29. Vasili
VASILI
T hanksgiving had gone to shit. What was my solution? Drugging my brother and Dante Leone.
Fuck, they might not wake up for days considering the amount of Ambien I sprinkled into their water.
“Will they die, Bella? That was an awful lot,” Alexei said as he returned from shooing Sasha and Dante into their respective rooms, along with their wives. When the two father figures started their bickering, their anger growing by the second, I called Alexei and had him join me.
Or maybe the better way to put it was: I had him help me drug them.
“They’ll be okay,” my wife assured him. “They’re both big men, so a little extra won’t hurt them.”
“At least we’ll have some peace and quiet for the remainder of the weekend,” he remarked.
“I love your positive outlook,” Bella teased, and his lips quirked.
“I’ll keep an eye out for Nikola and Skye,” Alexei stated, then as per his usual MO, he disappeared.
“Nikola is our only son, but I swear to God, malyshka , I’m tempted to murder him.” I shoved my hand through my hair, surprised there was any left from all the stress my family was putting me through.
“Maybe I should tell him not to come back home until you’ve calmed down,” she muttered.
I scoffed. “And is he supposed to take Dante’s daughter along? Maybe make another fucking sex tape?”
Bella glanced around the empty library room with wide eyes.
“Shhh, stop yelling before someone else hears you,” she warned.
“These children are going to send me to an early grave,” I gritted. “What have we done to deserve this? We were good parents, weren’t we?” I threw my arms out wide. “I like to think we were.”
“Vasili, you’re getting yourself worked up,” my wife said, her voice taking on a soothing quality. “Our children aren’t doing this to us. They’re just trying to find their place in the world, and it’s not for us to stop them. Nikola must have had his reasons for this… this… sex tape.”
“You don’t fucking say.” I shot her a dark look. “But was there a reason to send it to Skye’s papa, Sasha, and the Marchettis?”
“Well, maybe.” The hesitancy in her voice betrayed her. “Maybe he sent it to all of them by mistake.”
“A mistake,” I repeated wryly. “You don’t really believe that, do you, malyshka ?”
She sighed. “No, unfortunately not. This seems like a rather calculated move.”
“For once, he acts with brains, and I can’t even be proud because he went and did”—I pointed at the cell phone seated on the counter—“this.”
My wife chuckled. “We have a thing or two to learn about kids these days.”
“Like what? You saying you want to make a sex tape?” I remarked wryly.
My wife wrapped her hands around my waist. “Why not? We wouldn’t need to share ours with the world.”
“I sure hope not,” I grumbled. “I’d be too busy digging out their eyeballs to kick my son’s ass.”
The door to the library swung open and my brother Sasha strode in, leaving the door wide open behind him. “Where is popcorn?”
“What the fuck are you doing up?”
Bella brought her hand up, clutching her forehead. “Shit, I should have given him a bigger dose.”
“I need to kill that fucker,” he slurred, stumbling over the chair. “Fuck, when did you move the furniture around?”
“It’s been there for years,” I said dryly, downing the drink that sat on the bookshelf, the bitter taste trickling down my throat.
“I’m going to teach my nephew a lesson.” He came around the bar cart, holding himself up. “Punch him in the face. Break his pretty nose that he was lucky enough to inherit from me.”
“Bella, drug him some more before I break his pretty nose.”
She shot me a humorless glance. “Not so worried about him overdosing now, are we?”
“Did you see it?” Sasha interrupted, slurring his words. “How dare he touch my kid.”
“Well, she’s technically Dante’s kid,” I pointed out unnecessarily.
“My daughter,” he shouted, ignoring me.
I remained silent, knowing it would only aggravate him further.
“Fuck. You.” Yep, there it was.
“ Malyshka ,” I said out the side of my mouth. “Drug this man before I lose my shit.”
She rushed toward the black medical bag she’d left on the couch and pulled out a needle.
“Why are you so violent, brat ?” At least he still referred to me as a brother. “Why are you shoving me around?” I pushed him onto the couch and he sprawled sideways, tilting his face up to my wife who stood there with the needle ready. “Are you trying to kill me, sister-in-law?”
“Not today, Sasha.”
She pricked his neck with the needle, and it took two seconds for slumber to take him under. Just in time too, because Alexei appeared at the door of the library and announced, “Nikola and Skye are back, holding hands.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Take Nikola into my office. Drag him by his neck if you have to.”
My wife flicked me a glance. “Be gentle.”
I sighed. “Sure, darling. I’ll be gentle.”
She flashed me a warm smile, clearly missing my sarcastic tone. “I’ll go talk to Skye.”