It's update day! First off I'd just like to say thank you SO much for 1171 votes! AHHHH ITS UNREAL! Just a week ago we were only at 900+ so that's insane! This week's vote goal is 1300 votes (I know you guys can reach this lmao, I've seen the impossible)

Emotional chapter ahead, enjoy!

Lots of love <3

Chapter 18

Tatiana

"Want me to kick his ass out?" Carmen asked after a few moments, her arms crossed while she gave him a dirty look, making Zeke raise an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. "No, Carmen, calm down," she said while getting up, leaning her weight on her uninjured leg and wrapping her robe more securely around her to cover her indecent attire.

"Can I come in?" Zeke asked slowly as he stood at the entrance to the apartment, cautiously looking at Carmen.

"Yes, of course," Tatiana said, eyes furrowed in confusion before glancing at Carmen. "Could you give us some privacy, Cam?"

"All right..." Carmen said, narrowing her eyes at him slowly before beckoning him inside and shutting the door behind him. "I'm watching you," she said with narrowed eyes, poking him in the shoulder before walking away, presumably to where June was hanging around.

She sighed in exasperation at what her best friend was getting up to, shaking her head slightly before looking back at Zeke who, upon closer look, was actually carrying flowers and a take-out bag of sorts.

As he approached, he held out the flowers to her. "For you," Zeke said as he stood in front of her, giving her a small smile.

"Peonies?" she asked, wonderfully surprised as she took the flowers, holding them up to her face and smelling their fresh fragrance. "How did you know they were my favorite?" she wondered, looking up at him.

"I asked Louis," he said, looking embarrassed as he ran his hand through his hair. "He's a common... friend of ours."

"Oh," she replied feebly, still holding onto the bouquet. "Thank you," she said sincerely. He only smiled at her before turning and holding out his take-out bag.

"I also brought you some food from D'Angeles," he said as they both sat down on the couch. "I noticed how you loved the pasta from Hazel's so I thought I'd bring you the best pasta in the whole city, with mushrooms and without onions."

"Really?" she asked, amazed that he even noticed how she took out the onions from her pasta and ordered extra mushrooms to go with her meal. "You remembered all of that?" she asked as she took out the pasta and a fork from the bag, opening the package and getting a whiff of the scent.

"Oh my God," she groaned in pleasure after having a bite. "That's so good," she said in amazement, taking another bite. She hadn't noticed how hungry she was until she had a bite of food. It was already late into the night and she hadn't had a proper meal since that morning.

He chuckled quietly, amused. "I'm glad you like it," she said as she continued eating, practically devouring the meal.

They chatted a bit while she ate, talking about the latest updates with the attacks on their properties and in the other families in general.

"How are you feeling?" Zeke finally asked after a few minutes of her having finished her meal, a worried look on his face as he touched her cast from where it was within reach.

They had settled down on the loveseat, her legs on his lap as they continued talking. Truthfully, she had no idea how they ended up in that position as she fidgeted with her robe slightly when it rode up on her thighs. And, despite her request to Carmen to give them some privacy, several times she saw her peek at them from the kitchen, as if checking if they were doing anything... inappropriate before she shot her a sharp look and she retreated back. She hadn't made an appearance in the last few hours so she could only assume she fell asleep in one of the bedrooms since it was nearing midnight.

"I'm doing okay," she said quietly. "The doctor came by today, she said it's healing quickly so I should be able to remove the cast a few days early by the third week."

"That's good to hear, mon ange," he smiled at her before they both drifted off in silence, just enjoying each other's company.

"I heard about the engagement party," Tatiana said, breaking the silence after deciding internally if she should even broach the subject but ultimately decided that she couldn't keep it in.

Zeke stiffened. "You've heard about that, huh," he said after a few moments, his body relaxing back but his expression remained impassive as he continued to lightly run his hand over her injured leg, his fingers sometimes brushing against her skin that wasn't covered in plaster.

She sighed before sitting up, moving her legs from his lap and curling in on herself, gathering her legs in her arms. "Why did you come here Zeke?" she asked and he looked up at her, his hand hovering slightly in the air from where it was previously settled on her leg. She had been too surprised by his appearance at her apartment in general, distracted by the fact that he brought her favorite flowers and food, further sidetracked by how he seemed to notice these little details about her.

They stared at each other before he glanced away, his hand falling to his side. "I wanted to see you," he finally said, speaking quietly.

"You're probably still angry about the whole thing," he said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I'm sorry for leading you on like I did, you didn't deserve that. You have to believe me though," he turned back to face her, determination on his face. "I wouldn't lead you on like that if I had known the arrangement had been sealed. I would never do that to you. And yes, I knew of the possibility that the deal would be signed at any moment but when I first met you, I couldn't keep my eyes off you—"

"Stop." She placed a finger on his soft lips, stopping him before he said any more that might make this even more painful than it already was.

"I understand, you know?" she said. "Yes, I was angry at first but after I had some time to think, I understood. You're your uncle's heir," He raised an eyebrow when she mentioned that he was an heir—she had found out a while back from her mother. "Arranged marriages are common in our line of work, especially given the circumstances," she said, although it didn't make the pain or hurt she felt any better.

"So, what's the lucky girl's name?" she asked after a few moments, trying to diffuse the tension in the air, her hand falling away from his lips.

"You don't have to do that." Zeke sighed.

She shook her head. "Our families work closely together, I'll find out eventually and I don't want us to be awkward around each other, especially after you've married your fiancé," she said, giving him a painful smile.

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "Her name's Angelica."

"It's a beautiful name," she commented, trying not to react.

"Tatiana—" he began to say when a knock sounded through the apartment. He stopped speaking, turned to face the door before moving to get up and answer.

"Wait," she held him back, standing up herself with the help of one of her crutches. "I'll get it, I need the leg exercise." She gave him a small smile before slowly making her way to the door.

The person on the other end knocked once again and when she finally reached it, she opened the door to reveal her mother who was nervously biting her lip.

"Tatiana!" her mother said when she saw her, surprised. "Why are you the one answering the door? Where's June?"

"She's most probably asleep mama, it's already midnight," she reasoned with her.

"Oh, right," her mother said, running a hand through her hair nervously. "Listen, detka, I really need to tell you something—"

"Agnieska?" she looked back when Zeke spoke, appearing from behind her.

Her mother glanced at him in surprise, frozen in shock. "Zeke! What are you doing here so late?" she asked, her gaze flitting back and forth between the two of them.

"I just came to visit, tetya." Zeke reassured her.

Tatiana looked back at her mother who was still fidgeting slightly. "Mama is everything alright? You were saying something?"

Her mother's attention snapped back to hers. "What? Oh, right, yes. Maybe some other time, I don't want to interrupt your evening." she said, with a shake of her head.

"Okay..." Tatiana said slowly, confused. Her mother rarely acted this way, as nervous as she was, she had only seen her this way whenever she was concerned and it worried her. "Are you sure—"

"Yes, detka, it's fine," she said, placing her hands on her cheek before giving her a kiss on her forehead. "We can talk next time." Her mother gave her a small smile in good night.

"Good night, Zeke." Her mother turned to Zeke, squeezing her hand before turning and walking away towards the elevators where she disappeared from sight.

Tatiana pursed her lips, still a little worried about what her mother had to say before Zeke spoke from somewhere behind her.

"I should also get going, it's getting late," he said and she turned back to find him donning his black coat.

He walked towards where she was still standing, the door held open.

She nodded despondently in understanding. "Goodbye, Zeke," she said quietly.

He raised his hand halfway, as if meaning to touch her cheek before thinking better of it and let his hand fall. "Goodbye, mon ange," he said sadly with such finality that it almost felt like he was saying goodbye for good.

He turned away and as she watched him walk away from her, she called out to him.

"Wait!" He stopped. "Why do you keep calling me mon ange? What does it mean?" she asked breathlessly as she slowly made her way closer to him, crutches and all.

He turned back to her slowly. "It means 'my angel." He gave her a small smile. "It's because you're as beautiful and enchanting as one," he added. "You may think that the whole world out there sees you as a bane of their existence, that you're worth nothing and that you shouldn't have been born—" She stepped back in shock. He hit home where it hurt the most. "But not me. In my eyes, at least, you're worth everything," he said and with that, he turned around, clenching his fist tightly and left her, standing there in the hallway with tears streaming down her face.

Translations:

mon ange - my angel (French)

detka - baby (Russian)

tetya - aunt (Russian)

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