49. Anastasia
Chapter 49
Anastasia
“After you.” Bash opens the Romanov mansion’s front door and gestures me forward. The floors and walls were wiped clean of the bloodshed of that night.
His hair’s sticking out at odd angles, giving him the perfect I just woke up look that would take a hairdresser hours to master. We’d spent the entire morning in our hotel, never more than a few feet away from each other.
It’s been a week since we barged in on my grandmother, one we’d spent mostly in bed. Bash is doing his best to squirrel me away and keep me for himself.
I’m pretty sure we’d still be in the hotel if it wasn’t for the threat of my brother coming to bang on our door. He’s been busy figuring everything out with the Romanov side of our family. Apparently, if you chop off the head of an organization, it leaves a power vacuum that someone needs to fill. It turns out that person is going to be Nikolai. He and Damon have been hashing out a plan on how they’ll combine the Romanov and Volkov families under the Order of Saints. Basically, double our family’s influence.
I offered to whisk Nikolai away from here, but he’s surprisingly okay with it. He says so long as he’s the one controlling what happens with his life, then he’s happy. I shouldn’t be surprised. He always did like taking care of things.
“Ana!” Nikolai’s shout booms through the entryway. His white dress shirt’s sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and by the creases in the fabric, it looks like he slept in it.
I take a step back as my brother strides toward me, and Bash tugs me closer to his side.
“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you nonstop.” Nikolai wraps me in a hug, but the positioning is awkward because Bash refuses to let me go.
Nikolai’s gaze lands on where Bash’s fingers circle my hip, and a muscle ticks in his jaw. “Let go of my sister.”
Bash laughs, his grip tightening on my hip bone as he takes a step forward.
I shift so that I’m positioned between them so they don’t start a fight. “I answered your calls, and you knew that I was fine. Plus, you had a lot to take care of here.”
Nikolai’s smile brightens, and he reaches a hand toward me. “We don’t have to worry about anything anymore. You can come stay with me.”
“Like fuck she will,” Bash growls, the tendons in his neck standing tall.
The two men are staring down at each other, the tension swirling in the air around us. Their overprotective standoff has my skin prickling. The audacity of these two knows no freaking bounds.
“Hey,” I shout, cutting them off. “I’ve had enough of this misogyny for a lifetime. I’m not some piece of meat you two can fight over. Do not speak about me like I’m not freaking here.”
Both men look at their feet, the tips of their ears reddening.
“Sorry,” Bash mumbles.
I kick Nikolai’s toes, and he squeaks out an apology.
“Good. Now that we all understand each other… Nikolai, I know you don’t understand.” I pause until he looks at me. I want him to see just how much I mean this. “I love Bash.”
The man in question makes a soft, pleased humming sound in the back of his throat, almost like the purring of a cat.
“But—” Nikolai goes to cut in, but I’ve had enough.
“No buts. I’m not your baby sister anymore. I told you I’d figure everything out, and I did. With his help.” I squeeze Bash’s hand, and he gives Nikolai a sly smirk. I can already see our future filled with these two bickering playing out.
“You’ve been so busy this past week, even if I wanted to meet up with you?—”
“Which she didn’t,” Bash adds but shuts up when I glare at him.
“—you would have been too busy.”
His brows pull together, and a tiredness descends over his features.
“You don’t have to do any of this.” I gesture to the room around us currently teaming with the Everette family’s men. “I’m not a little kid anymore. You don’t have to keep giving things up to take care of me.”
“I never felt like I had to give things up for you, Ana.” Nikolai turns sharp eyes on Bash. “Questionable decisions aside, you’ve always been more than capable of taking care of yourself. And if you really do love this guy…I’m happy for you.”
Warmth rolls through me, and I lean my weight into Bash. “I really am happy. But are you really okay with taking over the Romanov organization?”
“They did a lot of shady shit, and there’s even more to atone for. It’s my job to root out all of the poison from our family.” His voice is dark, menacing. Nothing like his usual tone.
I lower my jaw, looking up at him. “Is it your job though? You don’t have to take responsibility for any of this.”
A shadow crosses his eyes as he replies. “You got your revenge on our grandmother. It’s time for me to go find mine.”