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“Roxanna.” Sebastian kissed her on both cheeks. Hopefully I knew enough to keep up with any conversation. Sebastian had kept me up to speed with everything that happened in the family in the past several months, but my main objective was to convince Sparky and Milo that they had to make this new alliance with the Russians. “You look ravishing.”
The woman named Roxanna giggled and then handed me a glass of champagne. Wrapping her hand around my elbow, she started walking toward the large open plan living room. I really needed to get some practice with wearing heels. These were high and my ankles were already killing me.
“So, my darling, how have you been? I heard Sebastian took you on holiday to Saint-Tropez?” she asked, scanning my face as we approached a few other women.
I glanced behind me, seeing that all the men were in the kitchen. I recognized Sparky straight away from the pictures I’d seen. He was blond with lots of tattoos and even from a distance, he looked frightening enough and far from approachable. Milo was broad-shouldered and the oldest of all three. He and his wife had three daughters that were part of the group.
“Yes, it was so good. The coast there was fantastic. I couldn’t get enough of swimming in the ocean,” I said, looking around at all the faces. The daughters were all blond and focused on their phones, looking absolutely bored and disinterested in the conversation that suddenly died out when we approached. Apart from Roxanna, there were two other women, Anika and Anastasia. They were friends of the family—‘the aunts’ was what everyone called them.
“France is so amazing and I know several people from there. I can’t believe you didn’t call us. We would have loved to join you guys. I could do with at least a weekend away,” Roxanna complained.
“Well, we were there mainly for business, so we didn’t have much time to enjoy ourselves, to be honest,” I said quickly.
“Let’s just leave the business talk to the boys. That stuff bores me to tears. Just tell us more about the French men,” Anika asked with a greedy gleam in her eye, so over the next few minutes I told her a few interesting facts about the Frenchmen. They wanted all the juicy details but I didn’t have any, so I started making a few things up.
I was anxious about my conversation with the brothers—that would be the difficult bit. I didn’t want screw anything up for Sebastian this time.
I felt my husband’s eyes on me. He was watching me from across the room while he was speaking to Milo.
The three daughters were almost my age and I knew from all the notes I had read that all the ladies were never much involved with the business side of things. They normally left it all to the men.
Then, Sebastian married Russina and things were different in their case. She was very much in charge and made a lot of the decisions, too. She and Sebastian used to be partners and he’d married her mainly because of her deep ties to political world. From what I understood, she used to go to every meeting with Sebastian and I really needed to put myself out there. I had to remember I couldn’t be myself tonight.
An hour later, we all sat down for dinner. I strategically chose the seat next to Sparky. Sebastian mentioned he was the one that needed to be convinced the most of the two. Milo would only follow his lead. Sebastian sat next to me on the other side.
“Well, Russina, you look like you lost at least ten years. Almost like another woman,” Roxanna quipped once we were in the middle of the caviar starter. I nearly chocked on my wine as everyone turned their head in my direction. “Come on, tell us, what is your secret?”
I relaxed then because obviously, she didn’t mean what she said literally. If she did, everything would be ruined. Russina was several years older than me, but Sebastian assured me the family didn’t see each other that often, so no one would tell the difference.
Sebastian placed his hand on my thigh, squeezing it. I tried to gather my thoughts as everyone kept staring at me.
“I think this has to do with always being on the go. I do walk a lot,” I said, laughing awkwardly.
“Oh, come on. It can’t be just that. You need to give me your surgeon’s number,” Roxanna added.
“He’s from Russia, actually. We met one of his brothers during our trip to France,” I said, swiftly changing the subject. I truly wasn’t sure where I was going with this, but I had to focus their attention away from the fact that I wasn’t Russina.
“Fucking Russians, they seem to be everywhere,” Milo commented.
“You shouldn’t discredit them. The surgeon’s brother approached us in France. They are looking for partners in Chicago,” I continued, telling myself that I had this, but then suddenly, silence descended around the table.
“It’s a lucrative business deal, and their top-notch product could make us all very rich,” Sebastian added.
“So you’re telling us we are going to cut off Gino and make a deal with the fucking Russians now? Of all people, Sebastian, I thought you could think with your head not with your balls,” Sparky shouted, slamming his hand over the table. That sound made me jump and when I glanced at him, he seemed beyond pissed off.
“Russians are bad news. They aren’t like the Italians. It’s a safer deal,” Milo admitted.
“Maybe, but the Italians can be unpredictable and volatile, which isn’t good for business at the end of the day, is it? Who knows what will happen if they suddenly change their minds and decide to follow some shiny path elsewhere? Nothing is guaranteed, except one thing: our product. And the Italians’ product is not up to par. We might not be playing it safe in some respects but for many reasons, going with the higher quality makes more sense in the long run. Fewer problems, less bullshit. If we take that deal we’re suggesting, the sky will be the limit. We could expand to other markets, and no one would be able to touch us. We will become influential in the whole of the United States. Everyone in executive boardrooms and political circles will want what we’re offering because it’s a pure, top-of-the-line product. We can plan, strategize. Grow. Your girls will be set for the future and we … well, we will be able to do anything we ever dreamed of,” I explained, trying to paint the picture Sebastian would want me to describe. I decided to be brave, so I accidentally brushed Sparky’s hand.
The man gave me a disbelieving look, so I smiled at him. He was a wild beast, but I knew a mere touch could soften him up.
The silence stretched for a bit longer than I expected. They were all staring at me as the cogs of their brains got to working.
"The Russians. I can’t fucking believe it,” Sparky spat and this time, he was looking directly at Sebastian.
This wasn’t going well, at least not as I hoped.
“You should because he wants this deal and so do I. I think after you all see what they have to offer, you wouldn’t want to mess with Gino, either. The man’s a con and thinks he can peddle something subpar as though we’re too dumb to understand what’s on the table,” I said, my smile firmly in place. I tossed my hair behind me and sat straight. Exuding confidence. “I don’t like people who think we’re stupid. I like people who want the same thing we do so we can have each other’s backs—if not exactly out of trust, at least because of the money we’d lose if we didn’t look out for one another. You scratch my back, I scratch yours kinda deal. The Russians need us to get into this market. No one else will deal with them. We must take advantage and reap the benefits. Sebastian has your well-being in mind. He’s done his homework, and so did I. It’s what we’d call a calculated risk—way more attractive than Gino’s mediocre package…”
