DADDY NIKO APPROVES
FORTY-SEVEN
“You chose well, Maxim.”
At my extended silence, Niko sighs. “Max, would you not talk to me about Misha if you were worried about him?”
“That’s different.”
“How so? You’ve both always come to me with your troubles. The only unusual part of this whole matter is that you finally married your biggest trouble.”
“I love her. She isn’t a problem to be fixed.”
“I can tell you do.” His gaze softens as he cups my shoulder. “And I’m glad.”
Fighting the urge to shrug off his hold because I stopped being a moody teenager fifteen years ago, I tuck my hands into my pockets and lean against the doorjamb. “Why involve him?”
I stiffen as whatever that asshole says to Victoria has her pealing with laughter.
“He wanted her to know him.”
“Why?”
“Guilt.”
Nikolai’s fingers flick the word at me. I’m honestly surprised he stuck with talking for as long as he did. An honor, even if Victoria doesn’t know it.
“Why?”
“Because he was almost too late…”
Tension fills me at the reminder.
“Her cheek? I noticed the makeup is thicker there.”
“Bordeau backhanded her.”
“The cooler?” Nikolai prods.
“Bordeau’s hands.”
He barks out a gruff laugh. “Never let it be said you don’t have your own way of wooing a woman, Maxim.”
Because that runs too close to what she said earlier, I change the subject. “What does he want with I Told You So?”
“The same as you do with Victoria, I imagine.”
I arch a brow. “Why would he think Victoria knows this blogger?”
“I don’t think he does. He has intel that suggests she’s studying here.”
“Not a crime, is it?”
“Hardly. But with the number of guards you have stationed here, he knew his presence would come up soon enough.”
“Sounds like she’s running from him.”
Nikolai hitches a shoulder. “Perhaps. Or she might be running from herself.”
Still, I needle, “So he called you instead of me?”
“He knew I’d smooth over troubled waters.”
“They don’t feel very smooth to me,” I snipe. “All of this could have been solved if you’d just involved me.”
“I’m involving you now. Ilya had to return to Moscow.
He only flew back in this morning. I planned to meet him here and we came together to confess our sins.
” Amusement gleams in his eyes. “You’re a control freak, Maxim.
Some things you won’t always be involved in.
It’s time you learned that. I think this is a trait you share with your bride, no?
” When I don’t answer, he explains, “I run the country.” The “because of you” might go unspoken, but I hear the words loud and clear.
It’s particularly annoying because Nikolai doesn’t want the responsibility, where I do.
“You run the state. Having a friend in Ilya Levin is a wise move. Look at how he helped Victoria. And in the nick of time, too.”
“After he endangered her in the first place. If she hadn’t had faith in me, she might have believed I betrayed her, dammit.”
“On his end, there was no betrayal. He simply dropped off a dress.”
“And shared its likeness with a bunch of secret society assholes.”
He raises a hand. “She’s dancing with the devil, Maxim. I don’t like it. If I were you, I’d make her pull out of this initiation before they have a chance to burn her for real.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then I will do whatever I can to ensure she has protections that extend further than you. You are my son, Maxim. I won’t allow your bride to be endangered, even if it pricks your ego.”
My shoulders bunch at what feels like his condemnation, but I release my irritation on an exhale—his protections are an honor, not a disservice, and I want her to have every means of defense possible.
“Any extra protections are a bonus,” I concede gruffly. “What does the blogger have to do with anything? She’s a nuisance as far as I know. I believe the Irish and Sicilians are aware of her true identity if you’re looking for her.”
“Oh, Ilya has known her for years. She was interred in a mental health facility for the bulk of her life. Her father passed away and Ilya’s mother overdosed—”
“Wait. Why are the two related?”
“I Told You So is Ilya’s stepsister.”
“And her father and stepmother locked her away in an asylum?!”
“Da. After his stepfather died, his mother lost the plot. She ended up in Shady Pines too—”
“It sounds like somewhere people go to die.”
“You’re not wrong,” he signs with a flourish. “But he was in Moscow. By the time he got back, I Told You So had been freed from the psych hold and she ran not long after.”
“I’m not sure I can blame her,” I say dryly.
“No. Ilya doesn’t either. But he’s still looking for her. Her real name has had no activity associated with it since.”
“Is she scared of him? I’m not sure Victoria—”
“Are you pussywhipped, Maxim?” he drawls.
I scowl at him. “Like Cassie doesn’t have your dick wrapped around her little finger.”
“Her hand, please.”
My lips twist. “I already have Victoria sending me audio notes about our prostitution rings. The last thing I need are essays on forced marriages and whatever the fuck Ilya’s going to do to get his hands on this woman.”
“Why did she look at you when I talked about her father’s death? Does she resent you for killing him? I met the man so I know she doesn’t grieve his passing.”
“I didn’t kill him.” I hurl the words at him like they’re hand grenades.
Nikolai straightens. “What? I thought that was how you seized power in the city?”
“I walked in on her sister killing him and helped cover it up.”
“And used the situation for your own gain.” Approval dances in his eyes. “You always were too clever, Maxim.”
“Cocky, too.”
“Indubitably. Would you change it if you could?”
“I wouldn’t have Victoria if I changed it. She’s more than just a pawn in a game of politics.”
“Why do you think her safety matters to me? I’ve known for a long time. Misha’s whining wouldn’t have been so constant if she meant nothing to you.” He claps his hand to my shoulder. “I’ll say it again—you chose well. She’ll keep you on your toes and won’t allow you to grow complacent.”
I release a laugh despite still being annoyed with him. “No shit.”
His grin darkens his features rather than lightens them.
“Do you need me to do anything?” I ask, pointing my thumb at Ilya, who’s still charming Victoria in the foyer. Bastard.
“Keep an eye out for anyone called Yseult Brackton.”
“Will do. He kept that under wraps. I didn’t realize he was related to one of the Bracktons.”
“In our world, the only connection that matters is the one he has to the Krestniy Otets.”
“Wait, didn’t Anastasia Brackton kill her husband?”
“Via a sniper’s rifle.”
“Not her own, I assume,” I mock.
“You’d be correct.” With a squeeze of my shoulder, he murmurs, “Now, I have to get back to Nav.”
Nav is his Floridian stronghold.
“Give Cassiopeia my love.”
“No,” he says flatly, earning a smirk from me.
“Oh, I forgot,” I taunt as he turns away from me, already taking a step toward his car. “I’ll be replacing Kirill with Dmitri soon.”
Niko’s head whips over his shoulder. “What?”
“He’s loitered around on my turf for long enough. It’s time he was useful.”
“Maxim.” He growls the warning.
I lean back against the doorway. “He can’t babysit Sofia for the rest of his life.”
Nikolai storms closer to me. “Your intention?”
“For him to become a student here.”
He falters. “Why?”
“So he can pledge.”
He freezes then pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why, of all the boys I collected, did you three have to become my children?”
And just like that, I’m back to being a teenager again.
My shoulders round. “He’d be good in there. You know he would. And Victoria needs someone on the inside.”
Nikolai grunts. Turns on his heel. Calls over his shoulder: “You know what’ll happen if anyone harms him. Just like you know what’ll happen if anyone harms you. Vasily feasts.”
Fucking alligator. I hate that damn thing.
“Come along, Ilya. Leave Maxim’s wife alone.”
I shift just in time to see the jackass wink at Victoria before he takes her wrist, kisses her knuckles, then, eyes wide with delight at my scowl, grabs my hand to forcibly shake it.
“Until we meet again, Maxim.” Damn him, he sounds far too cheerful for my liking.
Grunting, I watch both men leave.
Victoria shuffles behind me, tucks her arm around the crook of my elbow, then leans into my side. “As much as I want to scalp Ilya for his little deceptions, I like them.”
“You would.” I lift a hand in farewell as one of Nikolai’s guards opens the door to his town car and he and Ilya climb in.
As they fade into the distance, I dip my chin at Vlad, glance at the guards she has on the house to ensure they’re all in the right positions, nod at the Irish, then retreat into the foyer.
Even though my back is to her, she slides her arms around my waist and presses her forehead between my shoulder blades.
“You okay, kotik?”
“That was intense,” she blurts out.
“You handled it very well.”
Better than I did.
At least she kept her shit. I definitely lost mine.
“Ilya… He’s the reason the Bratuhas were slaughtered, all of them, four years ago, wasn’t he?”
The Chechen gang had surprised everyone by gaining a foothold on Moscow’s streets…
Until Ilya went in, slaughtered the leaders, butchered the men, and then retrieved all the gang’s worldly goods, their clients included, and returned it to the Bratva.
“Yes.”
“And Nikolai… he ended B4K in Florida, didn’t he?”
“You know what we are, Victoria.”
Her arms tighten around me to the point of discomfort. “Of course I do, Maxim. I just didn’t expect to be hosting either of them in your sweater and the boxer briefs I stole from your closet the other day!”
“You’re wearing my boxers?” I demand, spinning around and tugging on the hem of the sweater for a peek.
She slaps my hand. “Focus, Maxim. What the fuck just happened?”
“My priorities of getting you naked intensified.”
Now that I think about, I do recognize the sweater. It’s the one she wrecked the day after she killed Harrington.
Fuck, that’s hot.
Her glower could convince a mermaid to drown themselves. “I meant with Ilya and Niko!”
“Can I see them?” I request, licking my lips.
“See what?”
“My boxers on you?”