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“If my baby wanted a spanking all she had to do was ask for one. You’ll get one, later,” is growled low as he helps me off the bed. Then he’s standing tall, towering above me. Wrapping his arm around my waist, he guides me out of the room.
“The house is really empty? It seems like the people living here left and will be back any minute.”
He nods. “We bought it for the land. With the purchase we own the land to the edge of the lake to the street. For privacy, and like I said, my father was hoping we would settle with our families. All the houses are empty, although they are maintained to prevent them falling into disrepair. A few times my brothers have stayed in this house or the other house that’s empty when they are in town.”
When we first came in, we used the stairs. Now he’s ushering me into what I thought was a closet but is an elevator large enough to have a rolled arm two-seat bench in it. The house has a freaking elevator. And the elevator has a freaking bench inside it. I cannot believe this could be my home.
As he guides me out of the elevator his mother is standing waiting. Her eyes are an eerie hazel, more green but with a ring of almost chocolate around the pupils. She’s even more stunning in person than in the pictures I found of her.
Her smile is welcoming, her eyes penetrating. “I’m sorry for intruding. I was simply excited to finally meet you.” She opens her arms for a hug.
I want so badly to accept her hug, only I can’t bear to step away from Daddy. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Mother, Phoenix doesn’t like to be touched. Would you like coffee?” Keeping his arm around me, he nods at his mother as he guides me into the large sitting room. I’ve only read about sitting rooms, this is the first time I’m positive I’ve been in one. It’s enormous, and beautiful. Dark wood is everywhere, silk is on the walls, and on the floor, and on the delicate couches or sofas or I don’t even know. I couldn’t imagine being comfortable enough in the room to allow my spine to soften.
“No, dear, I see everything is well. Give your mother a kiss and I’ll be on my way.” She taps her cheek. Daddy does as ordered, bending over and pressing his lips to her cheek.
Smiling wide, she pats his chest as she tells me, “I just wanted to confirm you weren’t chained to the bed. This one is more like his father than he thinks he is. It’s how I have no doubt he’ll make an excellent father.”
The words are out before I can stop them. “What would you have done if I was chained to the bed?”
“If I liked you, I’d talk you into staying. If I didn’t think you were a good fit for Aleksander, I would have set you free.” With a wave of her fingers she leaves.
“So insanity runs on both sides of your family?” I sigh.
“Sweetheart, I do think you’re leaving yourself out of the equation. Weren’t you the one who—”
“Okay, yes, fine. Whatever,” I mumble. Damn him for being right. “Are you going to warn your mother about why I’m here?”
Shaking his head, he pulls me up against him. I go happily, laying my head on his chest. “No, she doesn’t need to know. Doesn’t want to know. We’ll keep her safe. She trusts in us.”
I can’t shake how unfazed Daddy seemed by David’s death at the time it happened. His guilt over David’s love for him was clear and genuine, yet David’s actual death barely registered. He never even looked at David, I don’t think. All the death he spoke about, killing people for touching me. “Doesn’t want to know because…it happens a lot? All the extra things that go into maintaining the truck?”
He catches my chin, tipping my head up to meet his eyes. “Yes, all the extras that go into staying on top. However, it is rarely a case of people actually trying to take our spot. We are six deep and more than three hundred men deeper. People do not want to take our spot. They want a piece of this and a little bit of that. When they tug on the piece and find out what it’s a part of, they rethink what they wanted.”
“How? How are you guys so big and terrifying and I didn’t find anything? The rumor of Milos being shot in the face and the fact your father and grandfather were a hit and that’s it. I knew about the gambling, and the women from an old rumor. I wasn’t even one hundred percent on the weapons. Everything I found out was because of your family in New York. It wasn’t until the end I knew everything. But I have a feeling I don’t really know everything. Do I?”
“No, my love, you don’t. Do you really want to know everything? I’ll tell you if you do.” The words are solemn. I don’t doubt them.
“I did leave myself out,” I admit. “I don’t want to know.”
His forehead meets mine. He’s all I see. “I don’t want you to know. But if you ever ask, I will tell you. So be careful.”
It’s a warning I have no doubt I will heed. In the quiet my stomach growls, surprising us both.
Daddy chuckles. “Time to feed you. I don’t want my baby girl hungry. Let’s take a look at how well we’ve been stocked.”
“Are you going to cook?” I ask as I wrap my arm around his waist.
“Do you doubt me?” An eyebrow lifts.
I consider the question. “No, never.”
“Good.” He stops and presses a kiss against the corner of my mouth. “Mother made sure her children could take care of themselves. That included cooking a few meals. Chef gnashed his teeth at children in his kitchen. Father had to guide him to his study and a large globe of brandy every time we took over.”
The idea of him as a child fascinates me. Once we get into the large kitchen professional chefs would salivate over, I’m pressed down into a stool at the edge of a large marble island.
“Although I believe this time you won’t have to suffer myokroshka.” Opening the double door refrigerator, he nods. “Yes, there are several dishes we can simply heat up. If you’re a good girl, I’ll make yousyrnikifor breakfast.”
