Chapter 11 - Viktor
After what feels like the longest day of my life, I walk back into my home and look around. It doesn't look like Anya and Riley are back yet. She's only been here barely a week and I already notice her absence. Strange that. I go to my office on the second floor and pour myself a whiskey. Riley is driving me insane. She is just so delectable. I'm starting to wish we did share a bed. I picture her naked and I clear my throat. The thought of her writhing under me is so tempting, but I know that's not what she wants. She just wants to be safe, that's all she asks for and I'll provide that for her.
I go over some reports as I sip my whiskey and I hear them from outside when they arrive, squealing with laughter. I'm glad Anya showed Riley a good time. She deserves to be happy. She's wound so tight it's nice to hear her laughter and imagine her relaxed. I close my laptop and down my whiskey, going to the stairs. I can hear them downstairs, but I'm not entirely sure where they are. I descend the stairs and glance around.
The living room.
I walk in and smile. “Welcome back. Did you spend all our money?”
I look at the various bags on the sofas. “We tried,” Anya laughs. “Wait until you see what we bought.”
Riley looks at me with a naughty smile and I raise an eyebrow. “What did you buy?”
Riley skips behind the fancier bags and pulls out a plastic bag with GAP written on the side. She starts to pull out T-shirts and tracksuits. She picks up another bag and pulls out some jeans. “Clothes,” she says.
There's a moment of silence before I burst out laughing. She deliberately rebelled against what I said. She has spunk, I'll give her that. Riley is full of surprises, and I never know what to expect. I suppose, in a way, I should have expected this. She's been going on about her clothes since she arrived. Her personality is so robust though and it's so attractive. Sure, she's timid quite a lot of the time, but when that feisty side comes out to play I'm highly amused.
Anya hugs Riley tightly. “Thanks for coming shopping with me, Riley. I had a blast. We must do it again soon. Next time, we'll get our nails done.”
“Deal,” Riley says, hugging Anya back.
Anya comes over to me and kisses my cheek, “I'll see myself out, Viktor.”
“You do that, Anya,” I growl playfully.
I look at all the bags and look at Riley. “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah,” she admits. “Your sister sure does talk a lot, and she's really busy.”
“Yes, she is. She's always up in everyone's business, or at least tries to be. We don't really let her get involved with family affairs. We're somewhat protective of her. She's led a very sheltered life. She has an idea of what we do but doesn't know the details.”
“Neither do I, and I prefer it that way.” Riley starts to pick up her bags.
“Do you want help to carry this all to your room?” I ask.
“I can manage,” she says, smiling at me. “I wouldn't want you to get infected by touching commoners' clothing.”
“Oh, ha-ha,” I say.
“What's so funny?” Anton asks from behind me. I groan and turn around.
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard I have a new sister-in-law,” Anton says, his eyes sparkling. He means trouble and I'm not in the mood for it. I'm instantly irritated because I know it was Roman who called him to check on me.
“It's no one's business. Anya's already been here. You're not needed.”
Riley looks between us, and Anton extends his hand. “Ignore my rude brother. We've met but only briefly. I'm Anton Milov.” Riley shakes his hand and smiles.
“Twins, huh? So there's double the trouble in my life?” She glances at me.
Anton quickly steps in front of her. “I'm the better one of the two of us. The younger one as well.”
“By a minute,” I point out. “It's not that much of a difference.”
“Oh, but we are completely different,” Anton chuckles. “My brother didn't tell me he was marrying such a beautiful girl. How did someone as amazing as you land up with this riff-raff?” he asks flirtatiously.
“He rescued me, I guess,” Riley says, blushing slightly. I could strangle Anton right now. “If you'll excuse me, I'm sure you two need to talk and I need to go repack my closet.”
I watch her leave and I turn to Anton. “I should punch your lights out.”
“Testy,” he chuckles. “What's wrong? Scared, I'm going to whisk her away in the middle of the night like you did?”
“She's already married,” I say tersely. “It's for her protection, or did Roman not tell you she's being stalked by someone from the Vultures gang?”
Anton nods. “He told me. Let's take this to your office. I could use a drink.”
“Fine,” I say through clenched teeth. I lead him back upstairs and I notice he glances down the hall to where Riley's open bedroom door is.
“You put her opposite your bedroom?” he asks with a grin.
“It's for her protection. What's the point of putting her on the other side of the house?” I pour us each a whiskey and put his with a large thunk on the table.
“You are testy. Listen, I'm just here to make sure you know what you're doing.”
“Why? Do you not think I'm adult enough to make decisions? Didn't you just say I'm older than you?” I sip my whiskey before sitting down.
“Older but not wiser,” Anton sits in the winged armchair in front of my desk. “And you have a tendency to do things rashly.”
I tap my finger on the rip of my glass. “It might surprise you to know that I actually thought this through before doing it.”
“So you're not going to leave her in the lurch if anything happens?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I am loyal,” I hiss. “I am a man of my word. When I make a promise, I keep it and I promised to keep her safe. You wouldn't understand. You've never understood me. Everything thinks I'm this loose cannon, but I actually have a brain.”
“Good, then it won't hurt to tell you that the Vultures have added extra members to stalking her on campus. I would recommend she stop going altogether.” Anton’s eyes bore into mine.
I look surprised at him. “How do you know this?”
“Because I looked into it when Roman called. I've known since you've called him. I'm the first one he called while Gwen called Riley to make sure she's safe and okay.” Anton downs his whiskey.
“What do you know?” I ask. “Tell me everything.”
“The Vultures are hurting. That's what I know. And they think the key to their so-called resurrection is to strike the Milov family. They are targeting Riley because they think she is important and a soft target. So let her study online for now. Until we can get this situation in front of Rigor and have a family discussion about it.”
I clench the glass in my hand tightly. “Those fuckers need to die.”
“Calm down there, Viktor. We'll handle this as a family like we always have. Don't go off half-cocked or Rigor won't be impressed, and neither will Kervyn.” He stands up and buttons the front of his jacket. “Maybe I should check on Riley before I leave? Make sure she's settled.”
He winks at me and I down my whiskey. “You want to lose your dick today?”
“I'll take that as a no, then. Maybe you should go see if she needs some help,” he chuckles. “See you later.” He walks out and I get up and fill my glass. I sit back down and open my computer. I don't know what I want to do, but I want to do something to distract myself. I open some reports, but I can't read them because all I see is red. This Jimmy guy is worse than I thought and I thought Riley would be safe with just my name behind her. Now, it's as though I've painted a target on her back.
I down my whiskey and go to my room. I change into swimming trunks and go downstairs to the pool. I need to exercise this frustration away. I dive into the warm water and start to swim up and down the length of the pool. I try to still my mind and focus on my breathing as I swim, but all I can think about is Riley. How sweet and innocent she is in the grand scheme of things. After a few laps, I stop at the edge of the pool and wipe the water from my face. I look up to where her window is and I see her staring down at me. She quickly moves away from the window and I smile.
I wonder if she likes what she saw. I swim a few more laps before I get out and dry off. I'm not really in the mood for dinner, so I go shower and get into bed, laying on my back and staring at the ceiling. I don't know what to do about this situation. I'm normally able to come up with something on the spur of the moment, hasty and reckless but useful. That's what I am. And my family knows it. But I don't know how to tell Riley that she is now going to be stuck in the mansion on a more permanent basis, because it isn't safe for her to go to college. I'm taking away her life and access to her friends. Even if Anya comes every day, it wouldn't be the same as getting out of the mansion every day.
I toss and turn. I can't sleep. I don't know if Riley went down to dinner and if she did, if she wondered where I was. My stomach growls in protest and I know I need to eat something to settle it, but I try to hold out and fall asleep. It's useless, though. I can't switch my brain off. All I can think about is her. She's intoxicating. She's taking over my entire life. If she never sees me as anything more than a safety measure, I'll be fine with that as long as she's okay and happy. I want her to be happy.
I look at the clock for the millionth time and see it's just before midnight. I decide to get up to make something to eat. I'm too hungry to sleep and maybe eating will settle me enough so that I can get some rest.