Chapter 11 #3
I smile at snapping cameras. We hold our wine glasses up next to each other as if they’re kissing and clink the rims. “He will,” I say, smiling at the camera.
“Get me the names of who’s here and I can tell you exactly how.
We’re not impermeable. He will either think you’ve captured me against my will and our marriage was a power move or that I’ve betrayed him and given myself over to the enemy, plotting an attack against him.
” I shrug. “In both cases, he’d be right. Still. We have to be careful.”
He nods but doesn’t otherwise respond as his family enters the large room.
I notice Viktor first, because he’s so huge it’s hard to miss him.
I wonder idly if he books two plane tickets when he flies.
His wife Lydia stands next to him, a full-figured, stunning woman with thick, wavy brown hair, wearing a red dress that shows off every curve and dips dangerously low, all the way to her navel.
She catches my eye and blushes, wiggling her fingers at me. I smile and hold my glass to her.
Cheers to the women who married into this family because they had no other choice.
Aleksandr, the tall one with dark black hair, is sitting, talking to his mother, his wife Harper on his other side. I know them mostly from research. Harper was a Bianchi before she married into this family, and I know for a fact she can outshoot every damn person here.
I find all the brothers from the warehouse, but someone’s missing… hmm. Who’s missing? Oh, right, Nikko, the assassin. His wife Vera is often off somewhere doing fieldwork, and even though he was here earlier, he’s likely off on the trip with her.
And Mikhail. Where’s Mikhail? The eldest brother and leader of all, I need to keep my eye on him.
Wait… there he is. Walking in here now.
Others are present—people I don’t know and people who don’t matter for my purposes. Cousins and aunts and uncles, or associates and paid help, smaller, less powerful men from the Romanov Bratva, businessmen and women. Who knows, and who cares?
The one who matters the most is sitting right next to me.
Mikhail nods and gives Lev and me a little, informal bow before he reaches for his wine glass and clears his throat. His wife Aria, with a slim pair of glasses perched on her nose and her wild mane of curly hair momentarily tamed in a bun, eyes me with curiosity.
“Tell me again about Aria,” I whisper to Lev. “I couldn’t find much about her online except that she’s good with computers and married to Mikhail.”
Lev leans in. It feels somehow intimate whispering like this as if we’re friends. Allies. And even though we’re married, we’re neither friends nor allies… yet.
But we could be.
“Aria’s the world’s best hacker,” he says with no hint of exaggeration.
He simply states this as fact, which gives veracity to his statement, in my opinion.
“There’s no one she can’t find, nothing she can’t do.
She sees the world’s most impermeable firewalls and encryption as a personal insult and challenge. "
“Oh, wow.” Oooh. Now, that is awesome. The more I think about it, the more it would make sense for me to lean into the Romanov family and all they bring to the table.
Here, each one of their skills builds a solidified front, whereas in my family, one only sees another’s strengths as a personal threat to their safety.
World’s best hacker… world’s best hacker. Hmm. I could do something with that.
I take a sip of the wine and look at Mikhail.
“A toast,” he says, clearing his throat as he waits for the ensemble of guests to quiet.
“Ever since Lev joined our family, he’s had to make a show of himself.
Prove his worth as younger and smaller than the rest.” Mikhail’s lips twitch.
“It was nothing we demanded of him but something he did on his own because Lev is fierce and proving himself mattered to him.”
The room quiets down. Viktor looks at Lev with pride, and Aleks sits up straighter in his seat. “And some of us thought we were better by sheer age and brute force until Lev taught us otherwise.”
Lev smiles, but there’s a sadness in his eyes. I, too, have borne the pain of not being enough for my family based on where I came in the lineup and having nothing at all to do with my actual talents, gifts, what I could do, or who I am.
“I know what that’s like,” I mutter to him in a low voice.
“Having to get stronger than five brothers?” Lev asks, his brow lifted teasingly. “Glomming endless YouTube videos on how to best someone bigger and stronger than you in a match like David defeating Goliath? How many of your older brothers did you have to beat up?”
I shrug and stretch, mimicking buffing my nails.
“All of them,” I say with a yawn.
He snorts. “I thought you only had one brother.”
“Well, yes, but that’s all of them.”
Mikhail continues and Lev’s eyes twinkle a bit. He whispers in my ear, “I’d like to hear that story sometime.”
I whisper back, “It seems we both have some stories to share.”
“And now,” Mikhail says, holding his glass up. “We’ve seen the youngest among us rise to the top. He’s fought every adversary that’s come his way and proven himself tirelessly the most loyal, the most dedicated, the most dependable brother we could ask for.”
“Hey,” Aleks says with mock effrontery.
Mikhail ignores him, and his mother, a regal woman with gorgeous silver hair and twinkling blue eyes, laughs. “It’s not a competition, son.”
“Oh, but it is,” Lev whispers to me. “I might have to knock you up with triplets. You game?”
I bury my face in the wine glass and pretend I didn’t hear him. I absolutely love sex. Love. It. I swear to God, people who don’t aren’t doing it right. But the thought of other little humans occupying my body—well, I’m not quite there yet, especially if said humans contain Romanov blood.
What have I gotten myself into?
“Do you have like… breeding competitions?”
Lev seems to be mulling this over. “Well, that’s a crass way to put it.”
I feel my brows shoot into my hairline. “Is there another way to put it?”
“Mmm,” he says but nods toward Mikhail, who’s finishing up. We’re putting a pin in this conversation, pronto.
“On behalf of the entire Romanov family, we want to thank you, Lev, and welcome you, Isabella. Though our future is uncertain, know this: By marrying into the Romanov family, you are now one of us, and we welcome you.”
My nose feels all tingly, and my throat surprisingly tight.
I guess he maybe, probably, has to say something like that, but it doesn’t mean I’m not eating it up.
They all cheer, and we clink glasses. I lift my glass for Lev to refill.
But Mikhail is still standing up. “On a practical note,” he begins. “Our enemies will be on the prowl.”
We all know without him saying that said enemies are my family.
“They will be looking for you after word gets out that you’ve been married. I’ve decided it’s in everyone’s best interest for you two to take a honeymoon in an undisclosed location. When we’re done here, Aria will give you all the details. Even I don’t know where you’re going.”
“Heavily encrypted!” Aria says with a grin. “But I promise, I found a perfect spot. You’re gonna love it.”
Lev can’t disguise the look of surprise on his face. “A honeymoon?”
I shift in my seat, not making eye contact with him. I know what happens on a honeymoon. He knows what happens on a honeymoon. Whatever happened when he interrogated me in the basement only stoked my appetite. We’re going away?
“Yes, a honeymoon. You two will go away for a week, and in that time, we’ll keep a close eye on any developments.”
I don’t need him to tell me exactly what those developments could be. I know as well as he does.
“For now, a toast to the newlyweds.” He lifts his glass and pronounces something in Russian.
“What does that mean?” I ask Lev.