Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leon
Afew hours turns into an entire day, and I’m fucking pissed. There are no words to describe how infuriating it is when people can’t do simple tasks and your day is flipped on its head because of it.
I wanted to have a simple day, even leaving the house before sunrise to make things move along more quickly.
I figured I would be home by a couple hours after lunch at the latest. Because let’s face it, a few hours of work is never truly a few hours—especially when you have employees and multiple streams of revenue to check in on.
But half a day turning into not being home to put my kids to sleep? It’s rage-inducing.
I’m expecting the house to be dead silent when I come in, locking the front door behind me.
To my surprise, it’s only my children who have seen themselves to bed.
I find Katya in the kitchen when I make my way there to get a drink.
Her back is to the entrance of the room as she sits at the counter on her laptop, her hair pulled back into a wavy ponytail.
She’s wearing what must be a pajama set, the tiny, fuzzy shorts barely covering the top of her thighs, and the matching pink tank top cropped above her bellybutton.
She’s showing more skin than I’ve seen from her yet, and Jesus Christ I need to stop looking.
Obviously hearing me come in, she looks over her shoulder and smiles in greeting. My jaw almost drops, seeing her face. She’s wearing glasses. Large, clear frame glasses that make her look like a wet dream librarian with pieces of her blonde hair framing her face effortlessly.
“You wear glasses,” I say dumbly, not able to stop the words from flowing.
Katya’s eyes widen and she looks away, scrambling to remove them.
“You don’t have to take them off,” I say quickly, coming further into the room. Coming closer to her. “I just didn’t realize…but they look nice. You look nice, I mean.”
Oh my God, I sound like a fucking virgin.
Standing on the other side of the counter so that she can’t look away from me now, I find her face flushed and her lips twitching into a small smile.
“They’re blue light glasses, not for vision. I get headaches if I look at my computer too long.” She doesn’t put them back on, but she doesn’t look quite so embarrassed now, either. “I left dinner in the fridge for you, in a separate container if you’re hungry…”
“I ate earlier,” I inform her with a sigh.
“One of the issues was with a manager at one of my restaurants. I was there for hours, unfortunately. But at least it meant the cooks there insisted on feeding me. It would have been rude to refuse them.” Even if I wasn’t exactly in the mood to indulge in a steak when I wanted to taste blood instead.
Katya nods, not looking the least bit disappointed. “What happened with the manager?”
“What didn’t happen,” I grumble, taking off my jacket and laying it down on the counter.
“He was harassing a new waitress. She hadn’t been working there for long enough to know that if she told on him, he would be dealt with.
She tried to handle his advances for several days before he went too far and her older brother found out.
There was a fight, and it was bloody. Dealing with this issue only led to uncovering bigger ones.
He was shaving money off the top, renting out private rooms to his friends at higher rates and pocketing the rest. Needless to say, he’s no longer amongst the land of the living. ”
I wince as soon as I realized what I’ve said, fearing that I’ve just said something so crass in front of Katya. But surprisingly, she doesn’t look offended or squeamish in the slightest.
“I’m glad you took care of him, then. Is the new waitress okay?”
Nodding, I let out a small exhale of relief.
“Her brother is in the hospital, but they’ll both be okay.
He obviously didn’t know what he was getting into when he went into the fight, but he was a scrappy little thing even when he was clearly at a disadvantage.
She’s going to keep working for the restaurant, but I’m putting a female manager in place to keep an eye on the next boss.
He’s one of my better guys, but I apparently don’t know who I can trust.”
“I’m sorry, that must be so frustrating.” She frowns, tilting her head. “Have you had issues like this before?”
“Thankfully no,” I admit.
“Well, then maybe this is just a fluke. If you like the man you’ve put in charge now, and you’ve just sent a message about behavior that won’t be accepted, I’m sure it’s unlikely to happen again.
Besides, your staff clearly knows they can trust you and come to you if they have issues.
This new girl knows now too, and I’ll bet if you hire anyone new again, she’ll be the first one to tell them that you can be trusted. ”
Her words are so reasonable and sure, like she completely believes herself, and it makes me want to believe her too.
“I hope,” I agree, letting my shoulders loosen the tension keeping them tight. “Enough about my hellish day, how was yours? I appreciated the pictures you sent earlier. The boys looked happy.”
The multiple pictures Katya sent after hearing that I would be late are probably the only thing that kept me semi-sane today.
“Ugh, they loved finger panting,” she gushes, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “It was so messy that they needed a bath when we were done but it was totally worth it. Bastian is a little artist in the making, you know? He was so careful with his colors to keep them vibrant and where he wanted them. Leo couldn’t stop making foot prints even though he was tickled relentlessly when I would paint the bottom of his feet to make them.
I can still hear his giggles when I think about it. ”
Katya comes alive when she talks about them, speaking animatedly and gesturing with her hands more than before. Her smile is infectious, and it’s like I can feel her slowly chipping away at my shitty mood with nothing more than her voice and the look on her pretty face.
“I wasn’t sure how to handle bath time since I’m so new to them,” she admits with a little dip in her brows. “Bastian said he could handle it though. I just sat on the floor outside of their bathroom to make sure they were safe. They’re very independent for their age, aren’t they?”
“They are,” I confirm proudly. “I normally sit inside with them because Leo will make a mess if left to his own devices, but thank you for giving them privacy. They like you a lot, and I’m sure they would have felt safe enough with you inside, but it’s good to take things slow when it comes to the more vulnerable moments with them, I think. ”
“I agree.” She nods, looking relieved. “Bastian is such a good brother, too. He picked out their pajamas before going into the bathroom, and they didn’t come out until he had them both dried and dressed. The tub was already draining when I went in to check too.”
“How much water was on the floor?” I ask, trying not to chuckle at the answer I know she’ll give.
“A little bit,” Katya admits sheepishly. “It was easy enough to clean up. I just threw the wet towels in the wash, and they’re already dry and folded.”
“You didn’t need to go through the trouble—”
“I didn’t mind, really,” she interrupts, still seeming happy as she speaks about her day. “We had a lot of fun. We played with their toys a lot, watched two movies, finger painted, attempted to do a puzzle, and ate dinner together. It was all lovely, really.”
Chuckling, I echo, “Attempted to do a puzzle?”
She winces, wrinkling her nose. “Leo is not very fond of finding pieces that don’t fit together. I think it might have been too big of a puzzle for their age. He hated it a bit, I think.”
“Patience isn’t one of his stronger qualities.”
“No, it seems not.” She giggles. “At least his sour moods don’t last very long. It was easy to cheer him up when switching to a new activity.”
“Sounds like him.” My head dips, nodding along. “What did you end up doing for dinner?”
“Spaghetti.” Katya looks down, biting her lip. “I kind of cheated making it. You have a ton of homemade jars of sauce, and I found frozen vacuum-sealed meatballs. You also have very fancy dry pasta in the pantry so…”
She looks so fucking cute when she’s sheepish.
“I hardly call that cheating, that’s what it’s all there for,” I assure her, chuckling.
“Martha, my family’s chef who lives in the main house, makes her own sauce and meatballs and sends some every couple of months for me to keep in stock.
The fancy dry pasta is the only non-fresh pasta she approves of, and the boys like it so I don’t challenge her on it.
I do my best, but handmade pasta isn’t something I have time for every day. ”
“Does anyone have time for that every day?” She blinks. “I was barely able to put it all together while the boys ran around the house, chasing each other with foam swords. They’re little knights in the making, you know?”
My lips quirk up and I shake my head. “You know you’re allowed to tell them to calm down and sit while waiting for dinner? They’ll listen to you, if you ask them to.”
“And crush their little spirits? I think not.” Katya spins around her computer so that I can see her screen and gestures toward it.
“I’ve been researching and planning fun stuff to do with them since they went to bed.
Why are so many activities suggested for young kids dangerous?
A trampoline park will never happen, and if you ever take them to one, lie to me. ”
Startled laughter barks out of me. “A trampoline park? Should I ask why?”
“Emergency rooms see over ninety thousand trampoline injuries in children every single year and they can be fatal,” she blurts out in a worried rush. “It’s an unnecessary risk for just bouncing around.”