Her grandmother smiled sadly. “Your mother needs to pull her weight. I’ve lost two daughters who worked their entire lives. She’s all I have left and I think it’s time for her to do her part, let you live your life where you want.”
Nadia smiled, relieved to have her grandmother’s blessing, and faced Elliot. “She says yes, she’ll do it.”
He sighed with relief and she wondered once again why he’d take such joy in carrying her family’s burden. He faced her grandmother. “It’s a good plan.”
She shrugged, not understanding his English.
Nadia translated and the moment they shook hands, Elliot was off making phone calls and contacting banks. They only had a few hours left and Nadia didn’t like leaving her mother while they were at odds.
“I’m going to find, Momma,” she whispered to her grandmother so as not to disturb Elliot.
Her mother wasn’t in her bedroom or any other room. When she searched the yard she found it empty. She stilled as Roland’s back door opened. Her brow creased as her mother slipped out of his house and bustled to the gate.
“Where were you?” Nadia asked, clearly startling her.
“I went for a walk to calm down.”
She frowned at the blatant lie. “We’re leaving soon.”
Her mother’s gaze drifted to the front door. “Of course.”
“Momma, you have to understand this is for the best. Roland—”
“I’m not discussing this with you anymore,” her mother snapped.
Nadia scoffed. “Why?”
Her mother shook her head, her eyes narrowing. “Do you think I wanted to marry your father, Nadia? I didn’t, but it helped my family and I was an obedient daughter. It’s what good daughters do.”
“Marrying Roland wouldn’t help anything, Momma. When will you get that?”
“But lying beneath a stranger like a whore will?”
Nadia drew back. Hurt, and speechless, she stared at her mother, wondering where such hateful words could come from. Her vision blurred as her blood heated. “Elliot isn’t a stranger. I … love him.”
The words crossed the short distance and seemed to silence even the birds in the valley. Everything stilled as reality settled into her bones. She loved him. It was dangerous and exciting and terrifying all at once.
“I love him, Momma,” she repeated, her tone now protective and certain. The feelings she held for him were so intense she refused to let her mother’s expectations tarnish them with ugliness.
Her mother rolled her eyes. “Two weeks ago you lived with a different man. What sort of woman does that?”
“This is different. I never loved Ian.”
“And yet you shared his bed. All of these lovers, and not a single proposal. You think you’re too good for Roland, but he’s the only one willing to marry you after all of these years. He is secure and familiar. It could be much worse.”
“How could anything be worse than binding my life to someone I don’t love? Do you hear how insane that sounds? I don’t want to be married, and I’m never going to marry Roland.”
“At least he would make an honest woman of you. Men don’t want to settle down with women who have a past. You need to do what’s right now, while you’re still young and beautiful enough for a good man to overlook your mistakes. ”
Her mistakes, that was all her mother ever saw. Pressure built in her chest as bile rose in her throat. When would this argument end?
She didn’t want Elliot to marry her. She just wanted him to accept her. Maybe he’d come to love her too and when he learned about her past mistakes he’d love her enough to not care that she was beneath him. She wanted to be good enough for him, smart enough for him, and kind like him.
“Elliot’s different.”
“But are you, Nadia? Are you any different from any other warm body he could lay with?”
A cold fist cinched around her heart. She wanted to be different to him—special to him—but her mother was right. Elliot could have any woman he wanted and he probably would grow tired of her over time.
“You don’t understand what we have. He looks at me and…” Her throat constricted as her personal doubts and worries had her questioning her own words. Her voice warbled as she forced them out anyway. “He sees me as someone special.”
“And I wonder how special you’d be if you kept your clothes on for him.”
Her spine stiffened as her breath hitched, the urge to slap her mother’s face stole over her, but she remained ramrod still. “We’re leaving. I just came to find you to say goodbye.”
Her mother blew out a huff of air and waved her away. “Go. Run to your American life and don’t come back. We will be fine without you.” Her mother turned and marched into the house, leaving Nadia shaking on the lawn.
“You know this is a mistake.”
Startled, Nadia twisted to find Roland standing by the fence. He’d been listening to all the hurtful, humiliating things her mother had said.
Her blurred vision narrowed on him. “This has nothing to do with you.”
“That man is using you, Nadia. He will lose interest and leave you destitute. Then what? Do you expect me to keep waiting?”
Elliot wasn’t keeping her alive. He was merely cosigning a loan for her, yet everyone else acted as if she were signing her soul to the devil. Perhaps it was a survival tactic from years of dealing with this bully of a man that flipped her insecurities into bolstered outrage.
Shoving aside her doubts, she glared at him and let her hurt find a target. “For the love of God, Roland, move on. I never asked you to wait—” He flung open the gate and grabbed her by both arms, shaking her.
“Liar,” he hissed.
A sharp, startled cry escaped as he took her off guard and shook her again.
“You told me you’d be back.” He jerked her harder, rattling her teeth. She lost her footing as his grip tightened with every scornful word. “I could have had several women in your absence, but I—foolishly—remained loyal to you. You think I’m going to help now? That house could burn to the ground and I wouldn’t waste a drop of piss trying to put the fire out.”
Startled by the vehemence in his eyes, her arms swung forward and she shoved him off of her. “Don’t touch me!”
She staggered back the second he let go. Elliot was right. He was a bully and she’d let him get away with far too much for far too long. “You will never have a right to lay a hand on me. Never!”
He laughed coldly. “What are you going to do to stop me, Nadia?” he sneered, towering over her. “Have your little man come after me? He can’t protect you from a fly.” His arm snaked behind her, grabbing a fistful of her ass and she inadvertently jumped closer to him.
His thick arms banded around her, pulling her feet off the ground as his steamy breath panted across the side of her face. “He just wants to fuck you, Nadia. He’ll never love you. That’s all you’re worth to anyone, just a lousy, hard fuck toy. At least I would have put up with you for longer than a few screws.”
“Get off me!” Tears burned her eyes as she shoved at his arm.
He groaned and chuckled, his body hardening behind her the more she struggled. “Does his little dick satisfy you? I bet you don’t cry that it’s too big with him. Not like you cried with me.”
“Shut up!” She refused to go back to that time, but he was taking her there, filling her mind with those horrid memories. “I hate you!”
“Mmm, keep fighting the inevitable.” He chuckled, his fingers curling in the material of her loose skirt. “You’ve said those words to me before, just before you came all over my fat cock. Maybe I’ll remind you of what a real man feels like—”
She screamed in frustration, going ballistic in his arms and scratching until his grip loosened. “Let! Go!”
“Motherfucker!” The masculine roar came from across the yard and her body was knocked to the ground.
She rolled away from Roland, her hands and knees pushing up on the dry grass
as Elliot’s voice registered. His body blanketing Roland’s as his hands choked the larger man just as Roland’s meaty fist drove into the side of his head, knocking his glasses clean off his face.
“Elliot!” She scrambled to her feet as Roland’s larger body rolled atop Elliot’s, his arm jerking back and his fist slamming down with a gruesome crack.
“Roland, no!”
She threw herself on the larger man only to be tossed off as his fist connected with Elliot’s face, again and again. She cried and screamed for help, but no one came. Elliot blocked his face, but the punches kept coming.
“Get off of him!” she screamed, grabbing ahold of Roland’s hair with both fists.
All of her self-defense training came back to her as she gathered his shirt and twisted it around his throat, cutting off his airway. It only slowed him enough to take his attention off Elliot.
Beefy hands scratched at her arms as she held tight and he toppled to his side. Rolling, she scrambled to her feet. He wasn’t far behind. Coughing, he lifted to his forearm and started to rise to his knees.
“No!” She kicked him in the balls with all her might and he fell back to the ground with the thud of a downed oak.
“Fucking bitch!” He curled into a ball and groaned, cupping himself.
She skittered away, rushing to Elliot’s side where he lay on the crabgrass, his face swollen and bloody, as he breathed rapidly.
Her hands trembled as they cupped his blood smeared face. “Elliot, look at me.”
His breath panted and his eyes opened to slits, one full of red. “Did … he hurt you?”
Her vision blurred. This foolish, bloody man was worried if she was hurt. “What were you thinking?”
He shut his eyes and groaned in pain. “Wasn’t. Just acted.”
Her smile was pained as she sucked in a stuttering breath. “My foolish hero.”
His swollen eyes only opened slightly, his lip split and bloody. She broke into tears.
“Shh.” His hand trembled as he cupped her cheek. “Don’t cry. Not worth it.”
Sniffling, she wiped her eyes and fought back more tears. “Look at you…” His face was so swollen and smeared with blood, she wasn’t sure how he was conscious.
He winced and smiled at her. “I’ve had worse. Let’s go home now, Nadia. I wanna go home,” he slurred.
She nodded quickly, her gaze shooting back to Roland who still held himself and grumbled in pain. Her shoulders quaked as she looked back at Elliot and choked on a sob. “Why did you do that?”
He shut his eyes, resting on the grass, his breathing labored. He tried to smile but only winced. “I’ll always defend you.”
She lowered her face to his, nestling her nose to his cheek. This was not the way she wanted it to go. She wasn’t worth this much trouble and now… Her heart seemed to swell until it painfully occupied her chest. Her voice shook as she leaned close and nestled his cheek with her nose. “You’re hurt because of me. I’m not worth defending, Elliot.”
He shook his head, his eyes reflecting his pain. “You’re worth that and so much more, Nadia.”
Chapter Seventeen
“I grew up watching 'Superman.' As a child, when I first learned to dive into a swimming pool, I wasn't diving, I was flying, like Superman. I used to dream of rescuing a girl I had a crush on from a playground bully.”
~Tom Hiddleston
The flight home was long. Nadia couldn’t fall asleep, but Elliot had no problem drifting off. He looked awful, his bludgeoned face with two black eyes, a gash on his cheek, and a split lip. That was her fault.
Gazing at the tarmac, she waited for the captain’s instructions. Home. They were finally home.
Elliot shifted, drawing her attention. Brushing a hand over his nose, he winced and opened his eyes. “Did we land?”
“About a minute ago.” God, he looked terrible. “I think we should take you to a hospital before we go to your house. You might need stitches after all.”
He’d refused to delay their plans and see a doctor in Hungary, but now they were home and that lip still wasn’t healing.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Your lip—”
“I’ll be fine, Nadia. It’s not my first split lip.” He unbuckled his seatbelt before the light came on. “Did you sleep?”
He always seemed more concerned with her, so she lied. “A little.”
The lights came on and passengers busied themselves with collecting their personal belongings. The next hour was passed exiting the plane and airport and finding a cab. Elliot was silent most of the way.
When they entered the house, he rummaged through drawers until he found an old pair of glasses. “These will have to do.”
She hung back as he washed the lenses and checked his phone. He’d complained several times about how inconvenient it was to not be able to see.
“Tomorrow you can go to one of the one-hour places and get new glasses. I’ll buy them for you since this was my fault.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his darkened eyes narrowing. “I can buy my own glasses. The bank emailed us back.”
“I know you can, but I—”
“You’re not paying for my glasses, Nadia. That’s the end of it.” His tone left no room for argument and she let it go until he squinted through his outdated lenses at his email.
She frowned. “Leave it for tomorrow, Elliot. It’s the middle of the night.”
Not sparing her a glance, he punched something into his phone. “It’s morning there.”
“Elliot...” Her gratitude for all his help remained, but this was silly. He was hurt and they literally just walked through the door after a very long flight. He was neglecting his needs. “Why don’t you come upstairs and I’ll fix a bath for us. Let me wash your face and—”
“I’m not so injured I can’t wash my own face.”
Her spine buckled and her mouth snapped shut. He was taking her concern all wrong. “I just want to take care of you the way you’ve taken care of me.”
“That’s fine, but first I need to handle the situation with the bank in order to get the mortgage transferred to you.”
Her brow tightened. He was hyper-focused on this house situation but there was no rush. Placing her hand on his sleeve, she waited for him to look at her. “You’ve done so much to help me and my family, Elliot. More than I’d ever be comfortable asking of someone. I truly appreciate all your help, but right now I really need you to let me help you. That’s what partnership means, we help each other.”
“I don’t need help. I need to finish what I’ve started. Men like Roland don’t lose quietly and I want to see this through before there are any more complications. He might have me outmatched in a physical altercation, but this is how I win. He can throw the last punch like the Neanderthal he is, but I always get the last word.”
She frowned as he brought the phone to his ear, pulling away from her touch. He stood and walked out of the room, leaving her staring after him. His kind gesture now felt more like a personal vendetta. She wondered how much it actually had to do with her. He seemed more focused on evening the score between him and Roland when all she wanted to do was leave Roland and the memory of him back in Hungary to stay.
Carrying her luggage upstairs, she continued to scowl. What started out as a selfless gesture to help her family had turned into a pissing match between two men. She was rather tired of games.
She went to her room, supposing this was where he expected her to sleep while he wasted the next hour or so in his office. She watched the door, waiting for him to come to her, but he never did.
The following morning, confused and unsure of how she fit into his life at home, she dressed and decided to avoid all confrontations. Elliot’s bedroom door was closed. She crept through his house trying to guess where he hid his umbrellas. His home had so many doors, she’d forgotten which ones were private rooms and which were closets.
Turning the knob to a door on the second floor she p
eeked into the shadows, seeing the space was somewhat narrow and full of shelves. Maybe an umbrella would be in there. She felt for the light switch and stilled as the room illuminated with track lighting. It was much larger than she assumed.
Her gaze traveled along the custom shelving, noting all the various packages and strange items. Toys. It was a room full of unopened toys. Were these things his company made? Were they presents for little children? Maybe a donation he did during the holidays? Regardless, there were no umbrellas on the neatly organized shelves and she suspected this was one of those doors she wasn’t meant to open. Shutting out the light, she closed the door and continued her search.
The day was anything but sunny. Calling a cab, she took it directly into the city and was the first patron at the bank that morning. She smiled politely as the bank clerk waited for his computer to turn on, making small talk, and offering her coffee.
“No, thank you.”
The computer screen lit and he grinned in relief. “So, you want a credit card. That shouldn’t be an issue.”
Elliot said her credit score was low because she hadn’t established any. She wanted to remedy that as soon as possible. This seemed the place to start. “I’ve never had a credit card before. I hope I’m approved.”
The man, again, smiled. “I’m sure we can work something out. Where are you from?”
“Hungary.”
“Beautiful country.”
She perked up. “Have you been there?”
“Uh, no, but I’ve seen pictures. Beautiful people, too.” He winked.
From then on she only answered the pertinent questions regarding her account. By the time she left she had a little plastic card with her name on it and a five hundred dollar credit limit.
Elliot texted her, asking where she was, but she only told him she had to be in the studio early. The last few days had been monumental and eye-opening, emotionally awakening parts of her soul she feared no man would ever find. But in the last twenty-four hours, he’d reduced their beautiful association to a sort of business deal. She didn’t want a financial adviser. She just wanted him.
Untied: A Mastermind Novel Page 18
