Chapter 28 Kelly
Kelly
Iscratch my head and stare into the wardrobe like it might offer some divine guidance.
What do you wear when you’re about to go meet a family filled with insane mafia psychopaths? When Alexei told me his mother wanted us to come to her house for Christmas, I thought he was joking.
Alexei’s very suspicious about this. Which makes me even more nervous about what I should even wear to this thing.
I look at my shirt and curse under my breath. Nope, this is not going to work at all.
I start taking off the shirt and dig through my closet for another option, tossing rejected pieces onto the bed.
“Are you changing again? We’re going to be late.”
I glance over my shoulder and glare at him. “Don’t start with me. You can wait on the couch.”
He looks so freaking good in black dress pants and a white shirt with a black suit jacket that fits him perfectly.
I’ve never seen him in a suit before. He looks like he stepped out of a magazine, which makes me feel even more pressure to find something that will make me look presentable instead of like some random guy he picked off the street.
He groans when I pull out another sweater and then put it back immediately.
“If you don’t leave this room right now, I will take twice as long getting ready.”
He lifts his hands up in surrender. “Fine. I’ll pet Clover since at least she doesn’t snap at me.”
I shake my head and pick up another shirt with a blue jacket that might work with my chinos. This has to be good enough because we really are going to be late if I keep spiraling.
I throw it on and make my way to the living room. I hear Alexei saying something low in Russian as I approach him. I slow down so my steps don’t sound so loud and spot him holding Clover against his chest, speaking to her with a genuine smile while using what sounds like a baby voice.
I clear my throat. He looks up with an immediate scowl, turns around to put her down, and walks toward the garage without saying anything.
I rub the back of my head and follow him. When we reach the car, he opens the passenger door for me. I slide in and he closes it behind me before walking around to the driver’s side. The engine roars to life and he pulls forward out of the garage, then down the driveway.
“So any final warnings about what not to say or do?”
He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “If they start arguing about a fucking vase, we’re leaving immediately.”
A what?
“Okay, anything else?”
“No, just be yourself.”
I stare out the window, watching the scenery blur past. We drive for about ten minutes before approaching a huge black metal gate with the family crest embedded in the center.
This one is smaller than the one we passed when we first got to his place.
There are four guards outside wearing tactical gear and carrying guns.
They nod at the car, and the gate opens smoothly.
We drive up a driveway lined with massive trees on both sides, and a smaller black house comes into view. Men in suits walk out with earpieces.
Seeing the actual mansion, I gasp out loud because calling it a mansion doesn’t do it justice. This thing is a palace. Fully black and modern with tinted windows everywhere.
The driveway has a waterfall in the middle with the road circling around it to the front door. The cars parked outside are insane. I spot a purple McLaren that makes my eyes go wide.
“Is that Lina’s?” I ask.
“You’re looking at Daniil’s ugly-ass car,” Alexei says with amusement.
“Really?”
He hums in confirmation and parks the car. Then steps out and comes around to open my door.
He puts out his hand, and I grasp it, giving him a small smile. I feel like I’m being swallowed alive by nerves at the thought of meeting his family. His other two brothers who probably think I’m some random guy who’s going to get their brother killed.
I’m speechless at what I see inside the house when we walk in. The interior is incredible with the entire floor made out of black marble, gold accents everywhere in the details and décor. With decorative panels covering them from floor to ceiling.
“Come on, let’s get this over with,” he mutters.
I trail after him while holding his hand, stunned by everything I’m seeing.
I hear shouting when we approach a big open living room.
I spot Mikhail and Daniil sitting in chairs opposite two other men who I assume are his older brothers. They’re playing UNO. I didn’t expect that from a mafia family.
They all turn around and stop talking when they see us in the entryway.
One of them who looks the oldest stands and drops his cards on the table, straightening out his suit as he walks over to us.
He has a shaved head, thick dark brown beard and brown eyes. The rest follow him.
The older one says something in Russian, and Alexei tenses beside me.
“In English,” he says back firmly.
The man clears his throat and is about to speak, but the other one who I think is the second oldest shoves him out of the way with a grin.
His eyes are bright blue, and he has long hair on top that’s shaved on the sides. He pushes out his hand toward me. I grab it on instinct.
“I’m Yulian, the bald one is Lev the oldest, and you know the other two idiots, Daniil and Mikhail.”
“So what draws you to Alexei? His award-winning personality, or the fact that he’s killed more people than most serial killers?” he says, clearly trying to get a reaction.
I open my mouth to respond, but Alexei barks something in Russian, his voice so harsh it makes me jump.
He lets go of my hand and steps up to grab his shirt. Yulian just keeps smiling at him and saying something back in Russian that’s clearly designed to piss him off more.
“That’s enough.”
Lina stands in a red dress with her hair braided and a red bow at the end. She looks gorgeous and festive. “Kelly, follow me. I need help setting the table.”
I nod and walk after her. As soon as we leave the room, I hear it erupting with shouting and the sound of something breaking.
“Don’t mind them, they do that a lot,” Lina says.
“I noticed.”
She hums. I follow her through the house to some sort of formal dining hall with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlook the back garden. I can’t even try to wrap my head around how much it cost to build a place like this.
“My husband couldn’t be here; he had a meeting,” she says, giving me a small smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“It’s okay,” I say, even though I’m pretty sure what she really means is that Alexei’s dad doesn’t want to see his son with another man. But whatever, I’m not going to make this harder for her than it already is.
She walks over to an ornate cabinet and starts picking out plates, handing them to me one by one.
I take them carefully from her hands. I’m pretty sure these cost more than everything I own.
I glance up at the ceiling once, and my eyes go wide at what look like bullet holes.
I shake my head and try to focus on not dropping anything.
“Kelly.”
I put down the last plate and look over at her. “Hm?”
“I looked into your file. It said you’re a veterinarian and that your mother died of cancer. I’m sorry for your loss.”
So, Alexei isn’t the only one in this family who has boundary issues.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t need to be scared of us. I know my sons can be a lot, but they’re all sweet in their own way. Will you tell me how the two of you met?”
We didn’t actually cover this topic beforehand, so do I tell her the truth or sugarcoat it?
I don’t really want to lie to her, so I brace myself for her reaction.
“I was working night shift at the clinic when Alexei broke in and told me he would kill me if I didn’t pull a bullet out of him.”
She doesn’t even react, just nods like this is completely normal. “Did you?”
“Yeah, I managed to get it out. He had lost a lot of blood though and passed out afterward.”
“You didn’t call the police?”
“Uh, no,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly.
“Alexei told me you love Christmas, so I put this together for you.”
She squeezes my shoulder. My throat goes tight. She did this for me? Alexei actually listened to me and told his mother that Christmas matters to me?
“Thank you. This means a lot. It’s been really hard since my mom died. I miss her every day.”
She opens her mouth to speak but stops when footsteps approach us.
Alexei walks in with his brothers behind him. Blood coats his fists. Yulian rubs his jaw, furious. I bite my cheek to keep from laughing. This family is unhinged. None of this is normal. Except Lina—she’s amazing. We’ll get along just fine.
Alexei crosses the room, kisses the top of my head, and pulls me into him.
“Are you okay?” he whispers against my ear.
“I think so,” I whisper honestly, because lying to him feels pointless when he can read me so easily. “Your family is a lot to process.”
His arms tighten around me, and Lina watches us with something that might be approval in her eyes.
Mom would’ve liked her. I can’t help thinking it.
They would’ve gotten along. Both with that way of seeing straight through bullshit, that quiet strength underneath the elegance.
I think Mom would’ve approved of Alexei too, which is wild considering what he does for a living.
But she always said you judge people by how they treat you, not by what everyone else thinks. And Alexei treats me like I matter.
Everything about my life is better with him. Different, obviously. Significantly more dangerous and morally questionable. But better in ways I didn’t expect.
He took me to the gun range the other day. Taught me how to shoot, how to reload, how to break it down and clean it and put it back together. How to stand, how to aim, how to breathe through the shot. The feeling when I fired it was incredible.
I felt powerful. For the first time in years, I felt like I could do something. I wasn’t just the guy who froze, who made himself smaller and quieter and hoped the danger would pass. I could fight back. I could protect myself. That feeling changed something in me.
I want to ask him to teach me self-defense too. I want to learn how to defend myself, to not be so scared all the time. I know he’d teach me. He was so proud when I hit the target for the first time.