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I’m almost at the top of the staircase when I run into her mother. “Ilya, there you are. I’m so glad you’re here. Your mother was looking for you,” Mrs. Romanov says. “Are you feeling well?”
“Yes. Thank you for asking.”
“Have you seen Natalya?” I hide my expression as best as I can, but her name sends me over the edge easily and I want to go back in the room and drag her over my shoulder right now.
“No.”
She raises her brow and nods. “Okay. She must be around here somewhere. I don’t trust that friend of hers. I think she slipped something into Natalya’s drink.”
I want to deal with the bitch myself, but she puts her hand on my shoulder, reading my mind. “Let me deal with it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I nod.
She walks down the hall while I move down the stairs to meet with my mother who is in the same kitchen that my temptress had been teasing me in.
“Hello, Mother. Did you need me?”
“Yes, my boy. You disappeared, and so did Natalya. I was making sure everything was okay. Besides, you left her gift right here.”
“Sorry. I had to use the restroom and it was occupied.”
“Okay. Well, go find your godfather and greet him properly before I have to scold you again for your manners.”
“Yes, Mother. Forgive me.” I smile and kiss her cheek before stepping outside into the backyard.
It’s been two hours and twenty-four minutes since I came back outside, and I’ve kept my distance from the birthday girl. Thankfully, the only guests from her school are girls because I might have had to lose my shit and been up her ass. Her fatherand brothers were wise to ensure that she attends an all-girls school.
“Shit, Ilya, Natalya’s friends are all interested in getting your number,” Drago Junior says. He annoys me intentionally. We don’t get along because he’s a pompous asshole who thinks I want to take his place in his father’s eyes. I’m not sure why. I have my own father, and I’m sure once his father learns I want to drill their baby Natalya and breed her, I’ll become unwelcome quickly.
“They are children,” I remind him. The only one I care about has been avoiding all eye contact with me since she returned.
“Not all of them. Some of them are legally adults already,” Natalya’s brother says, winking at me like I’d be interested in a little dalliance with one of her friends. I’d never insult my future wife, but of course he doesn’t know that I’ve decided to make her my bride. None of them do.
“They’re all giggling like schoolgirls, which they are.” I roll my eyes and finish my vodka. “I’m leaving,” I say to my father, who is speaking to Drago, Natalya’s father and my godfather.
“This too childish for you?” My father looks at the crowd and chuckles just as my mother approaches.
“Yes. I have matters to attend to whilst I’m in town, and I’d rather get them over with before we return to Russia. Besides, I will pick my wife myself, and especially not from a pack of easy little girls looking to impress their friends.”
“Smart move. There are many alliances we could make if you married one of the daughters in Russia,” my godfather says.
“An alliance with a Bratva daughter might be for the best,” I say, being careful with my wording.
“May I speak with you in my office,” my godfather asks. My father and I head inside and then step into his office. “Please have a seat. Vodka?” he offers, holding out a bottle.
“Please.” We both take a glass and let him pour us one each.
He takes a seat in front of us and sighs. “Yesterday we had a situation at the house. Strangely our planner couldn’t make it, and a man showed up in her stead. Somehow, my staff thought I would allow this bastard near my wife without my presence. Luckily, I was notified immediately, and I went to check on the situation.”
Both our brows raise up and we lean forward. “Yes,” I say, waiting for him to continue.
“He let it slip that he couldn’t wait to see the little princess in her swimsuit.” I grip the glass a little too hard, shattering it.
“Shit, I should have taken that sooner. Here.” He threw a towel at me that was kept at the little mini bar. I wrap it, but I hardly notice the scratch. My thoughts are racing. “Rosalyn pushed the bastard into the pool just as I came out.”
“Yes, well, way to go for her,” my father says, although I’m still seething, rage keeping me silent.
“That’s not all.”
