Chapter 21 #2
Once I drop Lev at therapy, I end up driving straight back to the diner, sitting in the car and watching her for a few minutes before I have to meet my brothers.
Everything about her gets under my skin. The curve of her mouth. The way she shoves her hair back from her face. The way she gives some stranger a soft smile.
And all I can think about is how much I want that look aimed at me instead.
I check the time on the dash, knowing if I don’t leave now, I’ll be late for the meeting and for picking up Lev.
Blyat.
I keep telling myself things would be easier if I had a nanny again, but I stopped interviewing days ago, already calling it a lost cause. But the truth is, it isn’t that complicated. I already know who I want, and no one else is ever going to come close.
Twenty minutes later, I’m pulling into the parking lot of our office building. I’m already halfway to the elevator before the doorman finishes his greeting.
Upstairs, the front secretary looks up the moment I walk in, her posture snapping straight when she spots me.
“Mr. Marinov,” she says quickly.
I don’t slow down. “Where are they?”
“Conference room.”
When I step inside, my brothers are already there, Anton standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, Aleksei at the table. Konstantin is at the head, finishing a call before slipping his phone into his pocket.
“So, what is this meeting about? I don’t have long. I have to pick Lev up.”
Konstantin’s flips a hand in the air. “You should’ve told me. I would have conferenced you.”
I shrug. “It’s fine. I’ll make it.” I take a seat at the table. “What’s going on? Your text said it was urgent.”
Konstantin studies each of us. “Harlan Whitlock called me this morning. They want a sit-down to discuss the trouble between us.”
Aleksei lets out a short, humorless laugh. “You mean how they have been trying to take our business.”
“Yes.” Konstantin nods. “And like I told you last time, we are going to sit down with them and have an open dialogue before we escalate matters.”
Aleksei’s mouth twists. “Do you trust those assholes?”
Konstantin’s gaze slides to him. “No. Of course not. But if we are going to conduct ourselves like proper businessmen, this is what we must do first.” He leans back slightly as he considers his next words.
“We meet them tomorrow at their ranch. We see what they have to say. If we do not like it…” His expression hardens. “That is the end of it.”
“Fine.” I’m already pushing to my feet. “Is that all?”
“For now.” He tips his chin.
I head for the door, ready to get the hell out of here, when his voice stops me.
“Kirill. Everything alright? Do you need help with Lev?”
I peer over my shoulder. “No. I’m okay. I’ll find someone.”
He studies me like he doesn’t quite believe it. “Khorosho. But if you do need help, let me and Emilia know. We are family. We help each other. We are nothing without that.”
“Spasebo,” I tell him, and I mean it…right up until Aleksei cuts in, ruining the moment like always.
“You still haven’t asked the homeless girl to marry you? That would help your nanny situation.”
His grin only stretches when I hit him with a glower.
“Her name is Sloane,” I correct flatly. “And no, I don’t plan on marrying her.”
“That’s good,” Anton adds almost idly, like it’s an offhand observation. “Marriage would only weaken you. And you already have Lev doing that.”
I’m on him before the last word even leaves his mouth.
One second, he’s standing there, and the next, he’s slammed against the wall, my forearm locked across his throat, holding him there.
He doesn’t fight back. He simply watches me, calm as ever, like he genuinely can’t understand what he said wrong.
My blood roars in my ears.
“My son is not a weakness.” Every word is edged with fury. “Ti ponil?” You understand?
Hands grab at my arm, my brothers trying to pull me off him, but it’s useless when I’m like this. When all I can see is Lev’s face. When my father appears, repeating the same words.
The past crashes into the present until I don’t know whose throat my arm is actually against.
Anton’s eyes don’t change. If anything, he looks…curious. Like I’m a puzzle he wants to pull apart and study.
Somewhere under all the anger, I know he didn’t mean it the way it sounded. He doesn’t know what it is to have a child or to love someone so much it terrifies you. But hearing him say that about my son? I couldn't let it go.
My grip loosens a fraction and I step back, forcing air through my nose. Anton calmly straightens his jacket, smoothing the fabric like I was nothing more than an inconvenience.
“You just proved my point,” he says, almost bored.
I move toward him again, right on the edge of ending this, brother or not.
Konstantin steps between us, one hand on my chest as his gaze cuts to Anton. “Enough. I think it is time you shut your mouth.”
Anton’s lips twitch like he’s nowhere near done, but he stays silent while I back off and head for the door.
If I stay another second, I’m bound to do something I can’t take back.