58. I of the Storm
I OF THE STORM
Iwake up later than usual. Shafts of soft light are already shining through the slim openings between window and curtain. Another unwelcome realization—I’m alone in bed.
I sit up immediately. “Carina?”
No answer.
Worry and confusion war within me as I scan the empty room. She left, apparently, without waking me.
I reach for my phone to check the time, my fingers brushing stiff paper instead. There are no words. Just a drawing of me sleeping on the left side. On the right, she sketched herself, scowling and sweating. A reluctant smile crosses my face before I roll out of bed and get dressed.
All the staff I pass heading downstairs seem surprised to see me. It doesn’t occur to me why until I’m outside.
I never leave my rooms right after returning from a trip. Doing so is nearly as telling as rushing back was.
I pass the kennel—empty—and start jogging along the path that circles through the woods.
I’ve run for less than a minute when Ural or maybe Burya—they have similar coloring, so the only hound I can definitively identify is Polkan—suddenly appears, racing toward me.
A few seconds later, two more dogs and two people materialize.
I recognize Carina immediately, ponytail swinging as she keeps pace. And the figure running beside her is … my younger brother.
I blink twice, but Maksim is still there. He hardly spends any time at Serebryanovo, and the only times I’ve seen him awake at this hour, he’d never been to bed. But he appears well rested, chipper even, and I know he’d never wear the sweatpants he has on to a club.
I halt abruptly, watching them cover the remaining distance toward me in tandem. A flicker of pride appears when I notice Carina seems barely winded, but it’s quickly snuffed out by annoyance. She snuck out early to run with my brother. What was she thinking? What was he thinking?
They stop a few feet away.
Carina reaches up to retie her ponytail. “Morning!”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I demand. I’m unreasonably annoyed, last night’s storm cloud still hovering overhead despite today’s clear skies.
I didn’t like waking up without her. I’d hurried home so I could wake up with her. And I don’t trust that Elena and Maksim aren’t using Carina as part of their own agendas to manipulate me or to outrage Igor. I’m not the only Sokolov who’s changed behavior recently, and it’s disconcerting.
She blinks, surprised by my brisk tone. “You never sleep in. You obviously needed it.”
She glances at Maksim, who does not look surprised. More like he expected me to be annoyed about this, which only irritates me further.
“Don’t take it personally,” he says, nudging Carina’s arm like they’re coconspirators. “Lev is always grumpy after a trip. He and jet lag don’t get along.”
I scowl.
Maksim grins.
Carina glances between us uncertainly before addressing me again. “Did you want to finish your run? Or want to come see me spar? I landed a hit on Maksim yesterday.”
“You grazed my arm,” my brother drawls. “And I was hungover.”
“Liar. Start coming up with another excuse.”
Maksim scoffs, but his lips have curved up. He’s smiling.
I look between them, incredulous.
I was gone for a week. I planned to ask Carina more about her apparent friendliness with Elena today since I was too distracted last night, enjoying her wet, naked body, but I in no way anticipated the follow-up to that conversation would be questioning her about her chumminess with my brother.
Maksim is sarcastic and flippant, not cheerful and accommodating. Or sober.
“So?” Carina refocuses on me. “Are you running or coming to the gym?”
“I’ll meet you at the gym,” I say. “Just give us a minute?” I nod at Maksim.
My brother sighs, looking unfazed by the request. I’m not sure what to make of that either.
“Uh, yeah. Sure. Ko mne!” Carina continues running once the dogs obey her command.
I face my brother. “What the fuck are you playing at, Maksim?”
“You married her.”
I frown. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, you married her. She’s here because of you. I’m supposed to ignore Carina forever?”
“I—” I’m not sure how to respond.
I figured Maksim would ignore her for longer than he did.
Members of my family accepting Carina never occurred to me.
I thought she’d be kept on the periphery, the way that Victoria has been for the past three years.
Then again, my sister-in-law has never sewn with Elena or exercised with Maksim. Were they really won over so easily?
“You took one look at her and thought with your dick for the first time in your life. I always think with my dick, so …” He smirks.
“Stay away from her, Maksim. You hear me? This isn’t a fucking game.”
“No kidding. Games are fun. You left her here. She’s bored. Lonely.”
More guilt spasms in my chest. “I didn’t hear you offering to go appease Malcolm.”
Maksim shakes his head. “You’re not fucking replaceable, Lev.
You haven’t realized that yet? You brought a team to Madrid, grabbed the woman the whole Cosa Nostra was looking for without losing a single man, then married her.
You get how crazy that is? No one else could have pulled that off.
You embarrassed Igor, and you embarrassed Salvatore Caruso, and what could either of them do about it?
Nothing. No retribution from the Italians.
Igor is letting you take a two-week honeymoon with the last woman he would have picked for you.
I should have been the one to go to Chicago—this week, the past nine years—but I couldn’t replace you. ”
“I never meant to take that from you. I …” I rub my jaw. “I didn’t think you wanted it.”
“I didn’t. I don’t. But I thought your decision was because of business.”
“It was business—”
“You were supposed to get back today, not last night. And you’re grumpy as shit, but you’re already out of your room.”
I think of my latest trip, how empty the city felt with no evening to look forward to.
Realize something I never allowed myself to consider, much less admit before.
I met Carina during my first trip to Chicago.
She defined that experience for me. Long before our financial success materialized, she was what I looked forward to there.
Why I refused to allow our arrangement with Malcolm to fail.
“I wanted to keep seeing her.”
Maksim grins. “Knew it.”
He sobers suddenly, reaching out, grabbing my left wrist, and glancing at the palm. My first and faintest scar is barely visible in the creases. Maksim stares for a few seconds, then relaxes his grip.
I take that to mean Carina shared parts of our past. That she deserves the credit for the most productive conversation we’ve had in a long time.
“Heard I owe you,” he comments, then continues running before I can respond.