially since I know it was because of me.’

‘No, it does. I need to know. Who was it?’

He sighs. ‘It was Lenny.’

‘Oh my God. I knew I never trusted him. What if he tries it again?’ I ask worriedly.

He looks at me, a hard light entering his eyes. ‘He can never hurt you or anyone again. I’ve walked away from it all. You’re all I need now. Thanks to your ingenuity and bravery, I am a musician now.’

‘You were wonderful tonight,’ I whisper. ‘Like I always knew you would be.’

He shakes his head. ‘No, you were wonderful.’

‘I’m sorry I fell asleep halfway through.’

‘Oh, baby. I love you.’

‘I know you do,’ I say with a smile.

He touches my face wonderingly. ‘You do?’

I smile. ‘Yeah. I heard you telling me while I was asleep.’

‘Good. Did you hear the bit about how worthless life was without you and how much I missed you?’

‘Maybe, but tell me again.’

‘I want to show you how much, but I’m almost afraid to touch you.’

‘Why?’

‘What if you fall asleep halfway through? I might never recover from the hurt.’

I laugh gently. ‘Oh, Zane. I am so lucky.’

He sighs.

‘So are we going to have sex or not?’

‘We’re going to make love, endlessly. I’m going to rediscover and reclaim every inch of your body again, but not tonight. Let’s get the doctor to look at you tomorrow first.’

‘But what will we do tonight? I don’t think I want to sleep.’

He grins, boyish, beautiful, and irresistible. ‘I have so many things to show you and tell you. You missed a whole year.’

‘What did I miss?’

He takes his phone out of his pocket. ‘To start with, one night while you were sleeping, a vixen and her cubs came to visit. Let me show you.’

I watch him scrolling through the videos he has made for me and I know. It’s going to be all right.