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He was blinking, but it was as if he wasn’t there. Mentally, he’d shut himself off. His body was tense, his stare blank, and it wasn’t him. The Aleksei I knew would’ve thrown such a fit and killed anyone and everyone who even dared to approach him.
The grief had consumed him beyond belief, and it terrified me. I could feel my bones freezing. This was only the calm before the storm, and I didn’t want to stick around and see what the storm would look like.
“Ekaterina,” he called. I turned my head to the side, and he was still staring straight ahead. “She never had a good relationship with her sister so when she met you, she wanted to get as close to you as possible. You’re a hard person to approach, but she wasn’t giving up. All she talked about was how you kept her in check, and how, despite you being so cold towards her, she could feel you cared about her.”
I grimaced. Me? Caring? About her? Absolutely not.
“That’s the reason she begged me to ask you to help her get ready. She saw you as the sister she’d always yearned for.”
I was at a loss for words. Not because I was touched, but because I was unsure what he hoped to gain from this one-sided conversation. What did he expect me to do? Turn back time and bring her back to life?
“What I’m trying to say is, I apologize for what happened the other day.” My eyes went wide in surprise. He ignored the baffled look on my face and continued. “With that being said, stay away from me for a while. His blood runs through my veins, and I might just be worse than him.”
I understood perfectly what he meant.
It was about to get bloody, and he might become the monster that I feared the most. He was considerate enough to warn me in advance, thinking it would cause some buried trauma to resurface. But that was impossible. No one could trigger me aside from my father. As long as he stayed away, I was unbreakable.
Or so I thought.
The Rapscallion was truly a ghost. It took me another four fucking months to force him out of his hiding place.
I couldn’t bring up that name to Dominik or Aleksei. With little to no options, I turned to my twin. He was shocked as to why I’d need to know anything about him, but, with enough pressure, he spilled everything he knew about the unknown man.
And that wasn’t much information.
There was a restaurant that was said to always keep one table reserved for him. Unless you had an appointment with him, the staff wouldn’t let you approach the table, and it was very well hidden within the restaurant. It guaranteed privacy.
I didn’t have a reservation; however, Viktor told me that there was a rumor of The Rapscallion having two different-colored eyes.
I hired ten people and told them to spread the word that Ekaterina Kalashnikova was looking for The Rapscallion. I hoped the words would reach his ears but also avoid my brothers’ ears.
For weeks, I spent hours every day getting myself pretty, going to the restaurant, and enjoying the great whiskey selection. Not once did someone who even resembled his aura appear. It was pissing me off by the time the second week had passed, but I couldn’t give up.
I needed to meet him, even for a minute. Seeing his face would be enough for me to find out everything I needed to know about him. No one could hide their dirty laundry for too long. Secrets are bound to be discovered one way or the other, and my goal was finding out why the fuck he’d had Davorin falsely accused and imprisoned, and who ordered it.
“A glass of Macallan neat, please.”
It was Rachel, the same bartender that served me every time I dropped by. We’d gotten acquainted, much to my displeasure, but I needed someone there. Bribing her wasn’t an option. She was polite, smiling all the time, yet reserved enough for me to get the hint that she had no intention of getting herself involved in anyone’s private affairs.
“What brings you here this late, Kaya?” she questioned, placing the glass on top of a napkin in front of me.
“I don’t know,” I lied with ease. “Let’s just say I’m feeling hopeful about tonight.”
She raised her eyebrows in a teasing manner. “Is this about the mysterious man you’ve been wanting to meet?”
I trailed my index finger over the edge of the glass, humming. “Something like that.”
My gut feeling had never failed me. When I woke up this morning, the Rapscallion was the first person I thought of, and a feeling of dread followed immediately. Something told me we would meet soon, and I wanted to push it forward as much as possible.
“I hope it works out for you.” She slid the second glass towards me once I finished the first one. “This one is on the house.”
“Thank you.”
I didn’t know any of the people here. Given their attire and the way they walked and talked, all of them were wealthy. It took one glance at the menu to understand that not just anyone could afford this place. Meals were extremely expensive and prepared by the best chefs in the world.
There was always a band that played soft music. It was a quiet place, and even chatting seemed to be nothing but whispering. The interior design was gorgeous, the big chandelier made out of crystals so bright that it was blinding to look at it for a long period of time.
I had just started to raise the cup to my lips when I felt my stomach drop. My hands trembled as I placed the glass back down without drinking. An overwhelming sensation sent chills down my body, something inside of my stomach twisting in the worst ways.
