Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Viktor
“What?” Pushing open the kitchen door, I was enveloped with thick grey smoke. “What is going on in here?” Clamping a hand over my mouth, I coughed loudly, and three pairs of guilty eyes lifted to meet mine.
Instantly, my gaze found Leah’s.
There was a smudge of what looked like flour on her cheek.
I stared at her, and she stared right back. Her lips opened like she was going to say something, but not a sound came out.
“Are you ladies trying to burn the house down or something?” Waving the smoke away, I moved through the room to open the windows wide before the smoke set off the smoke alarms.
“Viktor, it’s—” Cathy stuttered. “Leah is just helping us.”
I already knew that. For the last week, at least, every time I had gone looking for my wife, I had been informed she had disappeared into the kitchen.
At first, it had infuriated me because why would a wife of mine be doing the jobs of the staff, but then I heard her laughter.
A fresh, clean tinkering laugh, a real one, and not the kind that she forced out when we ate together, and I had realized she was happy, really happy, and I couldn’t bring myself to stop that.
“Help you do what? Smoke us out? Burn the house down?” I asked, and my voice came out rougher than I meant.
Instantly, Leah’s face closed down. There was nothing in her face, not even nerves. I was an asshole.
“Ok.” Reaching for her, I touched her cheek. Wiping off the smudge of flour and examining it. “I was joking.”
Leah stared at me for a second, her eyes wide. “Ok.” She drew out the word, her eyes darting every which way before landing on mine again. “I didn’t know you did that.”
Behind her, Cathy cackled out a laugh, and I realized Leah had made a joke at my expense. It should have made me mad, but for some reason, it warmed my heart a little.
“So what are you making?” Turning, I surveyed the damage and right there, black, smoking, and no doubt as hard as a brick was a loaf of bread.
The corners of my mouth twitched. “Luckily, we won’t have to eat that with dinner.”
“I’m sure Cathy has another one waiting. We won’t go hungry.”
“Not tonight, she won’t. We are going out. Did you not see my note?”
Leah’s face went tight with confusion. “Note?”
Again, I reached for her cheek, even though there was nothing on it. Not even makeup. My fingers slid down her cheek.
God, her skin was soft. I’d missed the feel of her skin under mine. I’d missed it more than I realized. Gently, I drew her to me, and out of the corner of my eyes, I watched as Cathy and the younger cook scuttled out of the smoky kitchen to give us some privacy.
“I didn’t get a note.” For a second, Leah closed her eyes. Everyone was right, this is what she needed, softness and kindness. A gentle touch, and I’d been trying to be a better man for her. The kind of man who made her happy, even if it was just for a year.
Sliding my hand under her ponytail, I yanked her into my body. Leah’s breath left her lungs in a whoosh. She tilted her face up to mine.
“I can see that. I sent it up with the flowers. Or didn’t you get those either?”
A line appeared between her eyebrows. “You sent the flowers? They just appeared in a vase, I thought—”
I mumbled something under my breath. The staff had put them in a vase before Leah had even seen that they were specifically for her.
It was my fault because I should have told them.
But it did make me wonder if Leah had gotten the other small gifts I had sent her.
Or had the staff just put them away before she could see them?
“It looks like there has been some mix-ups. I’ve been trying to make it up to you.” My eyes scanned her face and glued themselves to her half-parted lips.
God, they were kissable.
“I’ve been trying to say I’m sorry with gifts, things I thought you would like.”
“I don’t need gifts, Viktor.”
“I know, but isn’t a husband allowed to spoil his wife?”
Her face twisted. “I didn’t think—”
My fingers grew more forceful as I turned her back to me and tightened my grip on her waist.
“You didn’t think I wanted you to be my wife.” Flexing my hips into her, I heard her gasp. “Why would you think that?”
She didn’t answer me at first. “You haven’t come to my room in weeks.”
It was my turn to gasp. “I know I’ve been neglecting you, but I have honestly been busy, and then I had to start—” shaking my head, I fell silent. I had been about to say that I wanted things to change between us. But it sounded too much like I was making excuses, and I wasn’t that type of man.
Never apologize. Never back down.
I might want our relationship to be less combative, but that didn’t mean I would say it out loud.
“Leah, will you accompany me to a party tonight at my father’s house?”
“A party? You want to be seen in public with me?”
“Why wouldn’t I? And it’s just a family thing. My father holds a Christmas party every year. It’s just family and the closest of our acquaintances. They would think it’s strange if I turned up without my new bride.”
A line appeared between her eyebrows. “Are you asking me for real, or is this you telling me I’m coming with you?”
I stared at her coldly.
Shaking her head, she pursed her lips. “Ok, Viktor. What’s the dress code? I’ll try and find something suitable.”
I slid my lips over hers because watching her mouth move was getting harder and harder to ignore.
“There’s a dress already upstairs. Everything you will need is up there waiting for you.” Reaching down, I cupped her ass and squeezed. “How long will you need to get ready?”
The more she melted against me, the more I started to think that ditching the party and staying home was a good idea. It had been too long since I had laid her down.
“An hour, maybe.”
We couldn’t stay home. My father would be expecting us, and he had yet to sign over the legit businesses into my name. Tonight, he would see Leah looking beautiful on my arm, and he would do it.
“Then go,” I slapped her ass playfully. “And if you take longer than an hour, then I will come up there and personally make sure you have to start again.”
My eyes held a promise, and she sighed.
For a second, it looked like she was going to kiss me, and then at the last minute, she scuttled away. I heard her feet running up the stairs and then a loud, excited squeal of pure delight.
Pushing out of the kitchen, I smiled. She had found the dress.
“This is,” Leah’s hand clutched at my arm. “A small family gathering? ”
Reaching up, I patted her hand, and her fingers flexed into my suit sleeve. Turning to her, I found her looking everywhere with wide eyes.
The twinkling Christmas lights made her eyes sparkle, and the deep, green dress glitter. When I had first seen that dress, I had known it would suit her, but nothing could have prepared me for how dazzling she looked in it, especially under the warm lights.
“For us, it’s pretty intimate.”
“Is everyone here a gangster?” she asked in a hushed voice.
Laughing, I shook my head, tilting her face up, and I grinned down at her. “I don’t know what you think I do, Leah, but everyone here is a businessman. Is that understood?”
Her eyes widened for a second before she nodded. “Understood.”
“Good girl, now let’s go and find my father.” Even the thought of that was enough to dampen the good feeling I had, but it had to be done. If I ignored the old man, he would take it as a personal slight.
“Are you ready?”
She nodded, and I led her forward. Like the Red Sea, the crowd parted. People didn’t even try to be discreet. They simply stared. And then the whispers started. They tore apart her dress, her hair, her everything, but it wasn’t because they found her lacking.
Leah was the most beautiful woman in this room, by far. No, it was because she was the one who had snagged me. They were trying to figure out how she had gotten me to marry her when so many of them had failed.
“Father.” Stopping dead in front of the old man’s wheelchair, I heard Leah’s startled breath.
I probably should have told her about him.
“I’d like to present you with my wife, Leah.” Next to me, Leah did a weird sort of curtsy, like she was greeting royalty. I couldn’t help it. I smiled. She was too adorable.
“Leah,” a hand was thrust out, and she glanced at me for permission before taking it.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Tightening his grip on her, he yanked her downward. Pressing his lips to her cheek. “Boris. You must call me Boris dear daughter.”
“It’s great to meet you, Boris.” She straightened and tucked herself into my side. Instantly, my arm went around her. She was a clever woman, and she had great instincts. She wasn’t fooled by my father’s over-the-top charm any more than I was.
Leah recognised him as a threat and wanted to be close to me. I looped my arm around her waist and tucked her into my hip.
“There are lots of people who want to speak with you, Viktor,” Boris said in rapid-fire Russian. “As the new head of the family.” He cracked a malicious smile.
“And I will talk to them. But not at a party. This is meant to be a celebration, and I would like to dance with my wife.”
The old man’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at Leah. It wasn’t a friendly smile, and she might not know what we were saying, but she was savvy enough to realize we were discussing her.
“Your wife,” he cackled, “is little more than a child.”
Bristling, I flexed my hand against her hip. “Leah is an adult. The age gap between us isn’t your concern.”
“It is when she is going to rinse you for every penny. I can tell she’s a gold digger just by looking at her.” Again, his eyes appraised her.
My anger bubbled up. “We will discuss that later, Father,” I said in clipped English. “If you will excuse me, I am going to get my wife a drink.”
Without waiting for permission, I walked her away to the glittering bar at the back of the room.
“I don’t think he likes me much,” she mumbled.