‘You have been following me, haven’t you?’ She slapped four slices of bread on a chopping board on the kitchen side and roughly buttered the slices. ‘Do you want ham?’
When there was no response she turned around. ‘In your sandwich, do you want ham?’
From the doorway Sevastian surveyed her in amusement. ‘Are you angry with me or the bread?’
‘Ham it is.’ Suzy plopped several thick slices between two slices of bread and waved the sandwich at Sevastian.
‘Do I not even deserve a plate?’
‘You deserve a punch in the face for letting me think you were the killer.’
‘You thought I was a killer?’
‘The killer. There’s a difference. You may still be a killer.’
‘I am not.’ Sevastian prised the sandwich from Suzy’s grasp. ‘Hmmm, you dislike the bread as much as you dislike me, I think. I can see your handprint. This is not proper bread.’
‘What you mean is that it’s not Russian bread,’ Suzy snapped.
Sevastian bit into his sandwich. ‘You are right. At home I would not eat this bread, it is like cotton-wool. I like what you call over here Rye bread. But that was not what I meant, what I really meant was it this bread is not thick enough.’
‘My dad liked medium-sliced bread.’ A lump formed in Suzy’s throat. ‘I mean, my adoptive dad. My murdered adoptive dad!’ Fresh tears sprung from her eyes and splattered on the work surface. ‘What a crappy day this has turned out to be…I lost the man I thought of as my father, my mother—I mean my adoptive mother—has abandoned me when we need each other the most, a strange man arrives and tells me he’s my long-lost father, and the woman who I thought was my dead-fiancé’s mum is very much alive and is really my mum…it’s all madness…my whole life has been nothing but a stinky, great lie!’
Sevastian set his sandwich on the board and wrapped his arms around Suzy. ‘It will be okay, Suzanna. You know the truth now, it is for the best.’
Suzy, unable to control herself, wailed into his chest. ‘Why are you being so nice to me when I’ve been a complete cow to you?’
Sevastian squeezed her gently. ‘I’ve always been nice to you. You just refused to see it.’
‘How long have you been following me?’ Suzy’s voice was muffled against the denseness of Sevastian’s woollen sweater.
‘Since the day you took the Vydrina Diamond to the jeweller.’
‘You’re not really a jeweller, are you?’
Sevastian’s laughter rumbled through his chest and into Suzy’s ears. ‘No, it was a fake card. My cover story so I could keep watch on you.’
‘Why didn’t you just tell me who you really were?’ Suzy pulled away from him to study his face.
‘Rodion was not planning to tell you who he was. He wanted to see you, to look upon your face after hearing of Tatyana’s passing. Then things changed.’ Sevastian shrugged. ‘With the murder of your fiancé and then what happened tonight. Because of this he knew he had to tell you. He is your father and he wants to protect you. He thought allowing Tatyana to hide you with the Hartes for these years was for the best but now I think he knows it was not. He wished he had fought for Tatyana, and for you.’
‘Why didn’t he?’
Sevastian leant against the kitchen worktop. ‘Rodion was married when he met Tatyana, as was Tatyana. Koravkovia has been tied up in deep strife for generations. It is only with this generation the city is united. The Marovs and Petrovs split the city apart, the Petrovs being royal and the Marovs not but each wanted to control the city. The Marovs fled many, many years ago,’ he explained. ‘Igor Marov feared for Adelaida’s life and sent her to England. Igor and his followers went underground for four years before he too was forced to leave. Petrov thought he had won but he was forced to leave but this time by a something more formidable than Igor Marov. The revolution.
‘The first descendent from the royal Marov line to return to Koravkovia was Tatyana, under her English name of Tanya Oswald. It was in Koravkovia she had a passionate affair with Rodion before she returned to England and discovered she was carrying his child—you—and the rest you know.’
Suzy frowned. ‘Why didn’t she keep me, why did she give me up? Stephen Prendergast had already made her take on the son he had with his housekeeper. He could hardly have complained about her having an extra-marital affair.’
Sevastian shrugged. ‘It had something to do with Stephen. Tatyana had always been terrified of him. Now, we can see she was right to be afraid. But what he did to her, I do not know. Only your mother Tatyana can tell you that.’
‘Thank you. For telling me what you know. I am sorry for being horrible. I didn’t mean it…there’s something about you which does something stupid to me. I apologise for being rude to you.’ Suzy tiptoed and kissed Sevastian on the cheek.
Sevastian’s eyes followed her lips as she pulled away and Suzy’s heart skipped a beat. Nerves fizzled and boldly, before even realising she wanted to do it, her arms were around his neck and her lips upon his.
Sevastian, surprised yet recovering rapidly, enveloped her in his arms and kissed her back. ‘Your father will not like this,’ he murmured.
‘I didn’t think I would but I am,’ Suzy replied through kisses. ‘You’re a very good kisser.’
‘You sound surprised.’
‘I am but only because when I first met you I wanted to slap you.’
‘What you really mean is that I drive you crazy.’
Suzy laughed.
‘Crazy with passion!’ Sevastian joined in with Suzy’s laughter.
Suzy shook her head, giggling. ‘That’s so corny!’
‘Corny?’ Sevastian raised an eyebrow. ‘I do not know this word.’
Suzy kissed Sevastian again. ‘Forget it. Kiss me again.’
‘Are you always this bossy?’
‘So you know the word bossy but not corny!’
‘Do you always talk this much when you try to seduce a man?’
Suzy pretended to be offended. ‘Who said I am trying to seduce you? A kiss doesn’t mean it’s going to lead anywhere!’
She laughed as Sevastian pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, dropping kisses upon her face.
‘I think it is going to lead to places you had not expected, Suzanna.’
* * *
Chapter Nine
For a split second as she woke up, Suzy wondered whose arm was loosely lying across her bare stomach. With a rush, memories of last night returned and she gazed over at Sevastian’s sleeping form amused at how things had turned out. She had thought she hated this blond haired man but since discovering he was not a threat, her emotions had quickly fallen into place. She did not hate him; she fancied the pants off him. Quite literally it would seem, she grinned remembering how easily his pants and other clothing had come off last night.
‘Good morning, beautiful,’ Sevastian mumbled without opening his eyes.
Suzy wriggled closer and kissed him on the lips, remembering how when Simon was alive he had banned her from kissing him until she’d brushed her teeth in the mornings. She smiled happily as Sevastian’s lips sucked at hers and he rolled on top of her.
‘You really are beautiful and gorgeous.’ He kissed her face before moving down her neck. ‘And irresistible.’ His tongue flicked across her nipple. ‘And delicious.’ Kisses butterflied across her stomach causing Suzy to giggle. ‘And very, very sexy.’
‘And you’re very, very cheeky!’ Suzy laughed delightedly. ‘And quite hard to resist yourself.’
Sevastian rocked back onto his knees, strongly grasping Suzy by the thighs and pulling her to him. ‘And you love it, the passion.’
Suzy arched forwards, wrapping her arms around his neck. ‘I know, that’s why I want to do it again.’ Her tongue darted between his lips. ‘And again.’ She trailed a hand down his taut chest, across his stomach and down to between his thighs. ‘And again. Over and over, until you’re too weak to even leave this bed!’
>
Sevastian’s pale eyes darkened with lust, his voice deepening and accentuating his accent. ‘Oh, Suzanna you are going to make it very hard for me to leave you.’
‘We should leave this bed.’ Sevastian kissed Suzy’s shoulder some time later before slipping from underneath the quilt and shrugging his shirt on. ‘Rodion will want to speak with you.’
Suzy slithered from the bed and wrapped her nakedness around Sevastian. ‘Why don’t we take a shower together first of all?’
Sevastian laughed, peeling his shirt back off. ‘You are crazy with the passion!’
‘You make me feel like that.’ Suzy grasped his hand and led him towards her en-suite bathroom. ‘I don’t know what it is about you. I’ve never felt like this before.’
Sevastian spun her around to face him, grasping her face in his hands. ‘You, Suzanna, make me feel like no woman has ever before. I want you.’
‘Right here?’ Suzy teased. ‘In the doorway? Can’t you wait until we’re in the shower?’
Sevastian shook his head. ‘I do not mean it like that. I want you.’ Covering her hand with his he pressed it to his chest. ‘Here.’
Suzy, inappropriately thinking she had never been as consumed with emotion over Simon, frowned in confusion. ‘I don’t understand. You’ll be returning home to Koravkovia and we’ll barely see each other.’ Voicing the thought hurt her more than she could have imagined.
Sevastian’s square shoulders stooped as he intently studied her face. ‘Be mine, Suzanna.’
‘What? Are you asking what I think you’re asking?’
Sevastian nodded.
‘But we barely know each other!’ Suzy protested. ‘This is ridiculous. This is real life not some fairy tale.’
‘Is it ridiculous how my heart races each time I see you?’ Sevastian asked. ‘Or how I never want to let you go once I have you in my hands? Tell me you do not feel the same way and I will stop.’
Suzy pulled away from him, it was all too much.
Simon had not even had a funeral and here she was, behaving like a shameless strumpet, seduced by a sexy voice and toned body.
‘I need some space.’ She hurried to last nights discarded clothes and yanked them on.
‘Suzanna!’ Sevastian’s voice was pained. ‘I know you feel it too! Your body tells me you do even if your voice cannot.’
What a stupid situation she had got herself into! The man was nuts…impulsive and crazy! She had not even made it down the aisle with a man she had known most of her life, how could she be so serious about someone who had only been in her life for what felt like five minutes? It was an impossible situation!
Suzy slammed her bedroom door and flew down the stairs. Grabbing her coat she shoved her feet into her thick walking boots, snatched up her keys and shot from the house, slamming the door behind.
Air, she needed air.
And space.
Back there, in the house, Sevastian consumed her with his presence.
Even out here, in the cold air, she could smell the lingering scent of the aftershave he wore rising from her skin.
* * *
‘I thought I’d find you here.’ A voice interrupted Suzy’s thoughts.
‘Mum.’ Suzy eased up from the swing seat hanging from the old tree in the grounds of Sycamore Lodge. ‘Do I still call you mum or Arabella?’
Arabella smiled weakly. ‘I suppose, as your biological mother is no longer alive, you can still call me mother if you wish.’ Tears spilled into the darkened hollows which hung beneath her eyes. ‘You will always be my daughter, Suzanna, even if you are not my blood.’
Suzy flung herself into her arms. ‘I do love you,’ she wailed. ‘And Da–Richard too but now he’s gone!’ Her lips wobbled. ‘I could kill Stephen. I wish he had slit his own throat. Living is too good for that monster.’
‘Shush,’ Arabella smoothed Suzy’s hair. ‘You are the child I raised and now you are a lovely young woman. You fill my heart with love. You will always be my daughter.’
Suzy gently eased free to face Arabella. ‘You don’t know, do you?’
‘Know what?’
‘Tatyana is alive.’
Arabella’s knees buckled and she collapsed into the snow, her slim legs disappearing up to thigh level. She clasped her hands over her mouth, the crimson leather of her gloves contrasting starkly with her bloodless face. ‘What?’
Suzy crouched down opposite her, laying steadying hands on Arabella’s shoulders. ‘She’s at mine. Along with my dad.’
Arabella’s eyes grew saucer wide.
‘My biological father,’ Suzy amended.
‘For real?’ Arabella gasped. She allowed Suzy to help her to her feet and take her to the snow covered garden bench.
Suzy brushed the snow from the bench, revealing the familiar green wood beneath and guided Arabella onto it before taking a place beside her. ‘He’s tall, and has this thick whitish hair. He’s from Koravkovia.’
‘Where?’
‘Ii is in Russia somewhere.’ Suzy realised Arabella knew nothing about Tatyana’s heritage and made a mental note to fill her in during the drive back to her house. ‘He’s quite handsome really.’
Arabella smiled softly. ‘He would have to be, he is your father after all and you are a beautiful young woman.’
Suzy rolled her eyes. ‘You have to say that because you’re my mother!’ she replied unthinkingly.
‘But I’m not am I? Now you have your real mum and you don’t need me!’ Arabella began to cry, tears dropping into her lap. ‘I’m all alone without my Richard!’
Suzy reached over and held Arabella’s hands. ‘You are not alone, you have me. You’ve been the only mum I’ve ever known and I won’t abandon you. You’re special to me. I’ll always need you in my life!’
Arabella cried even harder. ‘You’ve always been a strong person. You must get it from Tanya.’
‘You wouldn’t think it,’ Suzy confided. ‘I don’t know what Stephen was doing to her but she looks really ill. I suppose she, considering she’s supposed to be dead.’
‘That bastard!’ Arabella’s anger burned from her eyes. ‘How the hell did he wangle a signed death certificate for Tanya? I saw it!’
‘Maybe it was a forgery.’
‘I suppose but what about the ashes? Whose ashes are those sitting on the mantle in his study? That man makes my blood boil…he always has, even when he was young. I never trusted him, there was something underhand about him.’
Suzy remembered the urn on the mantle. ‘We’d never have been able to tell whose ashes, if any, he kept. We believed him.’ She shrugged. ‘We had no reason not to.’ A thought struck her. ‘Simon died thinking his mother had died but she wasn’t even his mother. His real mother had been close to him ever since he was a child and he never even knew. Stephen has been playing people like pieces in a chess game, and the board is that mansion of his. I can’t believe what he did to Simon, I mean never telling him that Tanya wasn’t his mother…what kind of a sick person does that? Simon had a right to know where he came from!
‘He tried it on with me, I didn’t tell you that, but he did. On the night of his pre-Christmas party. I mean, it made me feel sick! One minute he was angry over the Simon and Nathaniel thing, the next he was all handsy with me…I don’t know what he was thinking.
‘I bet as soon as he found about the Vydrina Diamond he turned on everyone around him to have it within his greedy mitts. I imagine if he knew it was Tatyana’s lover’s, then it made him want it even more. I hope he dies. I hope he did cut deep enough when he pulled that knife across his own neck in my garden!’
The realisation of the immensity of the whole sorry mess engulfed both Suzy and Arabella and for the next few minutes they sat in silence, hands clasped within each other’s.
‘Do you love them already?’ Arabella broke the silence. ‘Your biological parents.’
Suzy chewed on the idea. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as to say love.’ The thought of Sevastian, his
strong limbs entwined with hers, coloured her cheeks.
‘Why are you blushing?’ Arabella’s eyes narrowed.
‘Never mind.’ Suzy hurried Arabella to her feet. ‘Come on, it’s Christmas Eve and after all of what we’ve been through we’re going back to my house and getting drunk on Snowballs and Eggnog.’
‘Like a normal Christmas Eve then?’
Suzy linked her arm through the older woman’s. ‘Exactly.’
‘Can we stop in town and buy some last minute things like we always did with your father?’ Arabella gulped. ‘You know what I mean.’
Suzy patted Arabella’s arm. ‘Of course. For the record Richard will always be my dad. It’s just now I have two sets of parents so I suppose I’m rather spoilt.’
* * *
Suzy and Arabella finally arrived back at Suzy’s house after a hectic hour spent shopping in the town centre. Laden with bags they negotiated their way up the now icy path to the front door.
‘Let me help you!’ The front door swung open before they reached it to reveal Sevastian, his square shoulders encased in a rich sapphire hued sweater and his long legs wrapped in dark jeans.
Suzy shuddered involuntarily as his hand made contact with her, easing the carrier bags from her grasp. ‘You have been busy.’ His lips twitched. ‘You must be Arabella.’ He turned to her and relieved her of her carrier bag burden.
Arabella noticed Suzy’s crimson cheeks and passed her a look. ‘I am but I don’t know who you are.’
Sevastian introduced himself as he followed them inside, kicking the door shut behind them. He carried the bags past them and into the kitchen.
‘Is there something you need to tell me?’ Arabella hissed to Suzy while they took off their coats.
‘I don’t know what you mean.’
Arabella nodded in the direction of the kitchen. ‘There’s something going on between you and that man.’
‘No, there isn’t.’ Suzy turned her head away to conceal her blushes. Her heart ached with the lie.
Unveiling Lies (Eastcove Lies Book 2) Page 10
