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“I get it. You two are disgustingly in love. That love comes with the privilege of information. Consider me annoyed, but understanding.” Mariya flops back on the sofa and curls her legs underneath her. “You still haven’t met our mom yet, right?”
“I haven’t been to Moscow, so?—”
“But not even a phone call?” she asks. “Or a FaceTime?”
I shake my head. “This whole thing with me and your brother happened kind of fast. There wasn’t a lot of time for proper introductions.”
“Not that Yakov would be trying to make time for it, anyway,” she laughs. “But now that Mom is in the States and you two are engaged, there is no way she’s not going to force a meeting. Even if Yakov resists, our mom has a knack for getting her way. Example: when she put me on a plane and had me driven straight to the mansion even though Yakov didn’t want me there.”
“It’s not that Yakov didn’t want you there,” I start. “It was more about?—”
Mariya holds up a hand to silence me. “Save it. I know what was going on. It’s fine. Yakov and I are kind of, sort of working through things. Plus, I’d rather live with a grouchy Yakov than my mother any day of the week.”
I wince. “Things were that bad between you two?”
“My mom is stubborn and scared of her own shadow. After everything that happened with my dad, I get it. But she wanted to lock me up inside and never let me live. I do see the irony in the fact that I’m not trapped in this bunker with you, but at least I have you to keep me company. Plus, I know that one day, eventually, Yakov will see me as an adult and let me live my own life. My mother was never going to allow that. So I’m a lot happier here,” Mariya says. “I’m sure she’s happier with me here, too.”
“I doubt that’s true.”
I don’t know exactly what it feels like to be a mother just yet, but I can’t imagine anything could ever take me away from my babies. I haven’t even met them yet and I love them. I want to be there to watch them grow up and find their passions and fall in love.
My mind spins, imagining the day when they find someone they love and pull away from me… They’ll move out of my house and follow that person anywhere, the same way I would follow Yakov anywhere.
Meh. I just felt them kick for the first time less than ten minutes ago, and now, I kind of hate their hypothetical future spouse for stealing them from me.
“What if your mom hates me?” I blurt, the possibility dawning on me for the first time.
Yakov is her firstborn. He’s her first baby. Is she going to be protective over him? Will she hate me for taking him from her (not that anyone has the power to take Yakov anywhere)?
“Please,” Mariya snorts, “she will love you. You’re the daughter she never had.”
I arch a brow. “You’re her daughter.”
"And? I said what I said. You are still the daughter my mother never had. You are pleasant. Kind. Instead, she had me: perpetual disappointment.”
“Mariya, you are not?—”
“I am,” she interrupts. “And I own it. It’s fine. Give it a few days of knowing her and you’ll be wishing she hated you, too.”
“Why would I want that?”
“Because Mama Kulikov is a lot. Prepare yourself.”
36
YAKOV
“Pavel is like a ghost.” Savva shrugs his meaty shoulders. “I've done everything I can. I don’t know what to tell you.”
“What you should tell me is that you have a plan for how the fuck you’re going to track him down,” I grit out. “Because Pavel isn’t a ghost. He’s a fucking teenager playing pakhan and if you can’t track him down, then you don’t deserve your job.”
Savva’s eyes widen, but he nods.
I believe he’s doing everything he can. But that clearly isn’t enough. When my family is on the line, everyone has to go above and beyond.
I turn to Kuzma. “What’s the status of checking the security footage? Has there been any sign of how they got inside to deliver the necklace?”
Kuzma glances at Savva and then me before his eyes hit the floor. “The footage is clean. The Gustev lieutenant we took out the other night is the last time I saw anything suspicious on the cameras. As far as my intel goes, we aren’t under any threat.”
