Chapter 39 Sienna
SIENNA
My heels thumped against the cabinet doors as I sat on the kitchen counter in the dark. After he finished eating his lunch and eating me, Dimitri had left.
He had to go into his downtown office for important Bratva business meetings about diamonds or guns or...well, I actually had no clue. My brain had stopped functioning after coming three times.
He’d actually looked regretful that he had to go, which was the only thing soothing my sharp feelings of abandonment.
The sun had gone down ages ago, so I was back to wandering the house like a Victorian ghost wife. It was oddly quiet—Polina, Sveta, Maxim, and Sergey were all nowhere to be found. Even Vovchyk had been missing all afternoon.
I was eating chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream out of the carton when Maxim walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of black workout shorts.
“You’re back,” I said.
He let out a shout, whirling to face me. “Blyat! Sienna. What the fuck are you doing sitting in the dark?”
I shrugged. “Just practicing my ghost aesthetic.”
He muttered something under his breath as he flipped the light switch.
I squinted against the sudden brightness and took in Maxim’s.
..disheveled appearance. His hair stuck up in the back, his cheeks flushed red, and a very large bulge strained against his boxers.
I blinked, mildly concerned about the structural integrity of the fabric.
What if his erection just—pow!—punched a hole straight through?
“Maksik, what’s taking—”
Aleksei came to an abrupt stop in the kitchen doorway, wide eyes flicking between me and Maxim...excuse me, Maksik. He was also bare-chested, with black sweatpants slung low on his hips.
I arched an eyebrow. “Evening workout?”
Maxim grunted as he filled a water bottle from the fridge. “Sergey, Sveta, and I are back. Dimitri is still at the office.”
I stabbed the block of ice cream with my spoon and set the carton on the countertop. “And I presume if I ask you what he’s doing, you’ll give a vague, unhelpful answer?”
Maxim fixed me with an unamused scowl.
“Lyosha? Care to share what the big scary Bratva men are up to?”
“Don’t try to sweet-talk him,” Maxim snapped.
I grinned and hopped off the counter. “Well, I’m going to channel my ghost self as I wander the dark halls, and you two can go back to doing…
whatever it is you were doing.” I held in my laughter until I was out of the kitchen.
I needed to text Mila to see if she knew anything about Maxim and Aleksei because there was more than just tension between those two.
What could distract me from more boredom and loneliness?
I wandered towards the sunroom. Maybe I should go on the Forum and take a job just to add some level of stimulation and excitement to my life.
Or maybe I could work on another room design.
I’d texted Sofiya earlier today to let her know Dimitri had agreed to host Christmas.
Now that I’d gotten her brother on board (albeit not enthusiastically), it was her job to get my brother on board.
Godspeed. Matteo was one of the most stubborn people I knew, although Dimitri could definitely give him a run for his money.
The good news was that I could out-stubborn them all.
There were only a few weeks to get the house ready for everyone to visit.
The guest rooms were coming along nicely, but there was a large room on the basement level that would be perfect for a movie theater.
Realistically, I probably couldn’t get it set up in time for Christmas, but I could at least get some measurements of the room so I could order custom movie theater chairs.
I meandered in that direction, grateful to my fluffy Hot Dog Wiener slippers for keeping my feet warm.
I didn’t spend much time down here. There was a large gym (no thanks), storage, and several large, empty rooms.. .one of which was apparently occupied.
The sound of music and voices echoed down the hall.
The door was cracked, so I peered inside.
A group of the house staff, including Polina, Sveta, the outdoor gardeners, several of the house cleaners, and a couple of people I hadn’t met yet, were gathered around a table.
A smile split my face when I realized they were playing cards.
I pushed the door open and slipped inside.
The chatter instantly died down and everyone at the table turned to look at me.
Shit. Did they not want me here? I was still trying to figure out my place in the house. As the Pakhan’s wife, I was kind of their boss? Except not really. The marriage was in name only, and I had no desire to order anyone around.
“Oh, hello. Sorry, am I intruding? I was going to measure the room next door to turn it into a movie theater when I heard...” Aaaand no one at this table spoke English.
Probably. I still had my suspicions about Sveta, but maybe Maxim had told her about baby Cupcake.
Okay, attempt number two. I pulled out my best Russian, learned from hours of language tapes.
“Hello. You are playing. I like play.”
Confused looks and raised eyebrows stared back at me..
“Umm, right. I don’t know any card game vocabulary yet.
I just...” Hmm...maybe I could act out my message.
“I, Sienna”—I pointed exaggeratedly at myself—“want to watch”—I used two fingers to point at my eyes—“you”—I pointed at the table—“playing cards.” I held up a set of imaginary cards in my hands.
The gardener, Vasya, covered his mouth to stifle laughter. In fact, everyone at the table seemed to be fighting to hold in their smiles.
“I guess acting isn’t in my future,” I muttered.
Polina gestured for me to come over and patted the empty chair beside her.
I didn’t know where she’d been all day, but it looked like she might have been crying.
Sveta, too. I flounced over and took my seat, squeezing Polina’s shoulder.
Maybe I would ask her later if everything was okay, but I definitely understood not wanting to talk about feelings.
They resumed their game, quietly at first, but they quickly jumped back into their lively chatter.
I caught the occasional Russian word, but it was all too fast for me to really understand.
Sofiya had praised the progress I was making learning the language the last time we talked on the phone, but I wished I could learn faster.
Not being able to communicate with the people who literally lived in my house was getting unbearable.
And lonely. For now, I would content myself with being close to the friendship and laughter of the household staff and use it as motivation to keep working at it.
I quickly realized they were playing poker.
Sofiya had convinced me to join the Mafia soldiers’ weekly poker game.
None of us could hold our own against Sofiya, but I had gotten much better.
On the rare occasion she wasn’t able to attend, I’d actually won, leading to the soldiers muttering about their game being infiltrated by women.
Polina won the game, and when Vasya started dealing again, I joined in.
I kept my face impassive as I looked over my underwhelming hand. A thread of mischief rose inside me as I decided to test my theory.
“You know, I might be at an advantage since none of you understand me,” I said. “Like I could say, I have a royal flush, and none of you would understand.”
I kept a careful eye on everyone’s reactions, but didn’t get much. Hmm. Maybe I was wrong.
The game started. I threw in my chips. Raised. Called. If this were a game back home, I would have folded. But as more and more of the staff dropped out, the more suspicious I grew. The last person I was up against was Sveta. I met her eyes, unwavering. “What will it be? Lose now or lose later?”
Her lips twisted and she folded.
I did not reveal my cards. No one needed to know that my royal flush was, in fact, imaginary.
Vasya dealt us all in again. This time, when I looked at my cards, I bit my lip to hide a smile. Once again, I had a terrible hand, but it didn’t matter. “Wow, I am getting the best cards. It’s almost unfair to play with such a good hand. But what can I say? I love winning more than fairness.”
My eye twitched when Polina’s lips tugged upward, and my suspicion only grew when everyone at the table folded very quickly, leaving me to win again with a single ace. It was time to stick the landing. This time when Vasya dealt the cards, I shook my head. “I don’t want to push my luck.”
Not that he could understand, unless he could. I would know soon.
Once everyone had their cards, I stood and grabbed a lemonade from the fridge.
I slowly circled the table as the game began, biding my time until the right moment.
I’d identified Matvey, Vasya’s nineteen-year-old grandson, as the weak link.
My moment came in the form of a high-stakes showdown with the final three players, Matvey included. Perfection.
I sat back in my chair and leaned over to Polina. “I wonder who will win.” My voice was an exaggerated stage whisper. “I think it’s going to be Yulia, since she has a straight flush. But it will just depend on how Katerina deals with her full house.”
Matvey let out an indignant sound, jaw dropped. “That’s not fair! It’s cheating!” he shouted in perfect English.
“Aha!” I jumped to my feet. “I knew it!” Everyone at the table cringed, and their guilt-ridden expressions said it all. I slowly looked at Sveta and Polina, the two women I’d grown closest to, even with our language barrier. Sveta stared down at the table and Polina chewed her lip.
My momentary excitement quickly turned to a heart-aching sadness. “Everyone here speaks English?”