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I blinked. “You’ve watched a British drama set in the 20th century? I thought you only did action movies.”
He flushed, and hastily got out of the car. I grinned as I followed him.
Ilya motioned for us to follow him up the steps. When I wanted to introduce myself to the man and woman on the stairs, he shook his head. The next moment, both staff members rushed to the trunk of the limo for our luggage. Things certainly were different around here. A busty woman in a black and white uniform opened the door for us.
The inside of the house was even more ostentatious than the outside.
Ilya guided us through a marble hallway and over lush, cream carpets until we reached the center of the living room. Yuri longingly looked at the huge C-shaped couch in front of a big screen TV. Ilya didn’t stop there though. He continued through another corridor until we came to a large hallway, and he stopped underneath a huge chandelier.
He turned toward Yuri. “Ulev will take you to your room. Aslanov wants to speak to his daughter alone.”
Yuri scowled. “I don’t think so.”
I grabbed his arm. “Please, I can take care of myself.” When he hesitated, I added, “Also, this house is like a fortress, you can see that.”
As if out of nowhere, a male staff member popped up next to him. Yuri frowned. “You better get me a room next to hers.”
Ilya translated, and after one last frown from Yuri, they left. I walked next to Ilya as I tried to take in the art on the walls, the antiques, and the heavy silk drapes, all of which looked like artifacts from another time. A time when women wore corsets.
I didn’t dare think too much about how Aslanov had garnered the riches with which he paid for all of this.
“I feel like I’ve requested an audience with a Russian czar,” I admitted to Ilya.
When he didn’t correct me, my anxiety grew. Perhaps coming here hadn’t been such a great idea after all. But I needed to know the truth. Needed to see the man whom my mother had loved. The man who got her killed, in the end.
I wasn’t so naive or so pissed off at Kristoff that I didn’t know who had truly killed my mother. It had been one of Aslanov’s many enemies. The man reaped what he sowed. Sadly, my mother had become a casualty in Aslanov’s dance with his devils. Yet I couldn’t shake the idea that I had to meet him, look him in the eye, and understand why my mother had loved a man who seemed to be described as a monster.
You mean like you love a man referred to as soulless?
Touché, inner voice.
There was art everywhere, from paintings to marble statues, and even a set of ancient armor and flags of countries that no longer existed. Walking down the blue-and-gold marble hall felt like I was walking through a history lesson on warfare. There were swords and old weapons plastered everywhere.
“He’s quite the collector,” I remarked to Ilya, who walked beside me.
His eyes hardened. “Aslanov does like his trinkets, yes.”
That didn’t sound ominous at all. “You make it sound like he’s into shiny, new objects.” When he didn’t react, I asked, “Am I a new, shiny object to him?”
I wasn’t sure if Ilya would answer me, let alone truthfully, but this question had been on my mind ever since I found out Aslanov wanted to see me. Was it because he was just as surprised as I was that he had a daughter? Or did he have nefarious reasons? Though I couldn’t think of one. I didn’t have anything of value to him. And I hated the thought that my mind even went there. Curse Kristoff for training me to always look at any situation from all angles.
We went through another door. From the corner of my eye, I saw several people hurrying around with armfuls of plates and serving trays.
“There’s a dinner in your honor tonight,” Ilya explained.
I couldn’t help but feel weirded out about that. I hadn’t even met the man, and he was already hosting a dinner for me?
“That’s a bit presumptuous of him, don’t you think? Just because I’m here to speak to him doesn’t mean I will stay.” In fact, after I had made a call to my lawyer, I’d checked out some hotels in Moscow. Just to be sure I would have a place to stay in case things didn’t pan out with Aslanov.
Ilya stood before a heavy, wooden door. “You will stay because it’s the only place you’ll be safe. This isn’t America anymore, so Romanov’s edict doesn’t apply here.”
When he put his hand on the doorknob, I grabbed it. “What edict? What are you talking about?”
He let go of the door. “Kristoff butchered the men who went after you, then sent them back to their boss in pieces. Your father’s enemies got the message. No one is to touch you while you’re staying under Romanov’s roof.”
I let go of his arm. “Thank you for telling me.”
He nodded. “Your father is not presumptuous. He simply knows that the only way to keep you alive here is if you stay under his protection.”
