by Marian Tee
She collapsed against him in the aftermath of their joined release, her eyes closing as a drugging sense of exhaustion wafted through her.
Her eyelids closed.
Her breathing evened.
“Vassi.” It was her last word before she slept.
Under her, Vassi remained quiet and awake.
His mind told him one thing, his heart told him another.
His hand trembling, he slowly stroked her hair.
Seri.
Tomorrow, he would ask her one last time.
Chapter Seven
His eyelashes were so long.
Seri knew it was such a clichéd thought to have, and she had read and seen the exact same scene playing out in many of the shoujo manga and anime she had read and watched because of her work.
Even so---
Her fingers trembled a bit as she slowly reached for his face, and she bit her lip when she finally felt his soft skin.
Vassi.
He had made love to her the entire night, and oh, Holy Mother of Russia, but she had made love to him right back.
And yet, even so---
It didn’t feel enough.
After knowing how losing him tasted, after living for two long months with the knowledge that he was thousands of miles away, despising her, she didn’t think it would ever feel enough.
Leaving the bed as quietly and carefully as she could, Seri grabbed her phone from the bedside table before padding out of the bedroom. There were a couple of texts from Davey, but it was Max’s reply she read first.
Max: Thanks for informing me. Take care.
Guilt made Seri squeeze her eyes shut, and for a long moment she could only stand there.
Oh, Max.
Her mind told her that she would never hurt the way she was hurting now if she chose to be with the other man.
But her heart didn’t want it.
Her heart, in spite of all the time she had spent trying to purge her feelings, had always and only belonged to one man.
Inhaling shakily, she opened her eyes and forced her limbs to move. As she headed to the kitchen, she checked on Davey’s messages next, with the first two having come in last night.
Davey: Emergency in uni, sorry, I gotta leave.
Davey: Oh, and I forgot to lock the door.
Seri rolled her eyes. Yeah, right. Did Davey really think she would fall for that?
The last message was just this morning.
Davey: Have you seen the news?
She raised a brow at the vague message.
Seri: What news?
Putting her phone down on the counter, Seri checked Davey’s fridge and decided on a quick morning fix of scrambled eggs, sausages, and slices of cheese. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, she thought, and Vassi did always like to start the day with a hearty meal.
As she arranged the food on the tray, she thought about her next steps. First, she would confess the truth about what she had done. And then she would---
Seri swallowed.
And then she would take the risk and ask Vassi if they could get back together – and stay together – if Fyodor ended up not supporting their relationship.
As she squeezed some oranges, her phone buzzed, and Seri tapped on the screen. It was Davey, sending her a link to click.
SERI DEVEREAUX: ONLY GOOD ON PAPER?
Seri Devereaux, daughter of iconic voice actress Marianna Devereaux, is reported to have been causing extreme trouble to the cast of Drawn: His Secret Toy.
According to our sources, the project’s sound director has let the higher powers know of his frustration and threatened to quit if Devereaux continues with her unexpectedly poor performance during rehearsals. The younger Devereaux had recently enjoyed a streak of success with a string of minor projects, and both fans and critics alike had expressed their hopes that the eighteen-year-old would follow in her mother’s footsteps.
If rumors prove to be true, however, then it may seem that Seri Devereaux is only good on paper and all she’s got going for her is her last name. Companies that had been in talks with her management had supposedly retracted their offers, and plans of featuring the once-promising seiyuu on the front covers of Japan’s most popular teen magazines have been retracted.
Is this a case of Seri Devereaux biting off more than she can chew?
Or was she really never good to begin with?
One thing’s for certain: if her stepbrother, Vassi Grachyov, who only co-stars in Drawn, comes to her defense, his Russian gorgeousness won’t do him any good. He’ll only end up tarnished with the same brush.
Arielle answered Seri’s call on the first ring, saying right away, “Do you want the good news or bad news?”
“Good,” she said immediately.
“Okay, let’s start with the bad.” Her manager’s tone took a serious note. “Most of the report you saw on Seiyuu Updates is right.”
Seri paled. “M-most?” There was nothing at all good about the report.
“I was in talks with a gaming company who was hoping to get you to dub for one of its RPGs, and I had kept it under wraps hoping to surprise you once I had ironed out a couple of deals but---”
“It fell through,” she said dully.
Her manager said quietly, “I’m sorry, Seri. I just got off the phone with them half an hour ago. They’re not interested in reconsidering either.”
The old Arielle would have yelled at her for making a mess of things before promptly telling her what she should do to turn things around. This Arielle, however, exhibited no signs of anger or even the slightest inclination to shout at her.
“And the g-good news?”
“You still keep your spot as Aya in Drawn.”
“I see.” She wasn’t sure at all that was a good thing, if the part about the sound director threatening to quit proved true, too.
“I won’t lie. I asked some questions, and it does seem Marshall made some pretty harsh comments about your performance yesterday.” Arielle paused. “What did happen yesterday, Seri?”
Seeing no point in lying, she said tonelessly, “Heartbreak, sensei. It got the better of me.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t understand why this is happening.” She had one bad day. Just one bad day – and now everything was falling apart.
“Can you think of any person who could be out to get you and pay for this kind of write-up?”
She thought about Fyodor.
“No.”
Arielle’s tone turned brisk. “If that’s the case, then it’s just plain bad luck. But we can and will weather this storm – as long as you don’t shit all over the place next week when rehearsals resume.”
“I promise.”
* * *
Vassi was alone when he woke up, and rolling to his back, he stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling of Davey’s bedroom and thought about what he should do.
Last night…had been more than everything he had dreamt of. When Seri had left him for Rockford, he had lived his life with a gnawing sense of emptiness, like the part that made him feel had gone missing.
Even just seeing her had made him feel more alive than he had been in the past two months. Nothing, however, could compare to having her back in his arms.
The way she kissed him---
The way she arched her body against him---
The way she cried out his name---
Maybe it wasn’t love. Maybe it was just an unhealthy obsession. An addiction. Right now, only one thing was clear.
She couldn’t have responded to him the way she had last night if she hadn’t felt something for him.
And for that, he was willing to take a risk.
Dressing himself, he stepped out of the bedroom and found Seri seated alone in the kitchen with her back to him. When Vassi spied the tray of food on the table, his lips curved in a smile. “Should I go back so you can still serve me breakfast in bed?”
Jerking at the sound of Vassi’s voice, Seri hastily wiped the tears from her face.<
br />
Vassi frowned when Seri turned towards him. “You’ve been crying,” he said grimly. Crouching in front of her, he asked simply, “Why?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Seri.” He tipped her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet his. “I can only help you if you tell me---”
“But that’s the thing, Vassi.” Seri’s lips curved in a smile that cost her everything. “I d-don’t need your help. I have Rockford, remember?”
Vassi’s voice was ominously soft as he asked, “What the fuck are you saying?”
The words almost made her flinch, but it was the way the light went out of his silver eyes that threatened her control.
I’m sorry, Vassi.
I love you, Vassi.
Hanging on to her smile, she managed to say lightly, “Did you think last night would change things?” She watched him slowly rise to his feet, and she forced herself to look up.
“Are you saying last night meant nothing?”
“It was great. It’s always great, but it doesn’t change a t-thing. I’m with Max---”
“Don’t say that.” When Vassi suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her up, she tried wrenching out of his hold, but it only made his fingers tighten. “Why are you doing this?” he demanded tautly. “You couldn’t be with Max and respond to me the way you did last night---”
She forced herself to shake her head. “Y-you misunderstand.”
He stilled.
“I’m not saying you’re wrong,” she whispered. “I’m saying you’re right. Last night couldn’t have happened – it couldn’t have been the way it was if you didn’t meant anything to me. And you do. That’s one of the things I realized when I was in Tokyo, Vassi. You will always mean something to me. But it doesn’t change a thing.”
“What,” he bit out, “doesn’t change?”
“The fact that I’m with Max.” And when his fingers loosened its grip, she knew she had finally made her point clear.
I love you, Vassi.
“I can’t be yours alone, Max. You m-might not have heard it, but my c-career’s suddenly going downhill. I need Max more than ever---”
“Whatever he can afford, you know I can fucking afford---”
“Can you really? Can you?” He might have loved her, but they both knew he loved and needed their family – no, his family – more. “C-can you afford losing Fyodor Grachyov’s love for me?”
And with those words, Seri expected it to be all over.
But it wasn’t.
“If I say I can?” Vassi’s silver eyes stared straight at hers.
Oh God.
“What will you do if I say I can?”
She dug her nails into her palm.
I love you, Vassi.
She said simply, “Then I’ll say thanks but no thanks.”
His face turned ashen, and she fought the urge to cry.
I love you, Vassi.
“I’m not willing to take the risk, Vassi.”
I love you, Vassi.
“I can’t. I don’t want to be poor again.” She stepped forward, reaching out to him, saying, “So can’t you just share me---”
He gripped her hand---
She froze.
---and flung it away.
“Thanks---” Vassi smiled tightly. “But no thanks.”
Ah.
Seri watched him walk away.
I love you, Vassi.
And because she loved him, she had to be the kind of girl he would never ever care to defend.
Chapter Eight
Vassi was about to step inside the elevator when he heard a familiar voice call out, “Wait up, Grachyov.” Continuing inside, he automatically pressed the hold button, and a second later Daniela appeared beside him, looking out of breath.
“Thanks.” She flashed him a grateful smile as the doors closed on them.
He eyed her curiously, taking note of her strangely unkempt appearance. Her shirt looked like she had slept in it for a week, and her face was unusually free of makeup. “Hangover.”
Her smile became brittle. “You can say that.” She combed her hair with one hand, and that was when he saw it.
He took hold of her wrist and, ignoring her cry of protest, he turned it around, palm out, and his gaze narrowed when his suspicions were proven true. There were bruises around her wrist, the kind that only someone cruelly manhandled could get.
“Who did this, D?”
She snatched her hand away. “None of your business.”
“Surely you can’t be that stupid,” he said sharply, “ to think being treated this way is---”
Daniela snapped, “As stupid as falling for one’s stepsister, you think?”
Vassi’s lips tightened.
Daniela’s face suddenly crumpled. “I’m sorry.” Furiously wiping her eyes, she said unevenly, “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to take my anger out on you.”
“You’re forgiven,” he said easily, “but say something like that again and I will sue you for defamation of character and slander.” He paused. “Among other things.”
“I got it the first time, okay? It won’t happen again.”
He didn’t answer.
Daniela exhaled. “Again, I’m sorry. I’ve had a really bad time, and yes, I know it’s no excuse, but that’s what it is.” Looking down on her bruised wrist, she muttered, “It’s my boyfriend who did this.”
“The rocker?” With the other guy being famous and his fangirls preferring him single, his relationship with Daniela had been kept under wraps from the start. The only reason he knew about it was because Daniela had entrusted him with her secret.
Daniela gave him a small nod. “He promised me that he’d stay clean, but last night I caught him snorting whatever the newest thing is. I told him I’m leaving, and that’s when this happened. I managed to get away, but he’s been harassing me ever since, texting and calling.” She showed him her phone.
Taking it, Vassi scrolled through her messages and shook his head at the threats the rocker had been sending to Daniela. As the elevator’s doors opened to their floor, he gave Daniela her phone back, saying quietly, “You should sue him for this.”
As they walked side by side, she muttered, “I know I should. But I won’t.”
He glanced at her in exasperation. “Because you love him?”
“Yes.” He saw her unconsciously rub her bruised wrist as she spoke, almost as if she was trying to convince herself the damage wasn’t that bad.
Daniela entered the recording studio first, and following her inside, the first thing he saw was, of course, Seri. Even after everything, the way he sensed her presence first and before everything else hadn’t changed, and for one moment he allowed himself the bittersweet pleasure of gazing at her.
It had been almost a week since he had left her at Davey’s place, and a part of him had foolishly hoped that by the time they met again, he would see her with eyes that were no longer blinded by the past.
But it wasn’t to be.
She was still the most beautiful girl in his eyes, and he despised her as much as he still---
Vassi deliberately cut the thought off.
Move on, Grachyov.
No matter how much he wished, Seri was not the kind of girl he thought she was.
As he and Daniela headed to their positions, the other actors started grinning and elbowing each other.
“Did you two come to work together?”
Daniela blinked. “What?” Then, as if realizing what their colleagues were hinting at, she gasped, “No.” When everyone kept grinning, she rolled her eyes, saying, “Oh, please. Grachyov’s not my type.”
“Oh, please, back,” Malinda, the actress voicing the main female protagonist, scoffed. “Vassi Grachyov is every girl’s type.” She then added, “I’m a lesbian, and even I know that,” which caused everyone to laugh.
As Vassi took his place beside Seri, he told Daniela solemnly, “Why don’t you just admit it? You’ve got the h
ots for me.”
“Pleeeease.” Tiptoeing to catch Seri’s eye over Vassi’s shoulder, Daniela pleaded, “Tell me you’re siding with me on this.”
Vassi heard Seri say sweetly, “I can’t. He’s my favorite brother, after all.” And then Seri was peering at him, asking, “Right?”
They stared at each other.
Seri struggled not to lose her smile. Seeing Vassi and Daniela arrive together was like a slap to the face, and even now, the pain lingered inside her, making it hard to breathe and think beyond the words she was doing her best not to cry out.
Words like---
Is it so easy to forget me? To see someone else? Did you really love me?
In front of her, Vassi’s lips curved in a smile. “Thank you for the vote of loyalty, leech – even if we both know your type of guy is someone more like Maximilian Rockford.”
It was another slap in the face, but this one was completely unexpected.
She searched his gaze for anger or bitterness – anything that would let her know saying the other man’s name had hurt him the slightest bit.
But there was none.
She wrenched her gaze away from him as her body started to tremble hard. Taking her script out, Seri began flipping through it, pretending she was looking for something even though all she really wanted was for anyone not to know that she was breaking into a thousand pieces inside.
If it had been the other way around, she knew – she knew she wouldn’t have been able to so easily say Daniela’s name in connection to him.
Because she loved him, and she would always love him.
But Vassi---
She flipped the pages faster, trying to distract herself from the urge to cry.
Was it different for him because he was better at hiding his pain – or was it different because he hadn’t actually loved her at all?
“Morning, everyone.” Marshall’s voice boomed through the speakers. “Just a quick reminder – today’s our last day of rehearsal, we’ll have the press conference tomorrow, and then when we meet again, that’s when work officially starts.” As everyone cheered and clapped, Marshall finished, “That’s all, and break a leg.”
