Read Sergei, Volume 2 for Free Online Page B

upcoming show, and it's gotten dicey a few times. Journalists who cover the art scene want to dig around in our lives, and I can tell it's making Kolya uncomfortable. He's on edge already with all that mess in—" She stopped suddenly. "He's on edge because of work, and now he's got to worry about a journalist getting a little too close. He won't say that, of course. He acts like he's totally thrilled for me, but I can tell he's having second thoughts."
    My eyes widened. "About?"
    She didn't answer immediately. Her throat bobbed, and she blinked rapidly. "All of it. The art show. The business…compromises he's had to make. Me."
    "Bullshit." I refused to believe that last part. "That's not possible. That man adores you. He loves you, Vivian. He's ice cold with everyone but you. Beyond the obvious, he doesn't strike me as the sort of man who makes big life decisions without thinking them through very carefully. He wanted you as his wife. He chose you knowing full well what that entailed."
    She rubbed her face between her elegantly-boned hands. Her cuticles were stained with bright pigments. "I feel like we're drifting, and I don't know how to close the gap."
    Suddenly all the good news I had wanted to share with her turned sour in my belly. My heart ached for Vivi, and I didn't dare add to her misery by announcing that I was pregnant when she herself couldn't even reveal the news of her own impending bundle of joy. It struck me then how very lucky I was that Sergei was out of the mob. It had cost us both so much—in money and danger and more—but it was worth it.
    Grasping her hand, I gave it a squeeze. "Make this London getaway into a vacation about the two of you. After your show, maybe you two can disappear for a few days. Even if you hole up in some hotel suite, it would be a good way for you to reconnect. You can pretend that none of this," I gestured around us, "exists. It will be just the two of you."
    She nodded slowly. "I've been thinking the same thing. We never had a honeymoon. When we got married, it was too dangerous to go anywhere and now…" She sighed. "Well."
    I wished more than anything that I was brave enough to ask her what was happening in the underworld that had everyone so nervous and on edge, but I was too afraid. I didn't want to know things that I shouldn't. I really, really didn't want to put myself or the baby growing inside me at risk.
    "Anyway," she said with a long exhale. "Let's get back to this." She started jotting down new words on the notepad. "Sergei's brother speaks English so you'll be able to talk with him easily. His mother probably knows a little, but if you want to make a good impression, you should at least memorize these."
    Over the next hour, she schooled me in the various phrases I might find useful. She had such patience with me, but I was absolutely terrible. For a girl fluent in French and Spanish, I couldn't get a handle on Sergei's language. Doubts started to creep in as I tried again and again to get it right. I had flashbacks to that awful run-in with Sergei's ex-girlfriend in the restroom at Samovar. All the nasty things she had snarled my way taunted me. Though Lidia and I had made peace, those seeds of doubt started to sprout.
    Voices in the hallway interrupted our lesson. A moment later, someone tried to open the library door. Knuckles rapped loudly against the wood. "Vee!"
    The irritation in Nikolai's voice surprised me. Rolling her eyes, Vivi exhaled a noisy breath and unfolded her legs from the tucked up position she had in her chair. She crossed the library, unlocked and opened the door. I kept my gaze fixed on the notepad in front of me while the couple argued behind me. The hissed whispers of Russian were foreign to my ears, but I didn't need to speak their language to understand that all was not well within the walls of this house.
    Thinking of the many, many years the pair had been bound together as friends and something more before their marriage, I couldn't