Chapter 19 Trade
Chapter nineteen
Trade
Lazar came rushing in like a bulldozer, going through each hallway while muttering to himself. Maxim had never seen his brother so distraught. His suit was unbuttoned and his hair askew. He followed him around, trying to understand his brother’s ramblings, and only a few words made any sense.
“We’re fucked.”
Maxim grabbed his brother by the arm and brought him into the living room, forcing him to sit. After pouring him a small glass of whiskey, Maxim sat hoping for a real conversation, but Lazar only threw back the drink and then got to his feet. “Where’s your wife?”
Lazar didn’t wait for an answer, pounding up the stairs and down the hall with Maxim on his heels, trying to stop him. He burst into three different rooms before finding Kira’s bedroom, and the woman popped up from her work desk. “What is this?”
“You have to stop your father.”
Maxim sighed and shook his head, explaining, “Lazar is worried Yakov is going to come for him.”
Kira dropped her pencil on the desk. “Oh,” she sighed. “He should be.”
Lazar threw his hands in the air and continued to pace and mumble.
Maxim eyed her, but she only shrugged. “My father is not a man to make idle threats. Whatever he wants, give it to him.”
Lazar whipped around. “Don’t you think I would if I could? He wants lands that used to belong to the Rostovas. These people are Rostova sympathizers. How was I supposed to know that? I thought I could offer riches, and they deny me, calling me a traitor to my parents.”
“Who are the Rostovas?”
They stared at her in silence, and she raised her brows inquiring again.
Lazar shook his head, turning his attention to Maxim. “And you thought she was a spy.”
Kira snapped her head toward her husband. “You thought I was a spy?”
Maxim stuttered. “Well, in the beginning, I wasn’t quite sure.”
“And now?”
“I’m sure.”
She nodded, but it was another hit, another block added to an already tettering tower.
Lazar didn’t care about the trauma he was causing. “What should I do? How do I fix it? The only thing they want, and I can’t give it to them.”
“Well, you need to,” Kira answered. “My father will kill you. So, decide whatever they want, is it worth your life? The life of your wife?”
Lazar stared at her. The wheels in his head were spinning, and Maxim studied him, trying to read the expressions on his face, but all emotion cut off, and Lazar nodded. “You’re right.” He began buttoning his coat and stepped in front of the mirror to fix his hair. “The answer is simple. Isn’t it?”
“Lazar?” Maxim asked, but his brother only turned to him, his composure fixed and relaxed.
“I’ll take care of it.” He walked out.
The bad feeling didn’t leave with Lazar. Maxim looked toward Kira, as if to ask what the hell that was about, but the woman turned from him to go to her bedroom.
Maxim chased her. “Kira–”
“No, you don’t know what I might say to my father.
” She slammed the bathroom door, locking it, and watched as he struggled to open it.
Kira was determined not to allow Maxim to have any power over her.
Since she first got here, she just let him treat her anyway he deemed, and she took it, like a pathetic wimp of a woman, but not anymore.
She had pride just as well as he did, and for too long, he stomped on it.
Now it was time to show the strength of her blood.
If her father’s visit had done anything, it was to remind her of the power she had.
Maxim needed her. She could make his life a living hell if she so chose.
She was not going to be a punching bag any longer.
Kira was surprised to hear that Lazar was back; not four hours later, and dinner was being set.
She almost didn’t go, but she was curious if Lazar had managed to do what he decided.
She joined the table late and could already tell something was wrong.
His wife, Trina, kept her head down and hadn’t even greeted Kira when she came in.
The woman held her drink and stared at her empty plate.
Lazar was clearly drunk, grinning at her and saluting in greeting. “Mrs. Morozov. You get more beautiful every time I see you.”
Kira pressed on a smile, glancing wearily at Maxim. Her husband was watching Lazar skeptically. But he waved a hand to bring in the food, hoping some sustenance would help Lazar’s current state.
“Now that we are all here,” Maxim began. “Won’t you tell us why we are here?”
Lazar laughed, and yelled, “Let’s eat! Where’s the rush?” Cabbage soup was put before him, and he ate it with over excitement as everyone watched him.
Maxim only had patience for one appetizer. “Lazar–”
“I did it!” Lazar raised his glass. “I found a way! Just like you–” he pointed at Kira, “-suggested.”
“How?” Maxim inquired.
“Just a small trade.”
Kira’s brows knit, and she waited for Maxim to say something, but he only continued to eat. “What kind of trade?” Kira pushed.
Lazar met her gaze, shrugging. “Nothing too big,” he assured. Then looked around for a servant to fill up his glass. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn’t that how the saying goes? The damage you did with the Utkins actually helped us and now we are free of Yakov’s dark cloud.”
“You traded with the Utkins? Traded what?” Maxim pushed. The fact that Lazar wasn’t sharing only heightened his anxiety.
Lazar murmured, “Just a simple arranged marriage.” He turned and called out, “Lydia! You around? My glass is empty.”
Maxim stopped chewing and stared at him. “A what?”
After a moment, Lazar gave up and dropped the glass on the table with a sigh. “Arranged marriage. For your child or mine.”
Trina hissed under her breath, “For a child that doesn’t even exist.”
“Yet,” Lazar bit back. “Time for you to actually partake in this marriage.” He noticed a servant had walked in and quickly held up his glass. “Lydia! You look great. We miss you at the house.”
His conversation with Lydia continued, and her laughs did nothing to cut through the tension.
“Why didn’t you talk to me about this?” Maxim asked, wiping his mouth with his napkin and sitting back in his chair.
Lydia dutifully backed away after filling his drink, and Lazar drank half of it before he answered.
“I didn’t think I had to run it by you.” Lazar scoffed.
“You know, you are being entirely ungrateful. You pout around as if you are chained to a beast of a woman when she was a gift! I mean, look at her.”
“Enough, Lazar,” Maxim ordered.
“No. I’m tired of your attitude. You don’t have to worry about Yakov coming after you, do you? You’re a Morozov now. So much better than me.”
“You are the one who forced this upon me! How dare you act like I had a choice?”
Kira scoffed and slapped the napkin down on the table. “Excuse me.”
Maxim observed Kira leaving the table and nearly went after her, but he pushed himself back down and instead set his glare on his brother. “I know Yakov didn’t threaten our family. You got yourself into this mess because of your ego.”
“My ego? My ego gets us money and fame. What does yours get you? An untouched, unhappy wife.”
“You want to speak of wives?”
“Maxim,” Trina whispered.
Lazar stood, his chair scraping loudly against the ground.
“Excuse me. I’ll let you two conspire behind my back.
” With that, Lazar stumbled through the hallway.
Lydia was kind enough to lead him to the library, where Kira sat at the piano.
Her blue eyes popped to the doorway, bright, but when she saw him, she was physically depressed, shifting slightly to focus on the sheet music.
Kira’s back was tight, feeling his stare.
Would he hit on her with Maxim just feet away? Was he that brazen?
“I meant it as a compliment,” Lazar began, easing his way closer. He placed his glass on the piano before slipping his hands in his pockets. “You are a prize, Kira.”
“No matter how you try to make it sound, it comes off as demeaning.”
He cackled. “I suppose that could be true. But intentions matter.”
“And what was your intent?”
“To expose how beautiful I think you are without being capable of saying it.”
“And yet, here you are saying it freely.”
“Yes. We aren’t in a certain company, are we?”
“You mean your wife and my husband. So you know it’s not appropriate.”
“My thoughts of you are highly ever.”
Kira sneered. There was no denying that sentence. She was disappointed. “Maxim thinks you could never betray him.”
“Is it betrayal? He thinks very little of you. Wants nothing to do with you. He hasn’t even slept with you.”
Kira’s cheeks heated. It was embarrassing, and hearing it out loud from Lazar was even more so. Humiliation was not something she was used to. “And your wife?”
“She cheated first.”
Kira clenched her teeth. She had been right, and Maxim refused to believe it. “So you’re out for revenge?”
Lazar smirked and shook his head. “Do you always try to convince someone not to be attracted to you?”
“I’ve never had to.”
“I doubt that.”
“I’ve had three overprotective brothers my whole life. Normal men don’t want to deal with that.”
He cackled. “I can see that.” Lazar took a seat beside her.
Kira moved to get up, but he put a hand on her wrist, keeping her still. “Show me.”
“I am not a game for you to play. I have my loyalties.”
“To a man who doesn’t even want you?”
It stung, and Kira bowed her head. Lazar, however, was quick to cup her cheek, and though she bucked against him, he used his other hand on the back of her shoulder to keep her seated. “I want you. And I know there’s a part of you that wants me. It will be our secret.”
“No.” Kira twisted out of the seat and stood, but Lazar was there and had her pressed against the bookcase as a hand dropped between her legs, pushing his fingers against her vagina. She squealed and gripped his wrist.
Kira twisted and smacked, a panic sparking inside her.
She hadn’t thought he would ever dare go so far.
She had given him too much credit. She kept thinking he was a gentleman, that he would never attempt to harass her.
Tears burned her eyes as she twisted, trying to stop his hand while hitting him in random areas, but she knew it was pointless.
He was firm. Kira felt along the bookcase and found a small marble statue of a horse, and with her fingers wrapped around it, she smashed it into the side of its face.
He fell against the piano, holding his head as the horse banged on the floor.
She darted for the door and found Maxim rushing toward her. “What was that noise?”
“Your brother–” she panted, gripping his arms. Her head fell against his chest, and his hand rested on the back of her head. She felt safe and protected, and she didn’t realize how much she had missed that feeling.
“She’s lying.” Lazar came into the doorway holding his face. “Your crazy wife is a pathological liar.”
Kira swung around and glared. “You tried to rape me!”
Lazar only laughed. “Look at this girl. What man would come onto his brother’s wife in his house?
Max,” he chuckled. “I didn’t know what you were dealing with.
I’m sorry. I thought you were just being overdramatic, but you’re right.
She came on to me, talking about needing a baby for her father, and said it didn’t matter which of us did it–”
Kira squealed, “What!”
“When I told her no, she smashed my head in and wants to cry wolf. This woman is deranged.”
Kira was wide-mouthed, staring at him. The amount of insanity that spewed forth was unbelievable. She turned back to Maxim, expecting outrage, and all she saw was conviction. He fisted his hands, stepping away from her.
Maxim had suspected something like this would happen.
For the first two months, he waited for signs of her betrayal, and now here it was.
But it didn’t feel right. His brother had been his partner in everything for years.
He never lied about anything while he faced a woman who potentially lied about everything.
But it wasn’t adding up. Everything was in reverse. He didn’t know what to believe.
But he knew he had to make a decision.