Page 17 of Branded in Love
As Gavriil meanders in the courtyard, a woman appears. She’s young, no more than twenty-three. Her hair is golden brown, her eyes a stormy shade. She wears a bright green brocade mini skirt embroidered in gold, a clean-cut white shirt with sleeves folded just below the elbows, and high-heels.
“My darling!” she says in flawless Italian, opening her arms to him.
I feel my brow furrowing deeper. Who is this woman?
Gavriil beams with joy, as I’ve not seen him before. He returns the gesture, holding the woman in his muscular arms. He’s happy and all I can feel is my stomach clenching.
“This is how I hear you’re in town?” she scolds him with fondness. “You should have called sooner.”
“Natalya,” he tells her, moving aside so she can see me. “This is Luciana.”
She scrutinizes me from head to toe. Her hard expression slowly thaws until finally, she smiles. I can tell it’s genuine because her eyes smile too. “Come here,” she tells me, opening her arms.
Oh, my. Thestregais going to hug me. The thought of meeting her caused me no trouble last night. But now…
“She’s shy…” she tells him. Gavriil’s eyes are luminous when he looks at me. It’s like seeing him for the first time, as the man he truly is. Free from all concerns regarding vampires, he’s just a guy on vacation in Rome. A very handsome one.
Natalya comes to me and holds me in her arms. Her embrace is warm and caring, and it feels like she’s my dearest friend, or family even. I yield to her hold, and she hugs me even tighter. Tears rim my eyes. What is she doing to me? Is this part of her magic? I can hear myself sobbing against her shoulder.
“There it is,” she whispers in my ear. “Shed from all this pain,cara…” Natalya parts from me a little. Her delicate finger picks up one of my tears. She then takes her hand to the fountain. “And you will leave it here, in this fountain…bene?” The tear drops into the water.
Natalya’s misty eyes lock on mine as she cups the sides of my face. Her smile is contagious. I wipe my tears away with my hands and nod.
“We need to work on you, Luciana. I would see you shed nothing but tears of joy,” she assures me.
I sniff and accompany her through the courtyard. “That sounds wonderful,” I tell her. God, she’s better than a therapist. Maybe she is one.
As we walk past Gavriil, I look down, avoiding his stare. I’m so embarrassed that he saw me break like this. I can’t face him right now.
“Gavriil?” Natalya says while she opens another door. “Are you coming?”
I hear his placid steps clank against the cobblestones. His alluring fragrance soon catches up with us.
We enter a kitchen. I’m wondering if she’ll offer us some of that sublime espresso from the coffee shop. She moves further into the room, but I linger by the door and suddenly feel Gavriil standing right behind me. His presence is powerful, imbued with a magnetic pull that I find hard to resist... Is he aware of how he makes me feel? I doubt it. And right now, I feel like a complete fool.
Natalya gathers some herbs—rosemary, sage—and mashes them into a spray bottle, which she then fills with water. She tosses a pinch of salt in the mix, then adds a few drops of lemon oil. She now goes through the cabinet and takes out a small chest. As she opens it, she reveals dozens of quartz crystals, single ended, with a silver mounting ready for a chain.
“I brought Sasha with me,” Gavriil suddenly says. His voice sends a thrill through my limbs and between my legs…Stop it, woman. Maybe these herbs will strike some sense into you!
Natalya drops everything. “Oh?” she utters, trying to regain her poise. She picks up the bottle and gives it a shake. “And, where is he?”
“Waiting for us,” Gavriil says in a detached tone. “In the shop.”
I move to the side, enough to see him as he leans against the door’s jamb.
Natalya clears her throat. “That’s nice,” she says, returning to her strange cocktail. When she’s finished, she closes the spray bottle and walks towards me. “I’m happy you’re still friends.”
Gavriil’s brow creases into a frown. “Why would we not remain friends?” he asks, folding his arms over his chest.
“Because,” Natalya stands before me, pointing the spray bottle at me as though it were a gun, “when he and I parted ways,” she sprays my arms, “it was not in thebest…” she sprays my chest and back and my legs, “terms,” she mutters, spraying my face.
I scowl.
“Oh, my dear!” she says, mortified. “I’m so sorry!” Natalya covers her mouth with a hand. With the other, she reaches for a kitchen cloth and offers it to me. “Dab gently, please.”
“Maybe this is not the best time for us to discuss this,” Gavriil says in a low, playful tone.
I glare at him, stabbing him with my eyes. “Maybe not,” I tell him, drying my face.
