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I snorted. “I don’t know why. If anyone can understand the annoyance of a parent, it’s me.”
This made Leo laugh. “I suppose that you are correct on that.”
For a moment, it felt like the tension between the two of us had broken. But I was not going to allow Leo off the hook that easily. Something told me that this was a potential opportunity for me to dig a little deeper.
Isaac had told me a little about their family, but I wanted to know more. The Petrov’s were a prominent enough family, but I did not know a lot about them, and I wondered why my father chose Leo for me to marry.
“What exactly did your mother do to piss you off?” I tried to act nonchalant, but I felt my stomach tensing as I waited for his response.
He shook his head. “She wanted me to talk to my brother. She’s worried about him.”
“About Isaac? Why? He seems…” I trailed off as I tried to think about how I would describe Isaac. “Carefree. At least, in comparison.”
Leo snorted. “That’s part of the problem. Isaac has never taken anything seriously in his entire life. That, coupled with the massive chip on his shoulder, is going to get him into trouble.”
I nodded. Isaac definitely had a chip on his shoulder. It was obvious from watching the two men together.
“What could he possibly get in trouble from?” I asked, pressing the situation.
For a moment, Leo looked as though he weren’t going to say anything, but eventually, he did. “Apparently, there’s a rumor swirling that the Blanchis reached out to Isaac.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “What?”
Leo stretched his neck, and for the first time, I noticed the amount of tension that was in his shoulders. “Ever since your father came to me to talk about…” he trailed off. “Well, you know.”
“I do.” I tried not to be too eager, but I felt myself being more and more anxious. I wanted to know why Isaac was talking to the Blanchis because something inside of me believed that he was.
Had I not seen Andrea again because he’d decided to go to someone closer to Leo? Why would Leo even entertain Andrea? It was one thing for Andrea to come to me, but to go to Isaac—that was bold.
“Isaac was pissed when he realized that I was being set up to take over.”
I shrugged. “I can’t blame him.”Iwas pissed that Leo was being set up to take over. Obviously, my reasons were much better than Isaac’s. I knew without even having to ask that Isaac wasn’t angry because he believed that I should be Pakhan.
“Be that as it may, Isaac is impulsive in a way that is going to get him killed. I don’t know if he’s meeting with the Blanchis or not. It wouldn’t surprise me if he would do it if he thought that he could get something out of it, but he’s not thinking about the fact that if he’s caught…”
“My father will have him killed.”
Leo nodded. “Naturally, my mother wants me to talk to him. She doesn’t see that there is nothing that I can do. I am the absolute last person that Isaac would ever listen to.”
That was true. I barely knew either of them, and I did know that Isaac had very little respect for his brother. What I could not believe was that Andrea would go to Isaac to get to Leo. That was a bold move.
“What are you going to do?” I asked. “And why would the Blanchis even go to Isaac in the first place?”
“I don’t know what to do,” Leo said, surprising me. “Isaac has always hated me. Our mother is not my biological parent, and he’s always resented me for what he has seen as me taking her away from him. If I confront him, he’s likely to go and seek out the Blanchi family just to prove a point.”
I nodded as though I understood. I didn’t. I was an only child, and Natasha, who was the closest thing I had to a sibling, would never betray me. Of that, I was certain.
“But why would Isaac put his life on the line? Even if we don’t marry, I don’t think my father would choose him next. No offense, but I don’t even know why he chose you.”
For a moment, I wondered if he was going to lie to me, or if he was going to tell me the truth.
“The Blanchis and I have a history, and not a good one.”
I snorted. “Do they have a good history with any of us?” I asked. “It seems like every year things are just getting worse and worse. One of my cousin’s boyfriends fell victim to them just last year. It seems like we can’t stop killing each other.”
Most of the people in the Bratva would enjoy telling me how evil the Blanchis are, and how we needed to get rid of all of them, but Leo actually looked sad for a moment. “This is a big city,” he said. “We could learn to coexist.”
I was shocked. Even if people felt that way, no one had ever said it. “Don’t let my father hear you say that,” I said. “He’s determined to get rid of all of them. He blames them for my mother.”
