Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
~IVIE~
“ T his is the best way to spend a birthday,” Annika says with a long, luxurious sigh. We’re lounging in a massive sunroom, with a water fountain trickling not far away. The lounge chairs are plush and comfortable enough to fall asleep in. And all three of us, Nadia, Annika, and me, are being pampered. “I can’t believe you brought the spa here.”
“We can’t go to the spa,” Nadia says and sips her mimosa, “so why not bring them to us? Oh, here, I chose the red polish for my toes.”
Nadia passes her nail tech the polish and then grins over at me.
I don’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed. My toes are freshly painted pink, I’ve had a massage and a facial, and just finished eating the best salad I’ve ever had in my life. And now I’m sitting with my best friends, drinking mimosas. It feels like the old times.
“I want to marry that masseuse,” Annika says with a wink. “He had very good hands.”
“Raul is amazing,” the nail tech says with a grin. “And is my husband.”
“You’re a lucky woman.” Annika laughs.
“I think Rafe would be unhappy if you married the masseuse,” I say and slide a sly look over at my best friend. “I noticed he went directly to your room when he got back last night.”
Annika shifts in her seat and reaches to refill her glass. “He was just checking in.”
“Are you ever going to give him a chance?” Nadia demands. “You’re not married anymore. I know Rich has only been dead for, like, three months, but there’s no love lost there.”
The nail tech clears her throat and tightens the lid on her portable caddy. “Ladies, I think we’re done here. It was a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Thank you,” we all say in unison. Nadia and the woman exchange a couple of words about the bill, and then we’re alone in the sunroom. “I think I might have scared her when I mentioned that your husband is dead.”
“I thought she was going to choke.” I shake my head and then giggle. “Anyway, the point is still valid. Rich was a grade-A dick, and he’s gone. There’s no reason you can’t start something with Rafe.”
“Rafe isn’t meant for me,” Annika insists.
“You’re so fucking stubborn.” I sit up and turn to face my friend. “It’s not every day that a girl meets a guy who looks at her the way Rafe looks at you.”
“Oh, you mean the way Shane looks at you ?” Annika counters. “Tell us what’s going on there.”
“You’re changing the subject.”
Nadia and Annika just lean in closer, waiting for me to answer.
“Fine. Shane is awesome. The sex is off the charts. He’s attentive and sweet, and sometimes maddening. But, hey, who isn’t, right?”
“Carmine drives me up the fucking wall,” Nadia agrees. “Have you said the L-word yet?”
“No.” I sigh and stand to pace the room, but when I almost trip and fall into the fountain, I return to my chair where it’s safe. “There are…issues.”
“Honey, you don’t get past the age of sixteen and not have issues,” Annika reminds me. “I mean, I know that yours are heavier than most, but you’ve come a long way since that girl in New York.”
“Not just my stuff—of which there is legion—but he has stuff, too. And I don’t think Shane is convinced that he deserves to have someone in his life long-term, you know? He’s told me a bit of what his job is, and that coupled with his family and all of those responsibilities…I think he’s resigned to being alone. And that’s sad.”
“You’re in love with him.” Annika’s statement leaves no room for argument. And I don’t want to deny it.
“I am.” I prop my chin in my hand and sigh. “I mean, have you seen his muscles? And that smile? And when he gets really intense, his brown eyes get this edge to them that makes me want to just bite him.”
“Carmine has the same eyes,” Nadia says with a nod.
“So does Rafe, except his are blue.” Annika blinks when we just stare at her. “What? They’re brothers.”
“Anyway, we’ll figure it out, one way or the other. I just hope I don’t end up with a broken heart because that will suck.”
“If he breaks your heart, I’ll break his kneecaps,” Nadia says.
“You’re scary sometimes.” I pour more mimosas for all of us. “Sometimes, like now, it’s easy to forget that you’re a badass bratva princess.”
“Honey, I’m a queen.” Nadia’s grin is sassy and confident.
“I want to be Nadia when I grow up,” I declare as I raise my glass to my lips. “Now, tell us about the wedding plans.”
“We’re going to have it here. At this house.”
“Oh, that’s a great idea,” Annika says. “The grounds are just gorgeous.”
“Yeah, and Carmine was really close with his grandmother, so I think it’s a nice tribute to her.” Nadia shrugs a shoulder. “My father is fine with it, which kind of surprised me given that our families haven’t always been besties, but things are better now.”
“Do you have a dress?” I ask. “I hate that this whole mess has happened while you’re planning, and that I haven’t been able to go with you.”
“Neither of us has,” Annika says. “I’m sorry.”
“Actually, I have twenty dresses arriving here from New York in about an hour. I need help. So, they’re coming to us.”
“God, it’s good to be rich.” I sit back and grin at my friend. “You lucky bitch.”
“It has its perks.” Nadia raises her glass. “Oh, and Carmine’s mom is coming to help. My mom will join us via FaceTime.”
“Well, let’s go get ready, then.”
“Darling!” Flavia Martinelli bursts into the massive room that’s been converted into a dressing room, her arms outstretched. She engulfs Nadia in a big hug. “You’re as gorgeous as ever. I’m so grateful that you invited me here today to see the dresses.”
The Martinelli matriarch is tall, slender, and shrewd. Carlo married an attractive and clever woman, who raised three boys, is submerged in her community, and keeps an eye on the who’s who of Seattle’s elite.
She’s known for being a force to be reckoned with. She’s always been kind to me, and I have to admit, I admire her for her style, and her sense of humor.
Then again, I suspect one would need to have one to be a boss’s wife.
“Hello, girls,” she says, turning to Annika and me. “I haven’t had a girls’ day in…I can’t even remember. I’m always surrounded by men.”
“Good-looking men at that,” Annika reminds her.
“Well, that doesn’t hurt, now does it?” Flavia winks and accepts a glass of champagne. “Oh, how lovely. I’m so excited. Get your gorgeous body into a dress, Nadia.”
“Okay. First, let me get my mom on the computer.”
“Oh, how wonderful,” Flavia says and claps her hands. “Katya and I spoke just last night about wedding plans. We’re just beside ourselves with excitement.”
I sit back and watch as Nadia gets her mother on screen, and Flavia and Annika share a smile.
And I can’t help but grieve, for just a moment.
I won’t ever have this moment with my mother. Someone stole that from me. And I can’t make the person who took her from me pay for that sin. I can’t help but feel a little envious that Nadia has this with her mom.
Of course, I’m also excited for her. And when Katya sees me, she grins and waves.
“Hello, Ivie, my darling girl. You look just as beautiful as can be.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Tarenkov.”
“I’m here, too,” Annika says, waving to her. “Hello, Aunt Katya.”
“Oh, Annika, you’re as lovely as always. Who else is there?”
“It’s me, Katie dear.” Flavia smiles at the computer. “I wish you were here with us.”
“Well, give me just a minute.”
Suddenly, the door opens, and Katya walks into the room, opens her arms wide, and starts to laugh.
“Did you think I’d watch this on a small, pitiful screen?”
“Mama!” Nadia rushes over and hugs her mother. The room erupts into chaos as we all shriek and laugh and hug each other in delight.
Carmine pokes his head in the doorway, grinning. “Surprise.”
“I love you.” Nadia crushes her mouth to his. “Now, get out of here. You can’t see any of this. It’s for girls only.”
“I’ll have food sent up in about thirty minutes. Have fun, ladies.”
He shuts the door behind him, and we all settle in for the fashion show.
“Oh, this is just the best day,” Flavia says as she clasps Katya’s hands. “How lovely.”
Before long, Nadia walks into the room wearing a long column of white. It hugs her curves, has just a hint of lace, and is absolutely gorgeous.
She steps up onto the pedestal that the fashion house brought with them as a woman named Lydia fluffs the trumpet skirt.
“Now, that is gorgeous,” Annika breathes. “The back is stunning. ”
I tilt my head, not convinced that it’s the right one.
“Oh, Flavia,” Katya says. “Can you imagine the pretty grandchildren we’ll get?”
“Mom.” Nadia rolls her eyes. “I’m not having babies.”
“Nonsense.” Katya brushes the comment away with the flip of her hand. “Turn this way, please. What do you think?”
“It’s not me,” Nadia replies. It’s pretty, but I don’t like the lace. No lace.”
“Okay, let’s try again.” Lydia smiles and gestures for Nadia to follow her to the changing room.
Two hours, ten dresses, three glasses of champagne, and six finger sandwiches later, Nadia has tears in her eyes as she stares at herself in the mirror.
“Oh, darling,” Flavia breathes. “Carmine will lose his ever-loving mind.”
“He’ll pass right out,” I agree.
“I met him at a wedding,” Nadia whispers. “When I was twelve. And I thought he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen in my life. And now I’m marrying him.”
Katya rests her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and looks at her in the mirror. The two look so much alike with their fair hair and skin and big, blue eyes.
“You’re a vision,” Katya says. “Your father will blubber like a baby.”
“I’ve never seen Papa cry.”
“Well, you will on your wedding day. Is this the one?”
“Yeah, it’s no contest. Now, I’d better get it off before I rip it or spill something on it.”
“Such a wonderful choice,” Lydia says, nodding in approval. “And this one is on the less-expensive side at only twenty-two thousand dollars.”
I blink, sure I’ve heard her wrong. She added a zero in there somewhere. Right?
But Nadia just nods once, and says, “I’ll take it.”
I love them all so much, but I need a few minutes of quiet. And I want to see Shane. I haven’t seen him hardly at all today, and the fact that I’m having withdrawal is just another clue that I’m totally head-over-heels for the man.
I feel fantastic. My body is loose and relaxed, and I haven’t laughed with my friends so much in years. Things are finally starting to look up.
I am just about to turn the corner into the kitchen when I hear Shane’s voice and stay out of sight, frowning.
“I still can’t believe the son of a bitch is alive.”
“I remember when he was supposedly killed.” That voice is Igor Tarenkov. “Many people wanted him dead.”
“Yeah, Pavlov was a real piece of work,” Carlo Martinelli says. “He was on all of the families’ radars. He was mostly harmless but completely untrustworthy. He was a thief and didn’t even have enough honor to protect his wife and child.”
“I’ve known that Ivie was his daughter since the day Annika brought her home from college,” Igor says, surprising me. I didn’t know that he knew. “I likely knew before Annika did. Ivie is a good girl. She couldn’t be more different than the man who sired her. She certainly doesn’t know that the man lives.”
I cover my mouth, suppressing the sound of my surprised gasp. My father is alive? How? I saw him hanging for myself. We were so sure that the phone number we found was a cover.
Without giving it another thought, I storm into the kitchen, every nerve ending in my body radiating anger and frustration.
“What did you say?” I stare at Shane, my hands on my hips.
“Ivie, we’re in a meeting?—”
I step forward until I’m toe-to-toe with him. “ What did you just say?”
“I like her,” Carlo says, but I don’t look his way.
“Your father is alive,” Shane says.
“And how long have you known that little piece of information, Shane?”
He doesn’t even have the decency to look ashamed.
“A few days.”
“A few days? Did you know the day we arrived here and we talked? When you fucking swore to me that you didn’t know more?”
His nostrils flare, and I already know the answer.
“Yes. I knew then.”
“I can’t believe this. I trusted you. All of you. And you withheld this from me? What possible reason could there be for that, knowing what that monster did to me?”
“We were gathering information, little one,” Igor says, and I turn to him. His eyes are full of compassion, and it’s almost my undoing.
But I firm my lower lip and look around the room at a group of men I thought were being honest with me—and just feel complete betrayal.
Especially from Shane.
“Tell me more.”
“I saw him with my own eyes. He goes by the name of James Peterson now,” Rocco adds. “I sat in front of his house in a suburb outside of Dallas for an hour. No one came or went, but I added a camera to his mailbox, pointed at the house, just in case something interesting happens.”
“Like what?” I ask.
“ Anything ,” Carmine replies. “We don’t know enough about him at this point to know who he’s involved with or how he’s been spending the past dozen years.”
My father is alive.
That piece of shit is still allowed to breathe?
No.
“You should have told me.” I glare at the man I love and turn to run out of the kitchen.
I’m too angry to stay. I’ll end up saying something I regret. Instead, I run up to my bedroom and pace for a moment, and then make a snap decision.
I’m going to go find that asshole and kill him myself. This is what I’ve been training for, isn’t it?
I quickly grab my laptop and purse and hurry down the stairs and out the front door, but stop short when I see the security guard named Peter blocking my way.
“Miss?”
“Oh, hi.” I offer him a charming smile. “I was hoping I would run into you. Shane told me to find you and ask you to drive me to the airport.”
He narrows his eyes. I’d better talk fast if I’m going to make him believe me.
“He’s currently in a meeting with his father and the others and can’t be interrupted. He said you’d take care of me.”
“He said no such thing.”
My eyes close at the hard voice behind me. Shit.