Chapter 19
Kasimir~
My brother and father just stared at me, but I wasn’t overly concerned with the way that they kept sliding looks at each other, no doubt wondering if I’d finally lost my mind, which could be a genuine possibility if I wanted to be completely honest.
“Let me see if I’ve understood you correctly,” my father said. “You’ve been...uhm, keeping an eye on Zoya Orlova, and now you’ve got her held hostage at your condo...is that correct?”
“You’re taking all the romance out of it, but yes,” I replied.
“The romance out of it?” Viktor echoed.
“I’m fairly certain that I’m in love with her, and so I’m keeping her,” I informed them both, making my father visibly pale while Viktor choked a bit.
“You’re...you’re in love with her? That’s what you...that’s what you’re saying?” my father asked, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen Aleksei Korolev at a loss for words. “You’re in love with Zoya Orlova?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“And...and how does she feel about the situation?” Viktor asked when he was finally able to compose himself.
“It doesn’t matter,” I answered seriously. “She’s no choice in the matter.”
“Kasimir, that’s not how love works-”
“Oh, do tell,” I deadpanned. “I’m pretty sure that your wife was going to kill you once upon a time, and if I recall correctly, you weren’t none too happy to have had to marry her in the first place.”
“Perhaps,” Viktor conceded. “However, nowhere in there did I kidnap the woman, holding her hostage against her will.”
“That’s debatable,” I quipped.
“Kasimir, what’s your plan?” my father asked, ignoring our back and forth. “What if...what if the young lady doesn’t return your feelings?”
“Again, it doesn’t matter,” I assured him. “I’m keeping her.”
“Kasimir, Zoya isn’t from our world,” Viktor pointed out. “She’d been ignorant of what her uncle had been doing. So, I imagine that she might be the type to try to escape to call the police. We can’t have you in prison for kidnapping.”
“Because there’s a possibility of her escaping?” I asked, eyeing my brother knowingly.
“Kasimir-”
“There’s also the fact that she may very well be pregnant with my child as we speak,” I added, figuring that I might as well get it all out there.
“Oh, sweet hell,” Viktor muttered.
My father pinched the bridge of his nose. “God in Heaven, please do not tell me that you’ve taken that girl against her-”
“Whoa, I’m going to stop you right there,” I snapped. “I am not a rapist.”
“But will she say the same thing?” Viktor asked pointedly.
“Yes,” I assured them both. “She might be at my condo, surely plotting my demise right now, but we were getting along just fine last night.”
“Why does that not make me feel better?” Viktor sighed.
Ignoring his remark, I said, “I’m not here asking you guys for permission to pursue this.
I’m here to tell you that I am marrying Zoya, and I don’t care that she shares a last name with Armen Orlova.
By blood, her father was a Kuzmin, and by marriage, she’ll be a Korolev, which is the only last name that’s going to matter once it’s all said and done. ”
After a few seconds of silence, my father spoke again.
“Kasimir, there’s more to consider here than just your...
your interest in Zoya. The girl has a job, and it’s my understanding that she lives with her mother.
Surely, her boss and/or her mother will report her missing if she suddenly disappears. ”
“So?”
Viktor’s brows jumped. “So?”
I just shrugged. “We didn’t leave from the diner or her home, so neither can report that I was the last person seen with her. One can only say that she didn’t show up for work, and the other can only say that she never came home. However, neither can say that they last saw her with me.”
“That’s your reasoning?” Viktor asked, his voice full of incredulousness.
“What of her friend?”
Now, when I’d first told my brother and father about Zoya, I hadn’t left anything out.
I’d told them about how she’d taken Montana Hughes’ place in the auction, and I’d even told them about how I had paid half a million dollars for her.
Granted, I still had her portion of the winnings, but the other thirty percent had been paid to the auction this morning.
“I’ve thought about that, and I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” I answered.
“How do you figure?” my father asked.
“Because then she’d have to tell the police that she last saw Zoya with me at an auction where women were selling themselves for big money,” I explained. “I can’t see any woman wanting to do that. Especially, if it means bringing the police to the Korolev doorstep.”
“You may have a point,” Viktor murmured.
“So, as of right now, my plan is to keep Zoya at my condo until I can get all her stuff from her mother’s place,” I told them. “Then I’ll take her to the house.”
”Syn, I’m still not sure about this,” my father stated, and I knew that he was worried because he only called us son in Russian when he was speaking to us as our father and not the Korolev Pakhan. “You’ve kidnapped a woman, and that’s not something to take lightly.”
"I’ve already explained...she left with me willingly,” I repeated. “I’m just not...letting her go home.”
Knowing me as well as he did, Viktor said, “Just do us a favor and keep us informed of...of her willingness or lack thereof. I don’t want to get blindsided.”
“It’ll be fine,” I assured them. “I refuse to let it be anything else.”
“Well, I suppose this is one way to ensure that she’s never harmed by the hands of a Korolev,” Viktor drawled out. “Though I guess that depends on if you view a hostage situation as harmful or not.”
“Your wife only said that she was not to come to any physical harm by a Korolev,” I pointed out. “And she has not.”
“Whatever the case, just be sure to keep us informed,” my father stated. “I’m with Viktor on this one, Kasimir. I do not want to get blindsided by the police or...or have the poor girl begging me to save her from you.”
That had my back snapping straight.
“I want to make something very clear to everyone in this room,” I said, that familiar tune beginning to hum in the back of my head.
“I will not allow anyone to take Zoya from me, and when I say anyone, I’m also talking about the two of you.
If you think that I’m difficult to reason with now, try to take her from me, and I’ll show you a side to me that no one will ever be able to recover from. ”
My father straightened as he glanced at my brother before looking back at me. “Are you threatening your Pakhan, Kasimir?”
“No,” I answered truthfully. “I am warning my father and my brother that my mental state is questionable as it is on a good day, so I cannot guarantee that I will behave in a sane or mature manner if Zoya tries to leave me or gets any help in leaving me.”
“How is that supposed to reassure us in this matter?” Viktor asked.
“It’s always better to be prepared than caught unawares, right?” I retorted.
“Perhaps we should continue this conversation at a later date,” my father suggested. “I also would like to speak with Zoya, Kasimir. I want a better understanding of what is going on here, but I want it from her point of view as well.”
“You’re welcome to come over at any time,” I replied. “Just call or text first. I’d like to make sure that we’re both presentable before you arrive.”
My father let out a heavy sigh. “Of course.”
“Okay, well...I suppose I better get back,” I remarked. “She might be setting the place on fire in a bid to be saved by the fire department or something.”
“That’s not funny, Kasimir,” Viktor drawled out.
“I wasn’t kidding, Viktor,” I snorted.
“Let Zoya know that I will be speaking with her within the next couple of days,” my father said, ending the meeting. “We will discuss this then some more.”
I gave him a terse nod before telling my brother, “Give Aurora my best.”
“Your best will still never be good enough for her,” he huffed.
“Just like she’ll always deserve way better than you,” I shot back, grinning because we both knew it was true.
Viktor flipped me off, and just like that, everything was right with the world again.