Chapter 22 #2
“Hey, what about me? Am I chopped liver to you now?” Kostya complains beside me, grabbing our niece and pulling her into his own hug.
Lucky’s scowl stays in place, but at least he doesn’t look at Kostya with the same hostility he saves for me.
I’m guessing it’s because while I’ve been spending all my free time with Stella, Kostya has been using his to spend time with Kira and her foster brother Darius at her place.
A place I’m sure Lucky plans to live in twenty-four seven the second he graduates high school.
“Let me show you guys around,” Kostya says, already ushering them deeper into the casino.
I watch Selene give Annamaria a quick nod, granting her permission to go with Kostya.
Poor girl really is kept on a tight leash, isn’t she?
But Stella’s younger sister isn’t my concern tonight, her father is.
“Vincent,” I finally greet, extending my hand. “I’m glad you were able to make it.”
“None of us would dare miss this event. Stella wouldn’t hear of it,” Selene chimes, surprising the hell out of me when she leans in and kisses both my cheeks.
The fuck?
She steps back, completely unaware that her little gesture caught me—and the men in her life—off guard.
“Where is that daughter of mine anyway? Do you know?” she asks, scanning the bustling crowd before turning back to me.
“I… um…”
Fuck, is it hot in here?
I tug at my lapel. “She should be around here somewhere. I can go find her.”
“Nonsense. You stay right here and have your guy talk. I’ll find my daughter.” Selene grins at me. “But before I go, I want to thank you for all the care and attention you’ve given her this past month. I’ve never seen Stella so happy.”
Shit.
Shit.
Does she know? Is that why she’s acting like this? So out of character?
I mean, I’m used to getting the cold shoulder and the not-so-odd scathing remark from Stella’s family members, but this…acting all nice and friendly to me…this will take some getting used to.
“So happy that Stella might almost forget that he’s the reason she has a scar on her left shoulder,” Giovanni adds, his chestnut eyes throwing knives at me.
Okay. This is more my speed. This animosity I can understand.
“Gio,” Vincent interjects, silencing him with nothing more than his tone. “We’ve put that incident behind us. No need to pick at an old scab that is determined to heal.”
“I second that,” Selene says. “Gio, why don’t you accompany me on my search?”
Giovanni shoots me one last biting look but doesn’t dare deny his boss’s wife anything. He follows her into the crowd, both of them swallowed up within seconds.
Vincent, his enforcer, Dominic, and I stay where we are.
“Is your consigliere going to be a problem for me?” I ask, keeping my voice even. “If so, I’d rather know now than later.”
“Gio is not a problem,” Vincent replies. “But you can expect a few jabs from time to time. He may have accepted you into our lives, but that doesn’t mean he’ll roll out the red carpet for you.”
The man is just like Lucky.
“Understood. And you? What do you think of all this?”
Vincent scans the riverboat, his ice-cold stare never softening. “It will do.”
I almost want to pull a Kostya and clutch my chest dramatically, pretending to be wounded by such lukewarm praise.
“It will more than do,” I counter. “By my count, this place will be cashing out a revenue of millions every week. Are you ready for that kind of cash flow?”
Vincent turns to me and smiles.
He actually fucking smiles.
And that alone puts every instinct I have on high alert.
“I’m always ready for anything, Kirill. It would serve you well to remember that.”
With those words, he walks off, likely to find his wife.
But I’m not alone.
Dominic is still beside me, standing like a marble statue, eyes sweeping the crowd like a hawk.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” Dominic says, after a while, his voice so low I almost have to lean in to hear him.
“I’m running a business. That’s all I’m doing here.”
“Not true.”
His blue eyes narrow at something across the room, coaxing my gaze to follow his, and land on my Stella. Her face is lit up, happy, laughing away with Annamaria. Vincent and Selene stand beside them, Kira and Lucky nearby, and even Giovanni manages a smile at some joke Kostya must have said.
“You aimed your sights on a bigger prize,” Dominic murmurs. “I know it. Vincent knows it. Gio knows it. And so does Selene. Hell, even the kids have their suspicions.”
My shoulders tense.
I’m ready to play dumb, to tell him I have no idea what he’s referring to, when he turns his back on his family just to look me dead in the eyes. His voice is a deadly calm, the kind that feels like death itself brushing a hand across your cheek.
“That girl is everything to us. She’s everything to me. Tread carefully, Kirill. If I ever see her shed one tear because of you, I will end you. Friend or foe. I couldn’t give a shit. Nod if you understand me.”
And like a fucking idiot, I nod.
Dominic watches me for another agonizing second before turning his back and heading toward his family.
But that’s when I remember who the fuck I am, and he can’t just threaten me without getting a warning of my own. I grab his shoulder and spin him back around. But now that I find myself face-to-face with him, instead of a warning, only three words manage to come out.
“I love her.”
His shoulders sag just a fraction, then he lets out an exhale, looking around the riverboat like the whole place is explanation enough.
“I know,” he says quietly. “Why else go through all this trouble?”
He turns away again.
And this time, I don’t stop him.
Tonight, I was hoping to get Stella’s father’s approval…and I think I just got it.