by D. A. Young
It was he who answered. “They weren’t ever really a couple. Just hangin’ out. Hey, Autumn.”
“What’s good, F.J. aka, Thor, aka He-Man?”
Kat shrugged when Holt raised eyebrows at her. “I recommend her in small doses. You’ve now been sufficiently warned.”
“That was a small dose?”
“Sadly, yes. We’ll work out a safe word later,” she reassured him, handing him his latte and deliberately ignoring Autumn, who was grinning at them like a loon.
“You sure about that, Holt?” Tuck’s brow was furrowed.
“We’re positive, Tuck,” Kat chimed in. “He’s involved with someone else. If Pearl said something giving you a different impression, I wouldn’t read too much into it. It’s most likely the residual effects of the breakup. She was a little hammered last night and a lot pissed at men in general, Guy specifically.”
Tuck and Holt shared a lengthy look that piqued Kat’s curiosity. “What was that?”
“Nothin’. How’s work?”
“It’s fine. Quit being evasive. What was that, Tucker?”
“Nothin’, brat! Quit bein’ so damn paranoid.”
“You little weasel! You think I don’t know who I’m dealing with?! Stop babying me and answer the question!”
“Woman, do you know I have a gray hair section strictly reserved for you?! Are we really splittin’ hairs because you’ve got an overactive imagination?”
“Are they always like this?” Holt asked Autumn. Kat and Tuck were now in each other’s faces bickering. It was like putting two beta fish in the same tank.
“This is just a warm-up. The main event is better than any pay-per-view fight I’ve ever seen. We’ve all known each other for so long that this is second nature to them. Enter their octagon at your own peril,” she advised with great relish. “Kat, don’t forget to talk about the ‘90s boy band haircut he had five years ago!”
“Autumn, whose side are you on?!”
“Yours, honey!”
“Alright! That’s it! Back to your separate corners. Darlin’, we need to get goin’. I promised you lunch, and we still need to go ornament shopping,” Holt interjected smoothly, grabbing Kat’s hand and leading her away. “Tuck, you should probably give Guy a call or stop by Americana Traditions. I’m sure he’d love to catch up with you.”
“Babe, what the hell was that?! That cryptic message only proves I wasn’t wrong!”
“There was nothin’ cryptic about it. I simply directed him to the person who could best answer his question.”
“Noooo, what you did was let Tuck get the last word! That never happens! It’s like an unwritten code that we live by!” Kat complained, incensed by Tuck’s taunting laugh floating after her. “I need to go back and claim my throne! Order must be restored!”
“What’s a rule if you don’t break it every now and then, darlin?” Holt advised when Kat tried to turn around. “Ignore him. I’m willin’ to take his punishment. Tell me how I can possibly make it up to your bloodthirsty little heart?”
Kat’s scowl was replaced with an angelic smile that immediately roused Holt’s suspicion.
“Don’t worry. I’ll try to think of something.”
Chapter Fifteen
Kat shut the front door and remained quietly in place, straining her ears to determine their location. She wasn’t exaggerating when she’d told Holt that she had the uncanny ability to encounter her parents in compromising positions throughout their home that were detrimental to her health, specifically, her eyes and heart.
“Hellooo?! I’m standing in the foyer! Where are you two? I’m not moving until you answer me!”
At their daughter’s announcement, Vivienne raised her head from her laptop and shook her head with condemnation at her unconcerned husband, who was reading the newspaper by the fireplace across the room.
“I blame you for her issues.”
Alexei peering at her over the rim of his square, black reading glasses. “Not so fast, my love. I think it’s time you looked in a mirror. The blame lies within the alluring beauty reflected there. How could I possibly resist such a temptation?”
“Oooh, well played, Lex! Have I mentioned that I love your new glasses? They give you a suave ‘distinguished professor’ air. Let’s make plans for me to fog them up later.” In a much louder voice, she answered their daughter. “We’re in the family room, honey! Come join us!”
Kat’s boots clicked down the hallway, and then she peeked her head around the corner. Alexei set the paper aside to give her his undivided attention, as did Vivienne.
Their daughter’s widened eyes swiveled between them. “Whaaat? I feel like I’ve entered another dimension of the Twilight Zone! Y’all are sitting a respectable distance apart from each other and everyone’s clothes are on properly—”
“Chile, what did you want?” An exasperated Vivienne cut her short while Alexei erupted with laughter. “Lex, cut it out! I’ve already told you about encouraging her incorrigible behind.”
Kat entered the room with an impudent grin. She kissed Alexei’s cheek and then moved to where Vivienne sat on the sofa with files spread out next to her. Bending down, she kissed her mama’s angled cheek exuberantly then swiped a gingerbread-raisin cookie with vanilla glaze from the small plate on the coffee table.
“Careful, Mama. If you’re not nice, I might bring up the fact that you brought work home with you. We both know how Papa hates that.”
“And if you did bring up that little tidbit, I might be tempted to tell you all the ways your father plans to make me pay for my alleged transgression,” Vivienne retorted superiorly.
“Now, who’s being incorrigible, Vivi?” Alexei inquired fondly.
She stuck her tongue out in response and immediately, his eyes darkened. Vivienne winked at him and mouthed, ‘‘Later.’’
“Ugh! Touché, woman!” Kat grimaced as she bit into the soft, spice-laden cookie with plump raisins. “Mmm, these are delicious! Did you make them?”
“I did. They’re a trial run, and your father was kind enough to be my guinea pig. The babies will be here this weekend, and I plan to spoil them silly. Care to join us?”
“So, what else is new?” Kat teased. “I had planned to take D.J. ice fishing soon. Might as well kill two birds with one stone. I’ll make sure to be here to partake in all the festivities. Think Ruby and baby Jack will be cool? She can sleep in my room. I think she needs some one-on-one time.”
With a fond smile, Vivienne tsked, “My poor sweetheart! Life came at her too fast with that precious butterball. She’s having a hard time adapting to his zest for life. Did you already have plans for tomorrow? I wanted to do some more Christmas shopping and maybe go to the spa and celebrate your magazine features that you hid from me.”
“I didn’t hide them from you, Mama. I just didn’t think it was a big deal,” Kat patiently explained. Squaring her shoulders, she tried for a smile but failed spectacularly. “Actually, I do have some plans. Holton is going to Sweden, and he’s leaving Sunday morning.” Her usually steel nerves had turned to jelly under her parents’ concentrated scrutiny. “I’ve decided to stay over there until he goes. I just came home to pack a bag.”
Where was an asteroid hurtling at warp speed toward Earth to divert their attention when she needed it? Kat wondered as the silence strained and lengthened.
“I hate to break up this more than awkward moment, but could someone other than me please say something?”
“I see,” Vivienne spoke carefully, monitoring Alexei from her peripherals. Other than his hands gripping the chair’s arms unreasonably tight, he was motionless. “Well, this is…new. Is it because I gave him my approval to propose last night?”
“You what?!” Father and daughter echoed. Alexei’s dirty look was wasted on his wife. All Vivienne noticed was her baby’s radiant face.
“Holt hasn’t mentioned anything about it, Mama!”
“Forgive me then for assuming that was the reason for this
sudden bout of spontaneity, Katerina.”
Katerina.
Her mother only used her real name when she wholeheartedly disapproved of situations and would not be swayed. Like Kat’s goth phase.
“No. Absolutely not, Katerina! You’re too bubbly. You look like Strawberry Shortcake gone bad,” Vivienne said of her daughter’s dyed black hair, dramatic black eyeliner, and black lipstick. She shuddered at the clunky Frankenstein shoes Kat wore with black tights and her Victorian ruffled-collar lace dress with the cameo brooch in the center. “Wednesday Adams would eat you alive.”
“No, this is strictly because I love Holt, and I want to be with him. You’re my parents and I respect you, but I am a grown woman,” Kat quietly reminded them. She turned to Alexei. “What I choose to do with him is my business. I would appreciate it if you would please respect me and my choices in return.”
Silently, Alexei rose and stalked from the room.
Vivienne stood and picked up the cookie plate. She patted Kat’s arm as she passed her. “Go pack your bag, sweetheart.”
“Mama…” Kat’s one-word plea was an agonizing attempt to make her mother understand.
“Everything will be fine. Do you know what you’re doing?” Vivienne searched her daughter’s face, and her heart ached as Kat’s glossy eyes remained on the vacant entryway.
“Well, I’m not doing that. He’s always respected me too much for the good stuff,” she lamely joked, attempting to break the ice. Her mother didn’t crack a smile. “I need to be with him. Last night he confided in me about his family and his past occupation in their dynamic. Ever since then I’ve been experiencing awful premonitions that I can’t shake. Holt’s been great about trying to calm my nerves and swears to me that I’m his number-one priority. But it’s not necessarily working. Nothing is! I…I want to stay as close as I can until I can’t. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”
Out of the mouths of babes.
Vivienne vividly recalled her declaration to Alexei when he briefly left her to return to his family and tell them about her.
“I know that we haven’t known each other long, but I just thought you should know that I love you!”
“Of course, you do, Vivi. What did you think we were all about? That this was?”
Sympathy creased Vivienne’s brow at her daughter’s plight. “I do understand, Kat. More than you know. Give your father time and he’ll come around. This is hard for him. He thinks you’re too young and vulnerable. Even though he has given his permission to Holt, you have no ring on your finger yet and vows haven’t been exchanged. The things he’s had to do for the family have flawed him. Your father is far from perfect but thinks that his only daughter is. He’s put you on a pedestal and is all about tradition when it comes to you.”
Kat sank to the sofa as the tears fell, thoughts of disappointing her father debilitating her. She idolized Alexei and loved the relationship they shared, but Kat considered herself grown and had come in here with every intention of telling it like it was and handling her business. In the span of five minutes after the announcement, her father managed to reduce her to crocodile tears without uttering a single word.
“My intention isn’t to ever disappoint either of you. However, this is the man that I love and will spend my life with. I’ve waited forever for him and will continue to wait for my wedding night for anything more. I want to soak up every moment with Holt until his departure.”
“I can’t lie. How you’ve managed not to pounce all over that is past my level of comprehension,” Vivienne admitted with a tiny grin.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m beyond tempted, Mama.” Kat ducked her head, wiping her tears away with a bashful grin. “Right now, I just want to curl into him and never let go.”
Vivienne took her daughter’s hand and tugged her up, patting Kat’s hand with understanding. “Believe me, baby, I know what that’s like. Now, go pack.”
She waited until Kat ascended the stairs to go to Alexei’s study. Vivienne unlocked it and found it empty. She stood there indecisively. He wouldn’t go to Holt’s house, would he? Vivienne headed for the kitchen, deciding to find him after Kat left. She halted to discover him leaning against the island, hands braced against the countertop with his head bent.
“Fifty-eight, fifty-seven, fifty-six…”
Vivienne grabbed an empty Tupperware container from a bottom cabinet and opened the cookie jar next to her husband. He stopped counting long enough to watch her place half of the batch she’d baked earlier into the container.
“What are you doing, Vivi?”
“I’m packing some cookies for Kat to take with her.”
Her answer was enough to send Alexei careening over the edge of sanity.
“That sounds lovely, my dear,” he snarked, slamming his fist down on the island. “Why don’t you just go with her on this sleepover adventure and fluff her pillows and tuck them into bed as well?! Make sure you don’t forget the fucking bedtime story!”
Placing her hand on her hip, Vivienne faced her husband impatiently. “I’m not excited about the situation either, but I did warn you a year ago that this kind of behavior could result in losing her. Get a grip, Alexei! Kat is not a puppy whose nose you get to whack with a newspaper for misbehaving! I’m not going to lose my daughter because you can’t adapt! She’s not searching for your permission! Kat’s a grown woman, darling! She doesn’t need your permission. It’s your understanding that she’s seeking.”
Alexei spun away from her, pacing like a caged rabid, Siberian tiger, searching for an opportunity to grasp its freedom.
Vivienne smiled sadly at him. “Lex, haven’t you learned that by now? You try to protect and keep us safe from any and everything that you think will harm us. In the end, who will protect us from you if you don’t curb these heavy-handed ways?”
Alexei whirled around to face her, shocked by her words. His first instinct was to lash out in self-defense. Instead, he paused, checking to see if her words resonated within. Alexei’s shoulders sank in defeat, dumbfounded at her insightfulness and stung that his family might see him in such a manner. The thought of being pushed away and shut out once more was too much to bear. Stiffly, he apologized, “Forgive me. I did not realize—”
“And now you do!” Vivienne cut him off, hating the pain in Alexei’s eyes. “You are our rock, Lex, and we love you insanely. Never doubt that! Simply give Kat room to breathe and do her thing. Let her make mistakes and stop glossing things over because you think you know what’s best for her! Kat needs to spread her wings and be who she was meant to be.”
Alexei was offended that his wife would even think such a thing. “I deeply admire who she is as a person and have never tried to change her in any way. I even held my tongue about that horrendous goth phase!”
Vivienne shuddered at that reminder. “I encourage freedom of expression, but even I had to put my foot down on that one. I agree with you, hon. However, that wasn’t what I was referring to, babe. Does Kat live here of her own accord? Or did she stay for you? I know she loves us, but sadly, I can’t help but wonder if it’s the latter? By her age, I was already out on my own and had lived in two different apartments.”
“Katerina loves living here! This is her home, and she has the freedom to come and go as she chooses!” Alexei hissed. He didn’t like this uncomfortable conversation. Vivienne was challenging his way of thinking, forcing him to reanalyze what had once seemed like no-brainers.
“As long as she comes back? Lex, I’m not trying to be the bad guy here. I just want what’s best for our daughter. We both made mistakes that can never be undone and have to adjust and move on from them. I’m just as guilty of babying Kat as you are. She’s always been our go-to companion and emotionally available for us. I think we held on too tight because she was our proof that we managed to do something right in our relationship. Does that make sense?”
Guilt had Alexei’s in its vicious clutches. His mind was on overload. He hadn’t demande
d that Kat stay home. Yet, he’d never bothered to ask what her plans were after graduating or encouraged her independence. She’d never mentioned it, and Alexei had been content with her being a constant in his world. Wildly, he searched his wife’s empathetic face. Her astute observation was the salt poured onto his wounded pride.
“How can I fix this, Vivi?” he pleaded, determined to right this grievous wrong. “Tell me!”
“I’ve already told you. From the onset of our relationship, I’ve always said it’s about actions. Don’t just say it. Show her, Lex! Start with allowing her to pay for her own things.”
He averted his eyes and she pounced. “Aha! I knew you’re still on that bullshit about paying for everything. Don’t even try to deny it! What’s the point of her working and selling her designs if she can’t celebrate and spend her earnings? You said it yourself. She’s a good girl. Kat has earned our trust. You need to act like it and make this situation right with her. I have faith in you, husband.”
Vivienne left the kitchen, praying that her husband would do the right thing.
When Kat descended the stairs, a pensive Alexei was waiting at the bottom of them, hands in his jean pockets.
“I’ll see you soon, Papa?” Her voice was subdued, uncertain.
Katerina would never know the restraint it took her father not to carry her back upstairs and demand she stay there. Teeth gnashing, Alexei now had an inkling of what Cedric might have been feeling when Vivienne showed up with her arm linked with his.
Somberly, Alexei nodded. “I will be here for you and support you. Always, Katerina.” Do you know why they call me ‘The Wolf’?”
“Mama told me everything she knows regarding your family. If you don’t mind, I’d like to hear it from you sometime.”
“Perhaps.” Alexei’s smile was gentle. “The reason I am called ‘Wolf’ is that the beast’s nature is to protect the pack that stands behind him at all costs, striking when foes least expect it. The wolf leads by example and demonstrates no weakness. I am not proud of some of my actions, but they served their purpose in keeping my loved ones safe and secure.”
