Chapter 10 - Riley
I am amazed at Anya. I've met her before, but I haven't spent much time with her. It's been brief visits when she pops past Gwen's house to speak to Gwen or Roman. I never really got involved. But seeing how Anya riled up Viktor just made it so worth it to be friendly to her. I feel like she's going to be a hoot.
I sip my wine as Viktor sits in his seat again. “Anya, this really isn't the time.”
“Nonsense, there's always time for family,” Anya says as she pours herself some wine. “After all, that's what we all are now. We're family. Riley is my sister-in-law and I need to get to know her.”
“You can get to know her during the day, another time.”
“Viktor, don't be rude,” Anya scolds him. “It's only seven o'clock. It's not even that late.”
“It isn't safe to be out late; you should be at home,” Viktor says. “Also, who said you could randomly drop by my house, anyway?”
“I did,” Anya says with a mischievous grin. “It's not like the guards would stop me. They know who I am.”
“I will need to speak to them about banning you from the property,” Viktor scoffs. “Maybe then you'll learn not to drop by unexpectedly.”
“You better not,” Anya says seriously. “I will have Rigor after you if you even try to. I have so few friends in Las Vegas, I need all the family interaction I can get.”
“You could just make your own friends,” Viktor argues. “You don't need to hijack everyone's wives.”
“I don't hijack them…”
I listen to them bicker and I can't believe how normal they are. This is the most normal argument I've ever seen between siblings. Viktor seems to be very fond of Anya. He seems very protective of her, even though he is giving her so much grief. I wait until there's a lull before I touch Anya's arm. “Tell me about some of the things that he's done.”
“Oh, what hasn't he done? There's this one time when we were in Russia that Viktor decided that he was going to be the big man at my birthday party.”
“That guy was asking for it,” Viktor says immediately.
“There was a boy who liked me,” Anya continues. “And he was talking to me at the drinks table. We were getting ready to do some shots of vodka. He was so charming Riley, you would have liked him. Tall, handsome, my age. Yummy to look at.”
“He was an asshole,” Viktor interjects.
“Hush,” Anya says. “I'm telling Riley a story.”
“Yes, Viktor. She's telling me a story,” I say with a grin. “Go on, Anya.”
“Well, while we were doing the shots, this boy innocently placed his hand on the small of my back. No big deal. Suddenly, Viktor stormed over, grabbed the boy's hand, and twisted it back, breaking it. The boy screamed, and his father, a leader of a powerful family in our town, rushed over. Viktor hadn't known the boy was his son, but I doubt it would have made a difference.”
Viktor sighs. “It wasn't that bad.”
“Viktor got the worst beating of his life from the guy's guards and then from our brother Rigor for putting our status in the community at risk.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Really, Viktor. He wasn't even doing anything bad.”
“He should have kept his hands to himself.” Viktor snorts.
“Yeah, but you got beat to a pulp because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself,” Anya retorts.
“Tell me another one,” I say.
“Well, when we were younger, Viktor used to have this bike. He would cycle everywhere with it.”
“Oh, Anya, this is a boring story.” Viktor looks at her pointedly.
“Hush,” Anya says again. “Well, Viktor just seemed completely incapable of looking both ways when crossing main roads and he'd just cycle across. One day, a car hit him. His bike was completely wrecked. When we got to him, he was crying like a baby.”
“I was not,” Viktor says.
“You were, and it wasn't because you were hurt like Mother thought. It was because your beloved bike was no more and you knew Father wouldn't get you another.” Anya laughs with glee and it's almost contagious.
She starts to tell another story and I listen with interest. Viktor keeps trying to interject with little jabs, but Anya seems to be an amazing storyteller, and I quickly come to like her a lot.
After the fifth or sixth story, I lost count. She smiles at me. “I bet we can do something together one of these days while Gwen is away. I'll call you.”
I smile and stand slowly. “I'd really like that. It would be nice to get out.” Why is my heart racing? I feel like I cannot breathe. I don't think I can go out into public. Maybe if I can convince Anya to go to her family's restaurant, I've always felt safe there. I give an awkward smile. “I'm going to head to bed. I'm exhausted. I'll catch up with you when you call.”
“Okay, have a good rest,” Anya says. “Viktor, I hope you're not going to chase me away. I'm sure you have another bottle of wine you can open.”
I leave them as they start to bicker again, and I'm grateful to get to my bedroom. I shower, change into my pajamas, and brush my teeth. I climb into bed and lie there, staring at the open window. There's a cool breeze coming in. It was windy today but despite the slight chill, I want the window open. I feel safer with fresh air. I hate the feeling of being closed off from the outside.
I have a nightmare again and I'm up early. I have a shower again because I've sweated right through my pajamas. I know Rachel will change the bedding. She always does. I'm pretty sure she's sick of me. She doesn't show it though, she's always polite to me. She doesn't question why my sheets are always soaked with sweat, as well as my pajamas.
Once I'm dressed and ready, I go downstairs to the dining room. I hear bickering and I already know Anya is back. Did she ever leave? I walk in and notice she's got on different clothes, so she must have come back this morning.
“Good morning. I'm glad you're awake. Viktor wouldn't let me wake you. He said you needed your sleep. Isn't he thoughtful?” She bombards me with this, and I definitely haven't had enough coffee to deal with so much at once.
“Thank you?” I say hesitantly.
“No problem. Come and have breakfast. Viktor says you need some new clothes, so we're going shopping.”
“I don't need new clothes,” I say quietly, staring at Viktor. “I just want my clothes from Roman's house.”
“Shopping will be more fun,” Anya insists. “We can have a regular girl's day out.”
I nod. “Okay.”
Rachel brings out breakfast for all of us. Today it is granola and yogurt. It's delicious and I happily eat it. I finish my food and sip my coffee as Anya bickers with Viktor about how many guards to take.
“Why do we have to take guards?” I ask.
“For your protection,” Viktor says. “I insist on it.”
“I thought you said guards would draw attention to me,” I say curiously.
“Not if you're with Anya. She doesn't go anywhere without guards.” Viktor finishes his coffee. “I have to go to the office. Three guards, Anya. I mean it.”
“Yes Viktor, I heard you the first billion times you insisted,” Anya sighs and shakes her head. She looks at me. “Men. Ready to go?”
I finish my coffee. “Sure. I just need to get my purse.”
“You won't need it. Today's shopping trip is on our family.” She stands and offers me her arm. I hook my arm through hers and she practically skips us out of the house. Viktor is standing outside speaking to a guard whose name I know is Martin.
He turns to us. “Martin and one guard will drive you and another will follow behind.”
Anya waves him off. “Yes, yes. Go.”
She leads me to a car that's idling nearby. She climbs in and I get in after her, sitting next to her. “This is going to be so much fun,” Anya says with a naughty grin. I'm learning quickly that she's a troublemaker.
“Are you the youngest of your siblings?” I ask curiously, although I think I already know the answer.
“Yes, why?” she asks.
“Because you seem to cause your brother a lot of grief. Throughout my life and friendships, it's always been the youngest sibling who causes the trouble,” I grin. “Not that there's a problem with that. I didn't think anything could bother Viktor until you came along.”
“You mean until you came along,” Anya corrects me.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Viktor doesn't just go around marrying every damsel in distress. I've never seen him so worried about someone. It's sweet.” She glances out the window. “I hope I find that one day.”
“Oh, Anya, Viktor only married me to protect me. We're not actually a thing…“ I trail off.
“That's what you both say, but I think differently. But let's agree to disagree. Tell me about what you're studying.” Anya gives me this weird knowing smile and I don't say anything further. I don't want to upset or offend her. I know that Viktor and I have nothing between us, and that's all that matters.
Unless he's said something to her that I don't know about?
We arrive at the mall, and I glance around nervously.
“We're safe, don't stress,” Anya says, getting out. “This is a mall I come to all the time.”
“It seems very high-end,” I say.
“It is,” she responds. “Only the best for my new sister.”
I think about Viktor and all the high-end designer clothes he's bought me. They're not very comfortable, but he insists I wear them. I frown and Anya pauses. “Something wrong?”
“Yes, everything is fine. After we're done here, can we go to like a regular store and get some comfortable clothes to wear around the house?”
Anya laughs. “You're determined. I'll give you that. Sure, I like to annoy my brother. He said designer only.”
“Well, unfortunately, that's not going to happen,” I say.
We link arms again and march into the mall. Anya is exhausting. Not only does she not stop talking for a minute about her family, her friends back in Russia, and the fact she is so sheltered, but she makes me try on every single outfit we pass in every single store. I think I've tried on a thousand things by the time we reach the end of the mall. “Right. The Gap is on the other side of the mall where the not-so-high-end stores are. We can stop there for some of your so-called comfortable clothes.”
I look at her thankfully, and then glance at the bodyguards with us. The two, whose names I don't know, are carrying our bags, and Martin is keeping an eye on us and our surroundings. “Shouldn't we carry our own things? So they can protect us.”
“They'll drop them to protect us. Besides, I just got a manicure,” she grins. “I'm a spoilt brat. I know. I can't believe I'm letting you drag me into a Gap.”
“I can't believe there's a Gap in this mall with all these high-end places,” I retort with a snort.
“Like I said, it's got its own place.” She grins and we link arms and bounce together through the mall. I won't lie. I feel a lot lighter than I have in a long time, though I don't feel quite as safe as when I'm with Viktor.
We walk into the store, and I head straight to the tracksuits, picking out a few. Then I move on to jeans and then T-shirts. Anya looks appalled by my choices, and I can't help the grin I have. “This is the good shit,” I tell her.
“I'll have to take your word for it. The jeans look kind of nice, though. I won't lie.”
“They are so comfortable. Try on a pair.”
She searches through a rack and pulls out her size. Once we have collected enough clothes for me, we go to the changing rooms for her to try on the jeans. She comes out with them on and squeals. “Oh my God, you are so right. These are beyond comfy and they make my ass look so good.”
“Never doubt me,” I say with a giggle.
“I'm getting three pairs,” she says, marching back to the rack. “I'm leaving these on.”
I wait for her, and once we have everything, we go to the cashier to pay. We walk out with seven bags and I grin. “Wait until you shop at Walmart. It's cheap and comfy.”
“I would never,” she gasps, mocking me. “But maybe we can stop at one on the way home.”
“You better believe it. Martin,” I say to the guard. “We'll need to stop at the best Walmart you know on our way home.”
“Yes, Mrs. Milov,” he says with a nod.