Chapter 2

I felt an overwhelming sense of dread. Abe told me that I had to make the decision for surgery, that his family was time zones away from Baia. Yet, here was his mother right in front of me. I just signed the consents for the surgery. If something happened to him, I would be the one to blame. I glanced between Dimitri's mother and Lissa before making the decision to stand and start walking toward the exit. I could hear Lissa trailing behind. I didn't stop until I found myself in a small garden area outside.

"Rose," Lissa breathed. I didn't realize how fast I had been walking but it must have been a brisk pace as Lissa was winded.

I sat on a bench next to a vibrantly red rose bush. My face tilted upward toward the sun. "I feel like the world is conspiring against me."

Lissa sat down beside me and leaned closer against me. I shifted to put my head on her shoulder. "Well, it very well could be." Lissa stated.

"What am I going to do now? I don't know how to be married…especially to someone I don't know. Do I go for a divorce…an annulment? Things are just so complicated. I'm not the marrying type."

"You could be to the right person."

I sat up and glanced at Lissa. "Adrian knows the drill. Casual encounters are my favorite. No-strings-attached. Just satisfying my needs… Well, and theirs too."

Lissa smirked. "Adrian may know the drill, but that's only because he's not capable of a serious relationship himself. The way things ended with Sydney… Well, I don't think he has ever really begun to heal from that." Lissa grabbed my hand in hers before locking eyes with mine. "Much like you with Jesse."

I groaned. Jesse. Jesse Zeklos. That was a sore subject for me. Jesse and I had met when we both attended St. Vladimir's Academy, a boarding school in the middle of nowhere Montana. My mother had decided that this was the best placement for me trying to break down my wild and rebellious spirit. It didn't work. She was called at least monthly by Kirova about my behavior.

Jesse had been my first everything and I didn't realize the impact my relationship with Jesse had had on my life. After a turbulent relationship, Jesse and I parted ways. After that, I started seeking out casual, no-strings-attached sex from men. I had met Adrian my senior year at Leigh, and we had been seeing each other periodically since then.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe the world just can't handle Rose Hathaway-Mazur and no men are worthy of having that kind of connection with me. Besides, we can't all be like you and Christian." I mimicked myself throwing up at the thought of it.

Lissa's cheeks flushed a light pink. "I guess not." We had all went to the same boarding school since kindergarten. Lissa and Christian became closer in our senior year and had been together ever since. "You need your own person, not your Christian."

I laughed. Lissa's phone rang. "Speaking of him, I'm going to take this. I'll be back with some hot chocolate. I know that will make you feel better."

I watched as she walked away. She was smiling and then genuinely laughed at something that Christian had said. I felt a tightening in my chest. It's not that I didn't want to have a relationship. I think part of me did. But there's a large part of me that couldn't trust someone in that capacity.

I closed my eyes as I continued my inner diatribe. What surprised me was the kick I felt at my foot. My eyes snapped open. "What the hell!" In front of me stood a short, and I do mean short, woman. She barely stood five feet tall. She looked like she had to be at least in her 70s or 80s. Her dark brown hair had patches of gray whisps throughout and was twisted intricately atop of her head. Her sharp dark brown eyes stared intensely. The woman started talking, but it was a stream of Russian. "I don't speak Russian," I exhaled.

The woman moved closer. "He will be alright."

I straightened my back. How does this woman know anything about me? Does she know who I am?

She smirked. "You're looking worse for wear, but better than the last time I saw you. Have you learned how to handle your liquor?".

I glanced at her closer. Shit! This was the woman that Abe had been talking to in Russian. The witchy one.

"I'm not a witch. I've seen your future and my grandson's future. Futures are merged. My prophecies can see many things and have been correct."

I scoffed. "Sure. You just know that we're legally married. Of course, our 'futures are merged.'"

The woman smirked again. "Do you believe in fate, Roza?"

I shivered. "Sure, just not in crazy prophecies."

She raised her hand and made a movement to the hospital building. "You must go inside. My grandson's surgery starts soon, and you must talk to Olena about it."

Before I could move, the woman took off and started her leisurely pace toward the front door, leaving me just as confused as I was earlier.