“That creepy old man?” Inessa shudders elaborately. “He told us he’s going to be doing business with the Dubrovin Bratva now.”
“He wouldn’t take his eyes off Inessa,” I say acidly. “Well, her chest anyway. So disrespectful. Who is he?”
“Someone we should not be aligned with.”Mat'sbeautiful eyes narrow. “Keep away from him and tell me immediately if he approaches you.”
“It’s sick, trying to make business deals atOtet’sfuneral,” I snap, throat tight. I still can’t accept my father’s gone. He was laughing, full of life as we took a horseback ride last week.
The next day he was gone.
Five days ago…
“Almost there,Otets!”
It’s a sunny day in St. Petersburg, the kind of miraculous sunshine that makes the frost melt off the grass of the equestrian park, allowing my horse Natalya to really lean into a run, streaking across the grounds.
For the first time, I’ll beat my father back to the stables, I laugh breathlessly, looking over my shoulder… just to see him overtake me on the left. He pulls on the reins, stopping his horse Uragan just short of the gate.
“Ah ah,milaya doch',my sweet daughter, you know better than to claim victory before you’ve truly won.” He chuckles at my aggrieved expression. “But it was very close.”
“You’d think I’d know better than to gloat by now.” I’m a little sulky, I know it. “I just thought today was the day.”
“To win the race?”
“Well…” I rub my forehead, “to win anything, I guess. Just once, I want to be the best at something.”
“You should be using that excellent intellect to branch out into more interests and activities,” he says, “give yourself room to discover where you can shine.”
“That’s not possible,” I say, patting my horse’s flank. “I’m too busy using my intellect to alienate people and isolate myself.” That startles him into a laugh and I bask in it. It seems like my father has less and less to laugh at these days.
He offers a hand to help me dismount, and we walk the horses back into the stables. “Your mother and I have always raised you and Inessa to be competitive, but sometimes, I suspect you’re running some endless race that only you can see, trying to catch up.”
Entering the quiet of the stables, I take a deep breath. “It doesn’t feel that way. It’s more like I know I can’t win this race, so I run in the opposite direction.”
“Then you are running in the wrong race,” he says, kissing the top of my head. “I never wanted you to be a pampered Bratvaprincess. You have fire and ambition. I could easily see you taking a powerful position in our Bratva. Becoming a champion shopper likeothermembers of this family is not a skill you need for leadership.”
I know my mother is the great beauty in our family, but I’ve always loved my father’s green eyes more, proud that I look like him. I want to be as tall as him, too, to have his confidence and strength.
“I thought Bratva princesses were supposed to do nothing but shop and get their nails done?” I tease him.
He lifts the saddle off my horse and drops it next to her stall. “I’m going to tell you something, mydorogoy, my dear one, and you will never repeat it.”
“Of course,Otets.”
He puts his hands on my shoulders, the fine lines around his mouth carve deeper furrows when he smiles. “You are my strongest child, my most beloved. I know that whatever happens, you will take care of our family, and I’m at peace, knowing this.”
It’s odd, the way he says it, but all I can focus on iswhathe’s said to me. I’m his favorite, I’m strong. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like I’m losing the race.
It feels like I’ve already won it.
“I promise,Otets,no matter what, I’ll look afterMat'and Inessa.” Wrapping my arms around him, I sigh with gratitude when he hugs me back as we stand in the darkened stable, with the soft snorts from the horses and the smell of straw and hay.
Helooks over my shoulder and raises a hand. “Alexi, how is your family?”
My stomach twists like origami. Of course,of courseit had to be Alexi fucking Turgenev overhearing my father’s pep talk. I’d forgotten the Turgenevs boarded their horses here, too.
“They’re well, thank you.Will you be at the meeting of the Six Families next month?” Alexi’s deep voice sends a vibration through me, I never knew I could feel humiliated and turned on at the same time.
“Of course,” my father says, “there are some important decisions on the agenda.”
