Page 91 of Teach Me How To Fly

He always arrived at this time and I was excited whenever I saw him because I knew there was going to be plenty of delicious healthy dishes on our table.

“Good morning!” he said as he fixed his kitchen apron on his body.

“Good morning to you too!” I instantly replied and gave him a wide smile.

He smiled back, then he started looking into the cabinets. Even if it’s only been a week, I started to love Taylor and appreciate his services.

He reminded me of Olivia more often than I thought, and even though I didn’t want to accept it, I really missed her. I grew up with her and the truth I knew about her made me want to stay away. Now that I moved in with Maksen, I was able to do that daily, but it felt like something was missing.

“Come with me,” Maksen said as he fixed the jacket on his wide shoulders, then started walking to the secondary hallway.

I furrowed my brows in confusion, sitting up from the chair and following him with cautious steps. He didn’t turn to face me as I was walking behind him and I felt like a little puppy following his owner around the house. But the moment we reached the front door, he instantly turned on his heels and looked me deeply in the eyes. I almost bumped into him, but he immediately grabbed me by my waist and made my body stick to his.

“They’ll be here in a few hours and I want you to know that I’ll be treating Katya as my future wife as long as Lukyan will be here,” he explained and I felt a lump getting stuck in my throat. “You understand why, right, Annalise?”

“Yes, I do,” I replied, feeling shivers down my spine as his thumbs started playing on my lower back.

“Promise me that you won’t let this upset you.”

“I promise.”

And I lied so freely that I shocked myself. Is he going to kiss her? Touch her like he does to me? What’s he going to do with her that he also does with me?

Before I could ask myself any other question, he pressed his lips on mine, making my knees melt. It was meaningful. He wanted to assure me that he didn’t want to treat Katya as his future bride, but he had no choice.

I put my hand on his cheek, then I inhaled deeply when he pulled away from the kiss.

“Go to your room until they arrive and stay there.”

I nodded and before turning on my heels to walk away from him, I placed a quick kiss on his lips. He smiled in the most beautiful way possible.

I smiled back and my heart skipped a beat as I walked away from him.

I wasn’t going to be jealous because I knew he loved me, but I couldn’t walk away from him knowing I needed to play a role in front of everyone as if we weren’t a couple yet.

I was layingon the bed when they started talking downstairs. I could recognize Lukyan’s voice out of them all, and Katya’s was so low it couldn’t even be heard.

I stood up and nervously started walking in circles.

I wanted to see Katya and ask her if she was okay. After talking with Maksen, I realized she had done everything for me. She wanted to stick with the plan they put up together, so that she could make me happy and manage to get me out of Lukyan’s clutches.

She had been an awful sister all her life, but now it didn’t matter anymore. She wanted to change and I was going to helpher do that. I wanted to get closer to her and truly feel that I had a sister for the first time in my life. And this might be the right moment to do it.

While I was still walking in the room, I heard some strange noises coming from my balcony, and that made me freeze. It wasn’t a bird because the sound was too loud, so I had to check it by myself. I made my way to the white curtain and slowly pulled it aside to take a look.

The moment I tilted my head to see if there was anything — or anyone — there, my brows got closer into a furrow. There was a little blonde girl, standing close to the window and trying to see something inside my room. She instantly looked at me when I opened the balcony’s door, and the moment I stepped outside, she let out a sound of fear.

“Who are you?” I whispered as I got closer to her.

I looked over, seeing that she came out from the room next to mine considering the door was open.

Has she been there all this time?

That’s why Maksen kept that door in the hallway always closed?

“I-I don’t think I’m allowed to talk to you,” she carefully replied. “I shouldn’t be here. I’m so sorry. Don’t tell Mister Brown that you saw me.”

She ran back to the other half of the balcony, totally disappearing into her room. It felt as if she had been a ghost in my dream, but I knew she was real.

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