“I’ll take the call,” Ivan said, holding out his right hand for the phone.“Sasha, how are you?”
“Don’t Sasha me, young man,” a woman’s rich voice sounded down the line, loud and imperious enough for Edwina and Gregory to hear without straining.“Where is Mikhail?Is it true?”
“Is what true?”Ivan asked.
Edwina frowned.Had she learned about Mikhail’s kidnapping?
“The notice in this morning’s paper,” Mikhail’s mother said impatiently.
“What notice?”Ivan jerked his chin toward the pile of mail and the day’s newspaper that Rita had left on the oak sideboard.
Gregory sprang from his chair to retrieve the paper.
“Mikhail’s marriage notice,” Sasha snapped.“I want to talk to my son.”
Edwina made an inquiring face at Ivan, and he shook his head.
“He’s not here right now,” Ivan said.
“Where is he?”
Gregory unfolded the newspaper and laid it flat on the table.He and Edwina scanned each page and turned to the next.About halfway through the paper, they came to a social page.
“Fuck,” Gregory whispered, his forefinger tapping an article on the top right side of the page.
The three gazed at the story and the accompanying photo of Mikhail and a blonde woman.
“When did Mikhail marry Bridget Smirnoff?”Sasha demanded.“Why didn’t he tell me?Why didn’t you tell me?”
A heavy weight settled on Edwina’s shoulders, her mouth as dry as a desert.She picked up her teacup.Her hand trembled, and she gripped the cup harder to halt a liquid splash on the tablecloth.
“This isn’t true,” Ivan said, glancing at Edwina with concern.
“Mikhail isn’t answering his phone,” Sasha said.“You tell him to contact me today, or I’ll descend on his house and not leave until I see him in the flesh.”The call ended with a sharp click.
“Crap,” Gregory said in an understatement.
“Do you think it’s true?”Edwina asked, wondering if her marriage was legal.He was her mate, but—
“Your marriage was legal with witnesses,” Ivan said firmly.“I don’t know what crap Smirnoff and his daughter are pulling, but he can’t be married to her because you’re his wife.”
Edwina nodded, but the tea in the pit of her stomach sloshed around dangerously, and the pain in her chest became distracting.She set down her cup and pressed on the spot with her fingers while trying to maintain control.If this weren’t all kinds of warped, she’d laugh.She, who hadn’t wanted a man, had mated with a tiger.Meantime, he married another woman with Bratva connections.
“What is going on?”she whispered once she had a better grip on her control.
Ivan’s gaze held concern and kindness.“You know how hard Mikhail worked to avoid entanglement in the mafia world.He wouldn’t change his mind on a whim.He didn’t walk into the Smirnoff family without coercion, dammit.Something else is happening here.Edwina, try to remember what Smirnoff said to Mikhail in the cafe.Every single word.”
Edwina thought back, shook her head.“I’ve told you everything I heard.Smirnoff doesn’t trust his son.He implied his son would run his business into the ground and destroy everything he’d built.”
“That’s what I don’t understand.Why did he set his mind on Mikhail when he must’ve known Mikhail wanted to restrict himself to legal activities?”Gregory asked.
“Yeah,” Edwina agreed.“Surely, he has known his son’s weaknesses for some time.Why didn’t he choose one of his men and train them?Why Mikhail?”
Ivan tapped his hand on the coffee table, his expression creased in thought.Finally, he sat back with an irritable scowl.“Only Mikhail can tell us.Getting him out of Smirnoff’s clutches is a priority.”
“How?”Edwina asked, voicing her frustration.“He’s not leaving the estate and didn’t recognize me.Who’s to say he’ll know either of you?He didn’t acknowledge Roscoe, and they’ve worked together for years.”
“We need to return tonight,” Gregory said.
