“Yes way. Why don’t you come help me, Katya? She doesn’t like to be told no by her own daughter.”
Katya grinned. “I’ll see what I can do.”
When the Dmitriyev boys were all alone, I could feel one or more of them ready to grill me about Lainey. “Just get it over with.”
“What?” Mikhail asked, the amusement in his voice driving me crazy.
“All the questions you have about Lainey.” As I’d experienced before, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. All I’d done all night was think about her, worrying about her. While Bernie and Danny had kept a strict vigil outside both her hotel room and the resort itself, augmented by Jaxon and a couple of other soldiers, I hadn’t felt completely relaxed.
Both her security guards were here keeping an eye out for her, although I had to admit it appeared they were enjoying the party more than keeping watch. That was fine. Between Jaxon and the men he’d put in place disguised as guests, I felt more secure.
Even though the property was surrounded by a thick wall, that didn’t mean every inch was protected by security cameras. It really hadn’t been necessary and I doubted the party would be considered kid friendly if there were armed guards everywhere.
To our guests who didn’t know much about our pasts, we were simply Nina’s family. That’s the way it needed to stay.
My thoughts drifted back to Lainey. Shit. My cock was aching, aroused enough I was concerned guests would see my condition.
I’d also thought about calling her at least five times. Why hadn’t I? Because the last thing she needed was to get mixed up with someone like me. She had her life.
I had Nina.
“No questions, cousin. Just an observation and comment. It’s about damn time you allowed yourself to live again.”
Hearing Mikhail’s heartfelt sentiment did nothing but drive another ache into my system. “It’s not what you think. I stopped that fake boyfriend of hers from strangling her to death. Then we had a drink and hit it off.”
“Whoa,” Kazimir huffed. “What do you mean almost strangled her to death?”
I turned toward them, nodding. “The relationship they shared was a concocted story by their respective managers and public relations teams. Maybe her record company as well. Unfortunately, Damien decided he wanted to keep her against her will. So I stepped in.”
“Is he alive?” Alexsey asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Barely,” I said before taking a gulp of my drink. “Then he made the very bad decision to trash the house she’s been staying in.”
“Holy fuck.” Vissarian looked back and forth from Mikhail to me.
Alexsey pulled his glass to his lips. “Now I know the man is dead.”
“He’s alive. He’s hurting this morning and not pretty enough for cameras, but he’s alive. However, after some reflection, I’m not entirely certain he destroyed the house.”
The admittance was one I hated to make. Not that the asshole was innocent.
“Say that again,” Mikhail directed. “Who else would have trashed her place? Are you suggesting someone else noticed the two of you were spending time together?”
“We had a drink and after she received a threatening text, I took her back to my house. Whoever did tear the place apart did so in the middle of the night. The security system wasn’t tripped. It was bypassed.”
Mikhail took a deep breath. “Let me do a deeper dive into the man.”
“You need to cancel his contract,” I threw out. “I checked the morals clause. He violated it with his attack on her alone.”
“Even so, that might be tough to do,” Kazimir suggested.
I turned my head toward him. “I don’t give a shit. He abused Lainey. At some point, he and I will have another discussion.”
Sudden applause drowned out the rest of the conversation. I turned back to face her, giving Lainey all the credit she was due. The guests were enthralled, cheering and I could tell by the look on her face that she was very happy. It was good to see her smile.
And everything else.
She took the time to offer hugs to the little girls before pointing out the gift tables and whispering in my little girl’s ear.There were so many presents on the three tables that Nina would age another year before managing to open every one of them.
