He opened his mouth to defend himself but clearly realised there was nothing he could say that would make this situation better, and closed it again.
I knew I needed to formulate a way to tell Ana this but first, I needed to calm down. I wouldn’t do it over the phone, this was too big. It wasn’t the kind of thing people should hear in a text or a phone call, it was a face to face conversation that needed to be had.
I texted her quickly, before I lost all sense of rational thought and killed my brother.
Are you free tomorrow? — N
Her reply was immediate.
I could be. What did you have in mind? x — A
I smiled at her eagerness to see me. We hadn’t been able to spend any time together at all since she’d been here. I missed being around her more than I could convey in words.
A date. I’ll be parked around the corner tomorrow morning, bright and early. Wear something sunny x — N.
I knew exactly where to take her. Until tomorrow morning I’d have to think of a way to tell her that Cassio wasn’t the only one involved in her kidnapping. I would have to pray that she wouldn’t fly off the handle and hold my father’s actions against me.
Oh, how the tables had turned.
It had been another long day of working with Kaleb. More meetings with important clients and more note-taking. I was exhausted after dinner but I wasn’t sleepy tired. So instead of going straight to sleep I put the telly on in my room. I barely made it through half an episode of Gilmore Girls before I felt my eyes start to droop. I readjusted so that I was laying down, the soft noise from the telly lulling me to sleep.
I woke hours later with a start at the sound of a crash. I’d been dreaming about Nik, cliche as hell but, still, it was a good dream. It helped that the bed was so damn comfortable.
I wondered for a second if I’d been hearing things. I shook myself awake and listened for the noise. Only seconds later there was another crash but this time followed by shouting. What the fuck?
A sense of deja vu reverberated through me. Instinctually, I reached for my phone. I checked the time but it was still early, only eleven o’clock. A text from Nikolai appeared on the screen, a final goodnight from our short conversation earlier. I clicked the number on the screen to call him.
“You okay?” he asked with urgency and in lieu of greeting. I was surprised he was awake, I had half expected it to go to voicemail - that hadn’t drenched the urge to hear his voice though.
The last time I’d heard a noise, it was Nikolai’s house getting shot up. I needed Nik.
“I, uh... there was a crash downstairs. It woke me up.” It freaked me out more than I wanted to admit, so instead I didn’t mention my fear at all.
“It’s okay. It was just Ambrose coming home,” he said.
Of course it was Ambrose. I sighed with unchecked relief. “I’m in my truck outside, I saw him staggering down the street.”
“Okay, I guess I’m going to try and get back to sleep. I just saw you’d texted me, I needed to hear your voice,” I admitted.
“It’s alright, Ana, don’t worry. You try and go back to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bright and early, so you better make sure you get enough sleep. I have a big day planned, remember?” He soothed me. I could hear the smile in his voice, it made me grin.
He was happy to be getting to see me, and so was I. When we’d made this date, I hadn’t realised just how much I had missed him. I knew that he was never too far away but I had missed his physical presence. The sight of him, the feel of his arms, the warmth of his kisses...
I didn’t want to hang up. I could’ve spent forever just listening to him talk, it wouldn’t have even mattered what he was saying. I sighed with longing, “Goodnight, Nikolai.”
“Goodnight, Anastasia.”
After hanging up another disturbance came from the ground floor. Looking up to the bedroom door, I switched my bedside lamp on. It was clear that something was going on and I wouldn’t be getting any sleep soon.
I heard rash footsteps and Rachel yelling up the stairs but her words were lost in Ambrose’s slurred retort. I gritted my teeth, climbing out of the bed and throwing open the bedroom door. A part of me didn’t want to get involved. But a bigger part of me felt responsible for the tension between them.
Peeking into the hallway I saw Ambrose leaning over the bannister. No doubt readying to yell something else at poor Rachel.
“Hey!” I shouted. It startled him enough that he jerked upright. Glaring, he turned to face me. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“You! You little bitch, coming back in here just fucking ruin everything. This all could have been mine if it weren’t for you!” he railed. “I was ready for this! Born for this! I would have taken dad’s place. They’re not your parents, they’re mine!”
Oh wow. He may have been drunk, but he was an immature child. I was surprised he even managed to get served alcohol.
“Ambrose!” A red-faced Rachel was halfway up the stairs, she looked horrified, embarrassed and absolutely fuming. I’d never seen Rachel angry yet and boy, I was glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of that. She was fucking scary.
“How dare you talk to your sister like that! I can’t believe you’d even say such a thing. It’s a blessing that your sister found her way home. After all these years, it was a damn miracle!” She sounded close to tears. I wondered if this was the way it had to be.
