Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
Ivan
My mother was watching Jane on the terrace when I got up one morning. It had been almost two weeks since we’d moved in, and we were adjusting well—especially my mother. She loved having Jane around, which gave Don a much needed break when I had to bring Poppy places.
Don still brought Jane to school, and whatever activities she wanted to enjoy, but when she was home, she had my mother.
My mother, who wanted nothing more than to have a daughter, was over the moon.
She’d ordered clothes for Jane and Poppy the day after they’d moved in and made sure every single comfort and luxury was within reach.
I’d tried to tell my mother that Jane had more than enough money to take care of her own needs, but my mother wasn’t having it.
She wanted to spoil these two rotten, and there was no telling my mother no when she got something in her head.
My mother set her glass of green juice down on the counter and leveled me with the look. “You’re in love with Poppy.”
I grunted. There was no use in denying it. My mother would just try to wiggle out another truth until we circled back to this one.
She arched a perfectly manicured brow. “That wasn’t a no.”
“I didn’t say yes.”
“Your face did,” she replied, utterly unbothered.
She shrugged. “Not only that, but all of your actions, too. This isn’t just a job to you, or you wouldn’t have brought her here.
Honestly…” She looked out of the window at Jane talking animatedly on FaceTime and laughed.
“You don’t even need this job, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure it out until I saw the way you looked at her and at her ring.
Unrequited love is a hard pill to swallow. ”
I ground my teeth together and looked away from the woman who saw entirely too much. “Uh huh.”
“Or maybe it isn’t unrequited. But that doesn’t explain the diamond that she hates so much.”
Satisfaction curled tightly in my chest. She hated it? “Does she really?”
Mother smirked. “You haven’t asked her? You spend so much time with her alone.”
I rolled my eyes. She was prying now. She was getting exactly what she wanted. “No. I don’t want to talk to her about her engagement.”
“She doesn’t look at him the way she looks at you.”
I let out a breath. “What do you want me to say?”
“Why is she marrying him?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I wish I knew. I think it’s arranged, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what they’re holding over her head.”
“And if she wasn’t with him, you’d swoop in?”
I shook my head. “No, I still wouldn’t because… because I’m not good for her.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine, clear and piercing. “But we both know that isn’t true. You would burn the world down before you put a scratch on that girl.”
My jaw flexed. “That’s exactly the problem.”
“No,” she corrected, “that’s exactly why you’re good for her.”
I scoffed and folded my arms tighter across my chest. “You’re romanticizing things.”
“Oh, spare me.” She waved a dismissive hand. “I was married to a man who pretended he was good for me. Pretended he could be the husband and father we needed. Look where that ended.”
I didn’t flinch, but something cold settled under my ribs.
She softened. “You, however… you don’t pretend. You are what you say you are. And you’ve never lied about the kind of man you can be.”
I frowned. “Which is exactly why I shouldn’t be around her.”
“You mean because you kill people when they deserve it?” she asked, deadpan.
I said nothing.
Her lips lifted in a half-smile. “Honey, that’s the only reason she’s still alive.”
I shook my head. “You don’t understand! I’m the reason she’s in this mess. If her brothers arranged this… it was because her father was out of the picture. I should have never taken that job.”
A shuffling in the hallway had us both pausing. Poppy stood there in her pajamas and a robe. My heart stuttered. “What job?”
I scowled at my mother. Had she known Poppy was there? “A mistake.”
Poppy padded over to the fridge, but I could see the gears turning in her head. She was going to catch on. How she hadn’t yet was beyond me. She was too smart.
My mother pivoted like she always did. “Are the both of you coming to Audrey and Alexei’s Honey Do shower this weekend?”
Poppy’s eyes got big. “I completely forgot about it with everything going on.”
I let out an unintelligible grumble. I didn’t want to go to it, but now that I was living with my mother, there was no getting out of it.
Mother patted Poppy’s hand. “I would love to meet your lucky fiancé; you should invite him to come alone.”
Poppy looked at me nervously from under her lashes. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
Mother shook her head. “Nonsense. I think it will be perfect.”
Perfect.
The word ricocheted through my chest like a bullet.
Poppy forced a polite smile, but I saw the way her fingers curled around the fridge handle.
“I don’t think Donovan—” she started.
My mother tutted. “If you are to be married, he should meet your circle. I imagine he’ll enjoy showing you off.”
Poppy’s eyes flicked to me. It was quick, but I caught it. A silent, desperate question: Can we survive that? Can he?
I cleared my throat, stepping closer. “It’s not a good idea.”
My mother arched a brow. “Why? Because you don’t like him?”
No. Because I wanted to put him in the ground.
Poppy’s fingers trembled as she reached for a bottle of water. “Ivan’s right. Donovan doesn’t like surprises. And I don’t want to make him angry.”
The air changed.
My mother stilled. Her expression softened in a way that meant danger. “Angry,” she repeated, voice deceptively light. “Does he get angry with you often?”
Poppy blinked, startled. “No—no. I just mean he likes things scheduled. He’s very busy. I have my own assistant to help plan things with his…”
Mother’s wide-eyed gaze caught mine like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I mean, I knew that he liked you on a tight schedule. You always have something going on, but I didn’t think it was like that.”
My hands curled into fists.
“Mother,” I warned. Poppy took a sip out of her water and gave us both a polite smile before she disappeared down the hallway and retreated back to her own room.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You didn’t have to scare her off like that.”
My mother’s eyes flashed. “Scare her off? Has he put his hands on her before?”
My jaw worked as I considered what to say. “Yes and no.”
“Ivan,” she hissed. “Why is he still alive then?”
“Because if it’s arranged, she’ll be married off to someone else—someone who could be worse. I need to be careful. Grandmother and Nana already promised me her brother’s heads. I can’t be too greedy.”
She leaned forward and grabbed my bicep in a tight hold. “You be as greedy as you need to be to protect those girls.”
“I need to figure out what he’s holding over her head first.”
My mother lifted her finger and pointed to Jane, still out on the terrace. “That’s what he’s got on her, I’d put money on it.”