Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Matteo
Dinner begins to finish up faster than I want it to, and with less conversation than I hoped for.
Before coming here, I pictured dinner with Anya and her family allowing me to have more time to speak with her.
I saw us talking lowly between one another while her family members made their own chatter and we ignored them—too captivated with each other to care.
I should have known that that wouldn’t be possible.
I realistically should have guessed that her father and uncles would play interference between us.
But honestly, most of the talking has been led by Nadya.
I can’t even be upset about it either. She’s just a kid, not even a teenager yet, and Anya seemed to smile every time her little cousin spoke.
I know from our previous conversations that she feels similarly about Nadya that she does about Irina.
She wishes she didn’t isolate herself so much from them and wishes she would have felt strong enough to keep in contact with them sooner.
And from what I understand, tonight is the first time Anya is really seeing her cousin again, more than just in passing.
“Well, that was all very filling,” Irina says, patting her flat stomach as if it’s unbearably full. “I think I need a walk around the gardens before dessert. Nadya, will you and your papa escort me?”
I expect the twelve-year-old to roll her eyes or gripe about being asked to leave, but she is visibly excited by the prospect, shooting up from her seat with a grin. “I love our princess walks. Can we make Papa act like he’s our bodyguard again?”
Irina grins. “We sure can.”
“You just want to give them more time alone,” Lev gripes, but softens when his daughter grabs his arm to tug him out of his seat.
As the small family breaks off from the group and heads out of the dining room, I turn to Anya with a lift of my brows. “Princess walks?”
Her eyes are shining with fondness as she explains, “It’s something I made up when I was little.
I would walk and skip around the gardens with my brothers or my father following behind.
They would pretend to be watching over the royal princess while I frolicked.
I don’t know why I thought it was so fun, but Nadya decided she liked it too. It’s become sort of a silly tradition.”
“Royal princess ballerina.”
Anya and I both look up at the sound of her father’s voice, turning to the head of the table where he remains seated.
The Pakhan clears his throat at the attention and elaborates, “You’d have us call you a princess ballerina.
Royalty wasn’t enough for you, you needed to make sure that we knew you were more than a princess. ”
Anya’s cheeks turn a warm shade of pink and she smiles at him. “I was a bit insistent in that, I remember.”
“A bit?” He chuckles. “You were the most determined little girl, dochen’ka. You used to march around these halls in your ballet slippers with more personality than either of your poor brothers. We were helpless. Not a single one of us could tell you no.”
“You were running a tight ship, huh?” I muse, grinning as she flushes deeper. “No wonder Nadya is such a shark, it’s hereditary.”
“Nadya was a sweet, shy girl,” Anya disagrees. “This side of her is new, to me at least.”
“She’s a late bloomer, then,” I decide.
Anton grunts, nodding sharply. “That or she’s always been like this but lulled us into a false sense of security to fool every one of us.”
“She’s clever enough for it,” Anya says softly.
Mikhail and Anton make noises of agreement, and once again, the table becomes quiet.
All our plates are empty, and more notably, the bottle of vodka is too.
I guess that between three grown men, a medium-sized bottle of straight liquor isn’t that inebriating because none of them seem to be even the least bit drunk.
“Do you want to see the rest of the house?” Anya asks suddenly, like she’s been working up the nerve to blurt the question out at me. “While we wait for them to come back?”
“A tour?” I ask, ready to jump up and follow her eagerly. “Sounds fun.”
“Downstairs only,” Anton says almost harshly. It’s like he wants to bark the command but can’t bring himself to be too loud or forceful with his precious daughter. “I don’t want him anywhere near your room.”
“Okay,” Anya agrees without pause. She scrunches her nose though, seemingly confused by the abrupt order.
“It’s not like I need a bedroom tour, anyway. I’ve already seen it,” I quip, trying to lighten the mood.
“What?” Mikhail demands, his voice going deep and hard.
“On video chat,” Anya quickly clarifies, looking scandalized by what her uncle could be imagining. “He’s seen it in the background on the phone, Uncle. He’s never been to the house before today.”
Well, that’s not entirely true. But Anya has no idea about my exploits with Nico years ago, and now would not be the time to reveal them.
I don’t know if there should ever be a time, honestly.
I haven’t even considered how Anton may feel that I once delivered the head, hands, and cocks of the men Nico and I tracked down and tortured to his front door.
I assume he’d be grateful, but he may also be pissed off that we never revealed ourselves. The only evidence he received for the suffering of the men we broke were the encrypted video files we gave him, documenting hours of unending agony delivered by masked men.
Snapping out of the thought, I stand up and have to remind myself not to offer Anya my hand to help her out of her seat. Gentlemanly manners look a hell of a lot different when any form of physical touch is off the table.
Anya holds her hands in front of her stomach, standing from the table and giving her father a parting look before leading me out of the room.
“I’m sorry about them,” she tells me under her breath once we’re far enough away.
“Don’t be,” I insist. “They weren’t so bad, honestly. Nadya kept everyone too busy for them to really grill me, I think.”
Guiding me further away from the dining room, she almost winces. “I can’t believe you paid her. You didn’t have to do that. She doesn’t even need money.”
“Neither do I,” I reply with a shrug. “I don’t mind, it was kind of endearing to see her so comfortable around you all. And me. I was glad she wasn’t scared of me or something. I imagine Lev would try to poison my dinner if she hated me as much as he does.”
Anya sighs, shaking her head. “You’re so okay with him disliking you. I don’t like how he speaks to you.”
“Ahh, that’s because you don’t understand him like I do,” I say, waving a dismissive hand. “I can admit that I probably won’t be much better when Isobella is older. If she brings home a handsome cocky fucker claiming to be her friend, I’ll likely be losing my mind too.”
Anya breathes out a laugh at that, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t be so obvious about your feelings, I bet. You’d be scared of upsetting her.”
“Too right.”
She smiles, hearing my agreement.
“So, this is the family room...”
The rest of the tour goes on much the same way. Anya showing me a new room while we chat on the walk to it. And eventually, it comes to an end near her former ballet studio, in a small sitting room that has a piano. A piano that, according to Anya, has never been played.
“We don’t have to go back yet,” she tells me, leaning back against the wall rather than taking a seat. “They’ll come looking for us if we’re gone too long, but it’s only been a few minutes.”
More alone time? Don’t have to tell me twice.
“We should soak up all the conversation we can have before Nadya comes back,” I agree conspiratorially. “She might try to get more money out of me, or some blood if her father has anything to do with it.”
“Not funny.” She pouts.
She doesn’t like the idea of me hurt.
Why is that so exciting? It should be obvious that she wouldn’t enjoy that.
Anya wouldn’t want to see anyone hurt, let alone one of her friends.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, sincerely wanting to know.
“I’m okay,” she says, looking down as she answers. “It’s a lot, but yeah…I don’t really know.”
Seeing the immediate change in her tone, I almost wish I hadn’t asked.
“I can leave,” I offer almost reluctantly. “If tonight has been a little too much and you want some time alone…I won’t mind if you need me to go.”
“N-no.” Anya shakes her head as the word tumbles out of her and she looks back up at me almost pleadingly. “I’m doing okay, honestly. Tonight has been a lot, but I don’t feel bad. I—It’s been nice.”
Relief has my shoulders relaxing and my smile lifting. “That’s good to hear. I’m kind of afraid that when I leave, Lev is going to follow me back to my hotel room and stare at me all night while I sleep to be honest.”
A startled laugh bubbles up and she catches it, covering her mouth with her hand. “He wouldn’t. You paid for Nadya’s allyship, remember? She’ll have to make sure he behaves.”
I snap my fingers, pointing to her with a grin. “You’re right. I’ll have to have faith in her.”
“I can’t believe they just stayed with you until it was time to come over.” Anya sighs, tapping her fingers against the wall behind her nervously. “They’re so strange, I’m sorry.”
“Strange,” I echo, chuckling. “Yeah, that’s a fitting word. I almost expected more violence than menacing stares and silence, but it hasn’t been so bad.” It’s been worth it to see you.
“God, I hope it’s never violent.” She bites her lip, worrying. I catch sight of the action and my stomach goes warm, almost hot. “I don’t know if I could forgive Uncle Lev if he hurt you for no reason.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’d have a reason,” I joke, rolling my eyes. “Like my face being too smug or my breathing being too loud, or something equally offensive to the man.”
“Those aren’t good reasons at all,” she mumbles, frowning. “I’m sorry that coming to visit me comes with so much hostility.”