Chapter 10 - Avgust #2
Everyone in our world knew about the auction, even if their family condemned it.
As far as I know, I was the first Chernykh to ever have attended one, and that too only because of the new Russian family.
There was no way Timofey wouldn’t know about it.
Silence dropped around us like a blade. I noticed how Ilana’s breath caught at my words, and Timofey’s smirk vanished instantly.
He winced as he sat straighter, but sat down anyway.
“Oh,” he said quietly. His eyes flicked over her again, different this time.
Calculating. Protective and clearly respectful.
I could see he had made up his mind not to use his usual pickup lines on her.
“Shit. I am so sorry, I had no idea. I wouldn’t have acted like such an ass right after you entered the room if I knew. ”
Ilana shifted her weight, clearly a little uncomfortable and awkward. “It’s… fine. You weren’t exactly an ass.
“It’s not,” I said. “And Timofey knows better.”
He shot me an offended look. “How was I supposed to know? You didn’t tell me, or anyone else, that you brought someone home.”
“I didn’t tell anyone,” I replied. “For a reason.”
Timofey looked between the two of us slowly, his gaze closely assessing.
His eyes lingered over Ilana as he noticed her flushed cheeks before coming towards me in my too-controlled posture, the tension simmering beneath the surface.
Despite the pain and his bleeding wound, a grin tugged at his mouth.
I almost wanted to roll my eyes at how happy he looked over whatever conclusion he had come to.
“No way,” he said. “No fucking way. Did you—“
“Yes,” I cut in before he could finish. “I married her.”
Ilana stiffened as Timofey blinked, his eyebrows furrowing. I was pretty sure he had forgotten all about his injury from the way he was clearly more invested in my situation.
“You… what?”
“It was the only way to protect her, so I got a contract and marriage license, and we got married. Ilana is a Chernykh now,” I said simply, in a matter-of-fact tone, even though there was nothing simple about the look Ilana gave.
I could see the shock and disbelief on her face with something else hidden underneath. I was beginning to read her.
Timofey stared at me like I’d announced I was quitting the bratva and moving to Antarctica.
“You don’t even like people,” he said slowly. “Or women. Or weddings. Or paperwork. Or—”
“Shut up,” I ordered.
He lifted his one hand, the other still clutching his wound. “Just saying. This is new.”
Ilana swallowed hard. Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
“I think I should leave you two alone.”
“No, please, stay,” Timofey spoke before I could, turning his attention towards Ilana. “I need to know the woman my brother has married and is keeping hidden in his safe house. I am Timofey, the handsome, more fun brother.”
He extended his hand but winced in the process. Ilana moved forward and took his hand anyway, her gaze darting to his wound.
“Ilana,” she replied with a soft smile.
“Congratulations,” he muttered, looking at both of us. “I’d offer champagne, but I am bleeding out. And I believe a celebration needs to be done with the entire family present here.”
“The entire family is not coming here right now, and you’re fine,” I said, even though I could clearly see he wasn’t.
“I am literally dying.”
“You are just being dramatic and nosy.”
Ilana took a step forward. “Should I… get something? Towels?”
I shook my head. “No. Dimitri will bring what we need.”
She hesitated. She wasn’t looking at the blood anymore but directly at me. At us. At the word married, hanging heavy between her ribs and mine. She gave a small nod, then stepped back.
“I will go fetch everything with him anyway. Just looking at this wound is giving me anxiety with how much blood is coming out. I don’t understand how you are even sitting there and talking so normally, Timofey.”
“See!” Timofey said. “Someone cares.”
Ilana left the room as Timofey turned towards me, my gaze still stuck on her retreating form. He waited until she had disappeared entirely.
“Holy shit, brother. You’re gone for her.”
I glared at him. “Shut up.”
He smirked, winced, then smirked again. “Does anyone else know? Isoif? Luckyan? Zhenya?”
“You are the first. And that too only because you found yourself hurt near my property and had to come in.”
“That is actually unbelievable. I am never the first one to know interesting things in the family. Especially not things like my brother getting secretly married to a beautiful girl he bought at an auction. Speaking of which, what were you even doing there?”
“I had intel the new Russian family was going to be there.”
“Were they?”
I shook my head. “No. Instead, this auction was happening, and they brought Ilana on stage, and I just couldn’t stop myself from trying to save her.”
“You did the right thing,” Timofey said, serious now.
“Did any of you get any other intel on the new family? I haven’t been able to continue my investigation since I have been here, but I am trying to locate their identities. Still no luck yet.”
Timofey shook his head. “You already know Iosif is waiting… for them to show themselves and refusing to go out looking, so we have all been ordered to do the same. But other than that… none of us have neither heard or seen anything as yet. You are the only person who is still talking about them or looking for them. Otherwise, they have been completely absent… from the scene.”
His regular pauses between speech were enough to tell me he was in pain.
“But I do know a few things that you might not know,” Timofey added, stealing all of my attention once again.
“What?”
“I believe they are called the Romanovs. We received intel about a failed raid that happened in one of the Aslanov warehouses… and it is believed that it was done by them. The cameras could not capture a lot, but we have a few descriptions of what the main… members might look like.”
“Do you have the information?”
Timofey nodded, “At home. I’ll send it your way once I get back.”
“How did you find their name?”
“Someone caught the number plate of the car involved in the raid. It is registered under Romanov, but the car was later found abandoned on the highway with no other clues.”
“It has to be them, but we need to get you fixed so you can rest and be better,” I said, once again looking at his wound. It looked a little less bad in the light.
“You should know that… Zhenya will probably kill you when she finds out about this marriage of yours… and that you did not tell her sooner. And she will kill both of us when she finds out that I knew about… this before her. Oh, how I will enjoy her misery.”
“She is your sister, Timofey.”
“And I love her. But she can be… insufferable at times.”
“So can you.”
Timofey chuckled softly, then looked at me, his expression serious. He was lying back down, his head resting on the head of the couch.
“Do you love her?”
I whipped my head to look at him. “I married her for protection. There is nothing more to it.”
Timofey burst out laughing at my reply and then winced as pain shot through his ribs, but the leering grin did not fade from his face.
“What?” I asked, beginning to get annoyed.
“Avgust Chernykh seems to be falling in love at last, and I am here for it.”