10. Alex #2
“That is none of your business,” I tell her. “I didn’t really call to chat, Yeva. I need your help.”
“You need… my help? With what?”
“Nona. I just caught her sneaking around the house.”
She pauses. “What do you mean, ‘sneaking around’? How do you sneak around your own house?”
“It’s my house,” I correct her.
“Yeah, okay. I mean, she is your wife and therefore, ‘Molotov Manor #2’ is also her house.”
“The point, Yeva, is that I have work to do during the day and I can’t have her wandering around this house unsupervised. You do understand why I can’t have that at all. I don’t know her very well, and while I’d like to think that her intentions are pure—”
“I get it, I get it,” she says. “Strangers in your house freak you out. Got it.” She pauses, and I can already visualize her judging me with our mother’s eyes.
I sigh. “What?” I ask.
“Where were you, anyway? I mean, I know you’re a big-time brigadier and all, but what were you doing that she was allowed to just… snoop or whatever?”
“I was working. What else would I be doing?”
“Okay,” she says. “But listen, as weird of a situation as this is, you kind of have to expect that this sort of thing was going to happen. What did you think? She was supposed to lie naked in bed and wait for you all day?”
Hearing that a second time stings a little. “I can’t believe you’re giving me a hard time about this.”
“I’m just saying that at some point, you’re going to have to come to some kind of agreement of trust with her. I mean, arranged marriage or not, you two have to coexist in the same house together.”
“Yeva, please.”
“What? You are living in the same house together. And she’s not a child or some tragic, fairytale princess. You aren’t expecting to keep her locked up like Rapunzel or something.”
It’s a valid point. Not that I’d ever dream of doing that… especially after she just acted like I was going to rip her limb from limb just for catching her in my parlor. “Well,” I say, “that’s why I’m calling you. Nona needs somebody to keep her company while I work. Maybe to keep her busy.”
She laughed. “Right. You want me to babysit your new wife, Sasha?”
“You make it sound more demeaning than it actually is.”
“Maybe because it is demeaning? She’s an adult.”
“Listen, do you need me to spell this out?” I say impatiently.
“Two days ago, she was Irkutsk. Now, I understand that she’s with me for the same reasons that I’m with her.
For the good of our Bratvas. But I can’t be sure that her responsibilities are the same as mine.
No matter what, it would be insane for me to blindly trust her completely. ”
She sighs and says, “Get your panties out of a bunch. I’ll do it. I just reserve the right to give you shit about it.”
“As long as you’ll be here. Thank you.”
“But you know, as much as you distrust her, there is another option for your predicament. Instead of fighting it so damned hard, you could lean into it. Maybe spend some time with her when you’re not working? Get to know her a little better?”
“Yeva…”
“You’re stuck together anyway. And honestly, it’s about time you found somebody to commiserate with. She could just as easily become your ally if you just try to find common ground.”
I’m rubbing the bridge of my nose as she talks. The last thing I need is a fucking lecture from my kid sister. “I’ll take it into consideration.”
She scoffs. “You sound like Dad when he’s blowing me off.”
“You don’t say,” I respond.
“Whatever. I’ll be over to hang with her later. Try not to kill the spy until I get there.”
Yeva’s a riot.
I hang up and leave the parlor, locking the door behind me, which is an odd feeling. I’ve never had to lock this door before. Or any door in my home, really. It makes me wonder what other doors I’m going to have to lock while I’m married.
As I walk out into the hallway toward the stairs, I spot movement through one of the kitchen doors. I stop to look and I see Nona sitting on the lawn furniture out back. She’s leaning forward and wiping her face.
A sick feeling hovers in my stomach. I took no pleasure in scaring her like that. But it had to be done. She’s going to have to learn her place in this house if we’re going to stay married.
Maybe Yeva can give her a crash course on how to behave. In any event, it’s probably better if I kept my distance from her. With that thought, I walk the rest of the way up the stairs to my room. I need a shower before I go back out again. Hopefully, Yeva will be here by the time I get out.
As I walk out of the parlor, my phone buzzes. It’s Kostya.
“What’s up?” I answer.
“Just got a call from Ivan at the Central Park Warehouse. He caught a guy trying to break in through one of the first floor windows.”
My stomach drops. It hasn’t even been twenty minutes since Kostya urged me to get more security at our stash houses. “Tell me he caught him.”
“The guy got away, but we’re tracking him. I’ll let you know when we find him.”
“Thanks,” I say and hang up. Shit. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when Kostya is right about his paranoia. I hope it’s just some stupid kid looking to break into what he thinks is an old building. Or maybe somebody looking to steal copper from the plumbing. That we can handle.
If it’s what Kostya is thinking and we’ve almost been hit by another one of the gangs around town…
This is the last thing we need. I’m going to bet on it being some random and call it a night.