Back on the third floor, there are more bedrooms, as well as a gorgeous library with shelves brimming with more books than I could ever count. Kon wasn't kidding when he said he enjoyed reading.
An art room and several other bedrooms complete the third floor, and Calvin explains that these rooms belong to him and Ethan.
The second floor is where things get more lively. We're wandering through an extensive home gym when I finally pluck up the courage to ask something that's been lingering in my mind.
"Why do you sound different from the others?"
Calvin pauses near the treadmill and glances at me. "Different?"
"You're clearly American. But Kon and Ethan and every other guard I've heard speak has some level of Russian accent. But yours… you're American?"
Calvin nods. "It's not sinister, I assure you."
"I didn't think it was."
"I am American. I was actually a taxi driver when I first met Kon."
My brows lift. "How does a taxi driver get entrusted with the security of Kon's wife?"
Calvin scoffs slightly. "When you say it like that, it sounds rather pathetic doesn't it?"
"Oh no!" My chest clenches and I reach for his arm as we walk around barbells and weight plates. "I’m sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just… from what I've seen of Kon in the twenty-four hours I've known him, and even from my own family… it seems strange."
"I met Kon a year ago, just after he landed in the States. We literally crashed into one another. He was walking with a purpose like he always does and I was rushing through the airport to return a bag to a passenger who left her stuff in my cab, and I came around this corner and—" Calvin smacks hispalms together. "I took Kon clean off his feet. It was kind of terrifying because his guards descended and I almost thought I was going to die."
We exit the gym and walk down a long, bright hallway filled with exquisite statues and paintings.
"But my accident with Kon delayed him at the airport, so the car bomb that was rigged to kill him blew up when he was nowhere near it. I accidentally saved his life and to repay me, he hired me on the spot. One shift gave me more money than I could earn in a year as a taxi driver so it was pretty easy to decide to stay. Ethan trained me and Kon did too, for the most part. It's been a pretty crazy year but yeah—I've been here ever since that day."
"Wow," I breathe out softly. "And you have no problem with…?"
Calvin glances at me. "The fact that he's a criminal warlord and the entire New York mafia hates him for moving in on their territory? Nah. Kon is…" Calvin's brows dip and then he smiles as he leads me into a gigantic ballroom twice the size of the room we held the wedding reception in. "Kon is calm but fair. Some people call him cold, but I think it's because he's careful and calculated. He knows what he wants and what he's doing. Which might sound strange and a little intimidating, but in all my time of knowing him, I've only seen him smile once."
After taking in the vast ballroom, I turn to Calvin. "When?"
"Yesterday at the wedding. At you."
Warmth suddenly surges to my cheeks and I have to look away. "I'm sure that's not true."
"It is, he replies simply. "Soon, you'll see for yourself."
The rest of the tour includes another gym, a large dining room, and the outdoor pool, then we finish the tour in the kitchen, where Calvin shows me the fridge filled to the brim by Kon's private chef and lets me pick whatever I desire.
I settle on some alfredo chicken pasta and Calvin heats it up in a pan while I perch on a barstool next to the island counter that shows no evidence of Kon fucking my brains out on it last night.
"So what about you?" Calvin asks. "Is it strange being away from your family?"
"A little," I admit and my stomach twists. "I miss my sister the most. Beatie. She's younger than me, but I'd do anything for her. She understands all of this though, maybe better than I do. And my mom… I'm sad she couldn't make it to the wedding, but having Dad there was nice. It's just…" I sigh deeply and then smile. "I do what I can for my family. It's what we all do, right? And the business aspect will help my father out a lot, as will the money, so everyone wins."
"And your brother?" Calvin asks as he plates up the meal.
"My bro—" I catch myself just in time, so caught up in how empty the seats next to my father looked that the truth almost escapes. "Right. My brother. Mathew. Yeah… we never really got along but it's fine." I force my smile wider. "He walked me down the aisle so that was sweet."
Calvin holds my gaze as he slides the plate of food toward me, but if he notices my hesitation, he doesn't say anything.
Instead, he heats up some chili for himself and delves into a story about how he lost his mother when she was young and his father died overseas in the military.
With no one to look out for him, he scraped his way up until he met Kon and now life is good.
