Ginny rolls her eyes. “Yes, yes, and we’ll spend every Christmas, Mardi Gras, and Midsummer’s Eve together, too. Can’t wait. Shall we hit the road?”
I watch them go with a heavy heart.
Once they’re in the elevator, I shut the door and lean against it. “Thank you,” I whisper. “I know I sound like a broken record, but?—”
“They’re family.” Yulian’s tone brooks no argument. “Family helps each other. You don’t need to thank me for that, Mia.”
My expression softens. “I can’t apologizeorthank you? How am I supposed to show my appreciation?”
“Like this,” he whispers, and kisses me.
It’s brief, chaste. A soft brush of lips and nothing more. And since I can’t say “thank you,” I do the next best thing.
I kiss him right back.
21
YULIAN
I wait until Nikita comes back from dropping Eli off at school, then I head to the office. No matter how much chaos is waiting for me there, in the aftermath of Slavik’s death, I refuse to leave Mia unprotected.
Today, she’s been through enough shit already.
Her parents seemed innocuous enough. But that sister—she’s a fucking viper. I don’t know what her problem with Mia is, but it took all of my willpower to remind myself I don’t hit women.
I don’t trust her. Not as far as I can fucking throw her.
But she’s Mia’s family, too, which means it wouldn’t be polite of me to throw her anywhere at all. Especially not to the curb.
Temptation remains strong, though.
When I step out of the elevator, Maksim is already there, waiting for me. “It’s done,” he says, falling into lockstep with me. “Sent a couple of men to meet the Collinses. They’ll help move their stuff in and get them settled, then stay discreetly in the area to keep an eye on them.”
“Good.”
“Is it?” He eyes me curiously. “You don’t look too thrilled about your in-laws. But then again, who is, am I right?”
“Mia’s parents are fine.”
“So what’s wrong?”
“I want you to look into their mortgage. See if you can find a money trail for the payments the bank says they missed. It reeks of a scam to me.”
“I’ll get Tikhon to prod around on his lunch break.” He sighs. “On another note, Rurik has been waiting in your office. He is pissed.”
I rub my temples. “Anyone else?”
“Kazimir. He’s trying to calm him down, but you know Rurik.”
Unfortunately, I do. “I told them to lay low,” I mutter, not at all pleased that two of myvorydisobeyed my direct orders.
“Don’t be too hard on Kazimir. My guess is, he’d love nothing more than to hunker down and dodge a literal bullet.”
But he’s not, because Rurik decided to make a mess. As always. And, as always, Kazimir feels it’s his diplomatic duty to try and put out fires before they blaze out of control.
I press my fingers to my temples against a budding migraine. “Let’s get this over with.”
The second I walk into the room, Rurik shoots me a withering glare. “Look who finally decided to show up.”
