The Maddest Obsession

Christian demands that Nico move Gianna out of the building. Nico taunts him about his interest in her and threatens to marry her off to someone else. Christian admits he erased club surveillance footage that showed Gianna in her rain-soaked dress and then punches Ace. Throughout the conversation, Christian reflects on his ongoing negotiations with a Russian politician; he is considering an arranged marriage to the man’s daughter, Aleksandra Popova, who he thinks would be the kind of spouse he needs.

Later, in the lobby, Christian sees Gianna playing cards with the pool attendant and jealously intervenes when the man reaches for her hair. In response, Gianna flips Christian off.

Gianna studiously attempts to avoid thinking about Christian or their sexual encounter. However, she knows that he is involved with Aleksandra, and the thought upsets her.

One day, a thunderstorm and power outage trigger a panic attack in Gianna. She runs to Christian’s apartment, and he pulls her inside, talking her through it. She confides in him about a friend of her father who sexually abused her, beginning when she was eight and lasting until she was 12. She is unsure whether her father knew of the abuse but says that he frequently called her a “whore” and also weaponized her fear of the dark to punish her. He tells her a Russian saying about facing fear and, when she asks what kissing her is like, responds “kak moya.” When the power returns, Gianna kisses him, but as things escalate, he abruptly breaks it off, saying sex was not his intention. She leaves, humiliated by the rejection.

Days later, Gianna attends her deceased husband’s funeral and visits the grave of her former friend Sydney Brown, apologizing for having gotten her entangled in Mafia affairs. Christian is there and tells her he would have stopped her marriage if he could have, confirming that he was in Moscow at the time. He tries to provoke her into asking him about his feelings. She is too afraid to do so, which he tells her to “remember” when she’s next tempted to seek him out for sex: “I’ll take [your body] […] I won’t care if you cry the whole way through it” (195). Nevertheless, he drives her home.

For the 50th anniversary of Ace’s club, Valentina sets Gianna up on a blind date. Christian arrives at the same party with Aleksandra, causing Gianna to feel physically ill. In the bathroom, Aleksandra corners Gianna, states that she and Christian plan to marry, and explains (when Gianna asks) that kak moya means “like mine.”

That night, Christian appears at Gianna’s apartment, angry that she ignored him. She notes that he “likes” her and admits that this makes her anxious; she also raises the topic of Aleksandra, but Christian denies that they are dating. Ultimately, Christian and Gianna have a rough, unprotected sexual encounter. Afterward, he calls her “moya zvezdochka” (meaning “my little star”).

The phrase triggers a flashback to eight years prior. On Gianna’s wedding night, she found her new husband cheating and got very drunk. However, a stranger—whom she now recognizes as Christian—found her, comforted her with the same Russian endearment, and carried her to a bed. 

The next day, Gianna goes to the store, reflecting on her newfound realization about Christian. While there, she sees a young girl interacting with her mother and feels a pang of “longing.” Back at Gianna’s apartment, Elena accidentally starts a small kitchen fire as the two women cook and talk about Nico and Christian. Nico drops by to warn Gianna not to be a bad influence on Elena; his protectiveness of his wife again makes Gianna want something she feels she can’t have.

That night, Gianna goes to Christian’s apartment to return a cufflink and initiates another sexual encounter, which she assumes will be their last (as it will mark the third time they have slept together). Christian stops the encounter before they have intercourse, asserting control and demanding to know why Gianna got high at the recent dinner party. When she reveals that her father had called her, he tells her that he will accompany her to the family wedding in Chicago.

Christian dislikes the modest dress Gianna initially chooses for the family wedding and has her change into a revealing red one after she admits she was trying to look like “a woman [he] could love” (221). On the private jet, he vows to stop her father, Saul, from arranging another marriage for her. During the flight, Christian receives a text from Aleksandra and reflects on his reasons for interacting with her father: to appease his brother, who has a criminal empire in Russia. Christian himself does not care about Russian politics, having come to the US at age 19 after serving a sentence in a Russian prison.

At the church, Saul’s familiar greeting makes it clear he and Christian know each other, leaving Gianna feeling betrayed. Afterward, at Saul’s house, Christian overhears him berating Gianna. She confronts her father for failing to protect her from childhood abuse and refuses to accept the man her father chooses for her, though she admits that she doesn’t think Christian will marry her. She also taunts her father about his “obsession” with her mother, who she says only wanted to escape from him. As the argument becomes more heated, Christian intervenes. After ordering Gianna out, he stakes his own claim to her and shoots Saul’s underboss in the arm as a warning.

Gianna hears the gunshot and panics, worrying that Christian has been shot. When he emerges unharmed, she confronts him, accusing him of colluding with her father. He denies it and helps her calm down. Before leaving, she collects her late mother’s cookbooks.

On the jet home, she initially declines his sexual advances, telling him to remove his shirt on the assumption that he will refuse. In response, he challenges her to remove it; she does, revealing a torso covered in Russian prison tattoos. He largely refuses to explain their meaning, though he says one mark corresponds to a five-year sentence, which he implies he began at 14. She then notices her own hair tie on his wrist. Overwhelmed, she yields to him, and they have an emotional sexual encounter. He asks for permission to finish inside her, and she agrees.