I now know about how her mother got pregnant with her without being married–a big deal for rich people, I guess? Poor people do that shit all the time but whatever–and refused to fess up as to who her father was, and died giving birth to her due to medical complications. I know that Kira was raised by her uncle because no one in her family–including her now-deceased grandfather–would be kind to her. I know all about her Russian heritage and all the things the other rich fuckers at the summit might try to tease her about. To make up for the scandals on her half of the relationship, she made my fake reputation squeaky clean, although I offer to be a bastard too, just to make it fair. She politely declines.
“So, Tommy,” Kira says hesitantly as the jet makes its descent toward the private airport near her uncle’s estate. “I kind of haven’t mentioned something a little important. Don’t be mad.”
Uh oh.“What is it?” I ask, tensing up. I should’ve known. Fifteen grand is too good to be true. Fifteen grand and new clothes, a new name, a new fuckinglifefor a whole week where I can just be someone else, someone whole and happy and not hungry, not fucked in the head, not fucking broken and–
“Nothing that serious,” Lexie says flippantly. “Her uncle is just the head of the Sokolov crime family. But as far as I can tell, all of their money these days is legitimate, and I have a theory that the criminal stuff has just been gossip and rumors for at least two generations because I’ve never seen–”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I say quickly, holding up a hand to step the flow of Lexie’s verbal river. “Say again, Kira darling?”
She bites her lip and ducks her head in her shoulders like a turtle trying to hide. “My uncle is sort of the head of the family, and the family, um…sometimes, in the past, and possibly the present, was in charge of a great deal of organized criminal endeavors.”
Shit, her uncle is in the mafia? The Russian mafia?? Wait…that’s called something else right? Bravo or something like that.“That’s so fucking cool,” I say breathlessly. “What’s the Russian mafia called? Do you think his house has secret torture rooms and stuff?”
Lexie gasps and sits up straight. “I never thought of that! We have to look for some!”
“There aren’t any secret rooms, and it’s called the bratva,” Kira says weakly. “You, um, you’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad?” I ask, then raise a brow. “Is he going to threaten me or something? Promise to break my knees if I break your heart, and other bratva family stuff like that?”
Both girls hesitate.
“Shit, really?” I ask, eyes wide. “For real?”
“Hemight,” Kira admits. “He’s done it in the past.”
“And Brian still cheated on you?” I ask incredulously. “Does he have a death wish?”
“Kira never told her uncle about Brian,” Lexie tattles immediately. “Even though Isaidshe should.”
“You don’t even think Young-gi’s really in the bratva,” Kira snaps, getting some of her fire back.
“He’s still scary!” Lexie looks at me. “You’ll see when you meet him.”
“His name is Young-gi?” I ask, intrigued. “Wait, what do you mean when I meet him?!”
“Well, itishis house,” Kira says abashedly. “I mean, he has a bunch of houses but he knows I’m using this one for the summitand it would be just like him to be there to watch me. I swear he still thinks I’m ten years old.”
I can understand why.Kira is so innocent and well-meaning. She’s sweet and kind and soft-spoken. If her uncle has a decent bone in his body, he’ll want to protect her.
“You’ll call him Mr. Sokolov,” Kira says, bringing me back on track. “His Korean name is for family only. His mother was Korean, she was my granddad’s mistress, so Young-gi was a bastard, too, which is just another reason for people to ridicule me. A bastard running the family is taboo.”
“Noted,” I say. Then, hopefully, “…So I’m gonna meet a real bratva boss?”
“Alleged,” Lexie says meaningfully, sinking a great deal of doubt into her tone. “Anallegedbratva boss.”
“Still cool,” I say with a grin. Then I lean over Kira to look out the window as we start to land. “Whoa, awesome!”
When the wheels touch the tarmac and the jet decelerates, I end up on the floor. Kira blinks down at me in surprise, then quickly covers her mouth.
“I see that smile,” I say with a laugh. “You can’t hide it from me, Kira darling. It’s alright, go on and laugh. It’s funny.”
She shyly uncovers her mouth. “You should’ve seen your face.”
“You’re disgustingly handsome even when you hit the ground,” Lexie says, sounding like she’s complaining as she scans me with narrow eyes. “I’m insanely jealous.”
“You’re both very beautiful girls,” I tell her. “But don’t expect any compliments from me at the summit, Lexie. I’ll be insanely in love with my Kira darling, and I only have eyes for her, sorry.”
The girls laugh, and I smile as I feel the plane rumble to a stop. We’ve arrived. Soon, we’ll be facing the pack of wolves that are the rich young adults of America.
