3. Elena
3
ELENA
A fter my early morning visit from the guys, I jump into the shower and clear my head. I need to get my game face on as it looks like Sophie has questions for me and isn’t going to stop until I answer them. If I’m honest, I’m nervous about what this morning will be like especially as I’m sure Max and Grace won’t be down for breakfast any time soon. It’s going to be me, the Clark family, and Sergei. I’m not sure yet which way his loyalties will be swinging as he seems rather close with Grace.
You are a lethal assassin, Elena. You can handle the most dangerous people in the world, this family will be a piece of cake.
See, that’s what I’m afraid of, this family and the warmth and forgiveness they have shown me already. I think that might be worse than coldness and hatred.
Stepping out of the garden cabin, I follow the path through the gardens, past the pool, and toward the open glass doors where I can hear everyone congregating. Sucking in a deep breath, I try to center myself before taking the last couple of steps into domestica.
“Ellie,” Elizabeth, Grace’s mother, is the first to spot me. She rushes over and pulls me into a tight hug. “How did you sleep last night, sweetheart?”
“Great. One of the best sleeps I’ve had in a while,” I lie to her.
“That’s good. You probably needed it. And now that you are safe it’s easier to relax,” she adds.
I nod in agreement. Little does she know I haven’t relaxed in five years, but last night’s sleep would have been the closest I’ve come.
“Tomas has cooked up a Frittata,” she says, gesturing to him in the large kitchen. “Mateo’s sliced up some fruit, too.” She points to the large bowl of fruit salad. “There’s fresh bread and cereal.”
“And bacon, don’t forget bacon,” Frank, Grace’s father, exclaims as he looks up from his newspaper at the breakfast table. Elizabeth chuckles and looks adoringly at him.
Is that what normal, loving parents look like?
“Yes, bacon and more hot food will be coming once Brooks and Damon are finished in the gym,” Tomas calls out from the kitchen.
“There’s tea, coffee, or juice if you like?” Elizabeth asks, fussing over me.
“A coffee is fine,” I answer.
Elizabeth frowns. “You need more than coffee to fuel you for the day. How about a bowl of fresh fruit,” she suggests.
“Mum, stop hovering,” Zoe calls out as she enters the kitchen. Both of her men come over and kiss her good morning. “If you want coffee, have coffee,” Zoe says, giving me a wink.
“How are you feeling this morning, my love?” Mateo asks as he begins to plate up a bowl of fresh fruit for Zoe.
“Little queasy but it passed quickly. I’m starving though,” she says, giving him a big grin.
“Sit, and we will bring you your breakfast,” Tomas adds.
Zoe does as she is told and joins her father at the breakfast table. All the while I stand there surprised as I’ve been assaulted by way too much love for this early in the morning.
“Ellie, come sit, Tomas will grab you a coffee,” Zoe says, fluttering her eyelashes at her man.
Tomas shakes his head at her but does it anyway. “How do you like it?” he asks me.
“Black is fine, thank you,” I answer.
Tomas turns and moves around the kitchen with Mateo while I join Zoe at the table. Her father says good morning over the top of his paper before disappearing behind it again.
“Did you sleep, okay?” Zoe asks.
“That bed is super comfortable. And again, I can’t thank you enough for letting me crash here for a while.”
“You can stay as long as you like. The compound is fully secure. We have enough acres of land that if you want to build somewhere else you can. My parents bought the house next door, so we will be expanding further out, they move in next month which is exciting,” Zoe explains.
“You’re going to miss me,” Elizabeth says breezily as she waltzes around the kitchen, grabbing some breakfast.
Frank pulls his newspaper down a little and gives Zoe a raised brow which has us both laughing.
Elizabeth comes over and clips him around the ears as she places a bowl of fruit in front of me.
“Mum.” Zoe sighs.
“What, this is my job as a mother to make sure her children are all taken care of,” she states firmly. Her comment stills me. “Hope that’s okay. I don’t want to step on your own mother’s toes, but when you said last night that you’re now Ellie Clark, I took that as you are one of my girls, too. And I guess breaking the habit of fussing is a little hard.”
Wow.
Elizabeth has really caught me off-guard, and that is hard to do. I wasn’t expecting it and I’m not sure how to feel. Next thing I know, Zoe reaches across under the table and squeezes my knee, which pulls me from my thoughts. A small smile falls across her face.
“Was that too much? I was too much, wasn’t I?” Elizabeth says, quickly back peddling thanks to my silence.
“No, you're fine. It’s very kind of you to be so nice. But you don’t have to include me because of Maxim.”
Elizabeth’s mouth falls open. “Sweetheart, it’s not because of Max that we want you to be a part of this family. You have our name now, that makes you one of us.”
How the hell are these people so fricken nice after everything that has happened?
“Not sure if I deserve it,” I tell her honestly.
“What happened to us has nothing to do with you?” Zoe says.
I turn and look over at her. “You know that’s not true.”
The room falls silent at my comment.
“I was there, Elena,” Zoe says, using my real name. “They made sure you were kept away from us. And on the off chance that we were all together, we were all too scared to talk about anything. You couldn’t have stopped what was going on. They made sure of it,” Zoe explains as tears well in her eyes.
“What the hell is going on here? Why are you upsetting my sister?” Sophie asks, glaring at me as she steps into the kitchen with Brooks, Damon, and Mackenzie behind her.
Here we go, round what is it now?
“That’s it, I’ve had enough of all this,” Zoe says, standing up abruptly from the breakfast table. “Family meeting in five, in the living room. Grab your food and meet me in there. Wake Grace and Max, too, they should be here for all this as it involves them.” With that, Zoe storms out of the kitchen with Tomas and Mateo hot on her heels.
Sophie is about to say something when her mother cuts her off. “Sophie, don’t. You heard Zoe, five minutes. Grab breakfast. You must be hungry after working out, then you can interrogate Ellie all you want.” And with that, Elizabeth leaves the kitchen.
“Well, this has been a lively breakfast. Welcome to the family, Ellie,” Frank says as he folds his newspaper under his arm and walks out of the kitchen.
I sure know how to clear the room.
Sophie talks in hushed tones to Brooks as she shuffles around and piles food onto her plate before pouring herself a coffee and then disappearing from the room.
I pop a strawberry into my mouth and shrug as Mackenzie gives me a warm smile.
“It’s going to be fun having you around.” Mackenzie chuckles as she grabs a slice of Frittata and juice and joins the rest of her family in the living room.
“Remember, no killing anyone,” Damon says as he fixes his plate with breakfast.
Brooks chuckles as he does the same.
Once everyone has left the room, I get up and grab myself the coffee that Tomas abandoned as he ran after his woman. I take a sip of the liquid and feel the caffeine hit my veins instantly, I’m going to need it to get through this family meeting.
Stepping into the living room, the mumblings fall silent as I pick an armchair next to Frank, that should be a safe spot for me. I can feel Sophie’s glare on me the entire time.
“Grace and Max are on their way, as is Sergei,” Mackenzie explains to Zoe.
Moments later, Grace and Max appear through the door, looking deliriously happy and tired. I can only imagine they did not sleep at all last night.
Max scans the room until he finds me and gives me a small smile. He questions me silently with his eyes, and I shrug my shoulders in a ‘who knows’ fashion.
“Sorry, I’m late. My head hurts after one too many vodkas last night,” Sergei says, walking in and taking a seat beside Maxim.
Zoe stands up and addresses the room. “Thank you all so much for attending this family meeting this morning. It’s been a wild twenty-four hours, emotions are running high, and I think we need to get everything out in the open over what’s happened since Moscow.”
The room is silent.
Maxim looks over at me, and his normally dark eyes, now blue thanks to contact lenses, are wide at hearing Zoe’s words. “What the fuck happened?” he mouths to me across the room.
I shake my head.
“Before we start talking about bad stuff, can I say something first?” Grace says, standing up.
Zoe nods and sits down.
Grace clears her throat as she steadies herself. “I buried my old life yesterday. A life that I’ve been mourning for the past couple of weeks. The thought of creating a new one without Maxim was unfathomable to me. I buried the love of my life yesterday, and I never thought I would ever have a chance at finding love again until you, Max Clark, walked back into my life,” Grace says, her voice hitching with emotion. “You see, I never thought I would be able to let Maxim Vasiliev go. That man held my heart in his hand, and no one could ever replace him. Until you,” she says, looking down at my brother. “Today is the first day of the rest of our life, Max. A new life. One that neither one of us imagined nor planned for. So, I want to know if you, Max Clark,” Grace asks as she drops to one knee.
Everybody in the room gasps.
“Will spend the rest of this new life with me, Grace Clark.”
My brother is shocked as he stares down at Grace. He’s unable to find the words to answer her. The fool better say yes. It’s a little unconventional that Grace is the one proposing, but from what Maxim told me, he proposed to Grace before the Russian ball in case anything happened. Guess it’s on brand then.
“Yes. Of course,” Max says as he reaches down, picks Grace up off the floor, and kisses her passionately.
The rest of the room ignites into whoops and hollers at the proposal. When Max finally stops kissing his fiancée, he turns and looks around the room to where Frank is sitting.
“I was going to propose this morning, but we got called to this meeting,” he says, looking at me. Hey, it’s not my fault. “Sir,” he turns and looks over at Frank, “I would like to marry your daughter next week. Is that okay with you?”
Next week?
“Boy, I’m not your bride, ask her,” Frank says with a chuckle.
“I don’t want to wait. I’d marry you right now if I could, but I thought you might like some time to prepare. Will you marry me next week, Grace?” Maxim asks her.
Grace nods enthusiastically. “Yes, yes, yes. I don’t want to wait any longer,” she screams, wrapping her arms around his neck.
This was not the family meeting I thought we would be having.
“Congratulations to you both,” I say, hugging my brother. I hesitate to touch Grace as we didn’t end on the best of terms last night. Next thing I know, Grace pulls me into a hug which surprises me.
“I want you to be a bridesmaid,” she says, whispering into my ear.
A what? “Me?”
Grace nods.
I look over to Maxim, and he shrugs.
“Are you sure? What about your sisters?”
“They will be, too. Plus, you’re my sister now,” she adds.
“Of course. I’d be honored,” I tell her as we hug again.
“Last night I was a mess, so I’m sorry for being a bitch,” she tells me.
“You have nothing to apologize for, Grace.”
“Max explained everything. The fact that you were able to bring my love back from the dead. I can never repay you,” she says, her voice wavering with emotion.
“You loving him is all I need.”
“Aw, is my sister turning into a marshmallow?” Maxim teases.
“Screw you,” I say, punching him in the arm. “I could still outshoot you any day of the week.”
“Challenge accepted. Can’t wait to beat your ass.” Maxim chuckles.
Zoe claps her hands and gets everyone’s attention.
We all stop and look over to her.
“Congratulations to Grace and Max. And as much as I hate doing this now that we have a wedding to prepare for, we need to talk about a few things, namely, Sophie’s beef with Ellie.”
Wow, she went there calling her sister out.
“Hey, I’m not the only one who has questions here?” Sophie declares.
“Sophie’s right, she’s not the only one that has questions about me. About my life with the Bratva, and I’m happy to answer anything and everything right now.”
“Elena, I mean, Ellie. She shouldn’t be the only one who must answer questions. I was there, too. And even before Moscow, we never got enough time to talk about why I kidnapped Grace,” Maxim says.
Right, we are really going there, aren’t we.
“You don’t have to explain anything,” Grace tells my brother.
“Zoe’s right. We need to get everything out on the table. It’s the only way we all can move on and concentrate on the future together. I don’t want anything from my old life to hang over my new life. When I marry you, I want that day to be the clean slate that you and I deserve,” Maxim explains as he brings Grace’s hand to his lips and kisses her knuckles.
This should be interesting.