9. Blair #2
“Don’t worry about it,” Nadya says, quickly getting up and trying to take the plates away from me. “You’re a guest. I can’t let you clean up our mess. ”
“I was an intruder on your dinner. It’s the least I can do,” I say through a tight smile.
She rolls her eyes and takes the stack of plates away a little more forcefully than necessary and puts them down on the table.
“It’s not like you had a choice in it, but either way, if you want to do me a favor, you’ll leave them for Alexei to deal with.
This is his place, and unlike you, he didn’t offer to help me cook. ”
On instinct I want to argue, but her eyes spark with mischief. “If he has any problems with it, he’ll take it up with me. And if I’m being honest, I’ve been looking for a reason to start a fight with him.” She brings her hands together in a plea. “ Please let me have this.”
At a loss for words, and against my better judgment, I find myself nodding.
“Thank you!” She pumps a fist in the air, startling another laugh out of me.
She practically trips over herself in her rush to leave everything on the table and herd Niko and I toward the living room, ignorant to the way I cringe when Niko, with messy hands and an even messier face, climbs onto the black leather sofa, leaving smears of grease on everything he touches.
The whole room is full of clean lines and sharp angles, but at least Niko is coordinated enough that I don’t have to worry about him tripping over air.
Still, I eye the glass coffee table warily as I sit down next to him gingerly, pulling him close to try to minimize the damage he can cause, feeling silly when Nadya flops heavily into an armchair, leaning forward with her hand on her knees.
The way she watches us almost makes me feel like an animal in a zoo, but it’s probably fair play.
I don’t know what I’d do with us if the situation was reversed.
Still, I have to force myself not to shift under her scrutinizing gaze.
After a few moments she nods to herself, apparently coming to a decision. “How about a movie?”
Niko looks at me, face lighting up with excitement, so I nod, grateful for the reprieve as she sorts through the options, asking for his input whenever she passes over something interesting.
She gives me a look while they’re negotiating, and when I shake my head desperately while Niko puts up a case to watch Jurassic Park , she smiles before talking him out of it. With a conspiratorial grin, she hovers over her selection .
“Ooh, this is a good one. Niko, let’s watch this. You’ll love it.”
“Does it have dinosaurs?” He eyes her skeptically.
“No,” she concedes. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t give it a try, does it?”
He shakes his head and leans into my side. “Okay. That one.”
Which is how he ends up asleep half an hour later while Singin’ in the Rain plays quietly in the background. I run my hand through his hair, the lights from the television reflecting on his face while he drools on my leg.
This might not have been the night I’d planned, but it wasn’t bad.
Dinner with relative strangers, easy conversation, and Niko falling asleep without a meltdown.
Probably more because of exhaustion than anything else, but I’ll take the wins I can get.
If he lets me, I’ll have to find a way to thank Andrei for this.
“Hey,” Nadya whispers, nodding in Niko’s direction. “Is he asleep?” I nod, smiling kindly at her. She’s curled up in the chair, wrapping her arms around her legs as she shifts to face me. “I’m sorry about earlier. I just got excited, but you don’t have to hang out with me.”
“It’s not that. It’s, uh.” I swallow. I hate talking about it, but she probably already knows, right? “You remember when Riot opened?”
In hindsight, with all the important Bratva men gathered in one place, it was inevitable that someone would take advantage of it. But at the time, things with the Italians had been relatively calm, so when The Outfit decided to sneak someone in and open fire, no one had been prepared.
“Of course,” she sighs. “That’s why it’s taken Alexei so long to open another club. He’s been worried about a repeat. The amount of security that he’s hiring is ridiculous.”
I doubt anything will happen, considering the amount of heat that the last scuffle brought along with it, but it’s good to know he’s taking steps to prevent it.
“Well, before all the, you know”—I wave my hand— “gunfire and bloodshed happened, Alexei already wanted to kick me and Daniil out. I don’t think he’d want me causing a scene again.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was the first time Daniil went out with Emiliya.” I smile, watching the way Niko’s eyelashes flutter against his cheeks.
“I was under the impression we were going there together, probably because he brought me with him. Instead I got to watch his infidelity first-hand. And so did the rest of the Bratva.”
“Oh, shit, I forgot about that. ”
I shake my head. “I would’ve thought the shooting afterward would have overshadowed it” —I shrug— “but apparently your brother disagrees.”
My drama was definitely the subject of all the gossip afterward. We weren’t the biggest thing to happen that night, but Alexei must find it easier to focus his anger on me than on a bunch of people who are protected by powerful men.
I get it, even if I don’t like it.
It was also the night I realized no one was going to help me while bullets whizzed past. In the chaos, Daniil grabbed Emiliya and fled while I tried to make my way through the crowd toward the closest exit.
I ended up stumbling into Andrei, who was a godsend.
He got me out of there and made sure I got home, even if he seemed pissed about it.
“How’re you guys doing without him?”
That’s all she asks. She doesn’t try to qualify it or add an asterisk or a footnote. Doesn’t try to act like my husband was nothing to me. Just asks how we’re doing.
I appreciate that even more than the gentle distraction of conversation.
“Niko’s struggling,” I answer honestly. “He misses his dad. And it’s hard for him to accept that he isn’t coming home.
This is the first time he’s gone to sleep without tears since Daniil died, so, maybe that’s progress.
” I hope it’s progress, anyway. I don’t know how he’s had the energy to fight with me every night, because by the time he finally gives up, I’m dead on my feet, dreading having to do it all over again the next day.
“And how are you doing?” She looks at me seriously, and I freeze.
Truth is, I don’t know. I’ve been so focused on taking care of Niko that I haven’t had the time to think about it. Besides, it doesn’t really matter.
My husband’s dead, and I’m too scared to ask Andrei why.
Now my days are probably numbered, and I need to make sure that my son is going to be alright when I’m gone.
Who cares if I’m constantly fluctuating between desperate fear, burning anger, an all-consuming grief—and in my weak moments, a shameful relief?
No one. No one cares.
“I’m fine,” I eventually answer with a practiced smile.
A line forms between her brows. “You sure about that?” She tilts her head to the side, eyes narrowed like she can see past all the barriers I’m desperately working to construct.
“Seriously, I’m fine. Or I will be.”
Probably.
Hopefully.
“Alright,” she acquiesces. “But if you want to talk to someone, I’m around. And not to brag, but unlike some people around here I know how to tie my own shoes.” She nods at Niko, and I can’t help but laugh. “So, I like to think I’m pretty good at having adult conversations.”
“Are you saying that you’re above discussing the subtle nuance of different shapes and flavors of fruit snacks?”
“I would never,” she gasps, pressing a hand against her chest in mock offense. I laugh, quickly quieting down when Niko stirs, pressing his face further into my stomach.
“I might have to take you up on that. Here, let me give you my number. ”
She pulls out her phone, diligently putting in my number before she sends me a text, grinning when my phone dings from my pocket.
“We’ll have to plan a time to hang out. But not at a club opening, alright?” I tell her.
She huffs out a laugh, nodding. “Yeah, that wasn’t the most tactful suggestion, was it?”
“You didn’t know. But some other time?”
“Totally. We’ll figure something out.”
I hope that Nadya is as genuine as she seems to be. I could use a friend.