Didn’t Fatima just give me the heads up to mind my own business?
I would do well to take her general advice. I was here to work, not pry into any connections between the staff I was expected to work alongside and the devious Mafia men who’d cause such destruction and disaster out on the streets.
I’m not a part of that world.
I never will be.
I was sure of my place. Of my purpose.
With a wry huff at my stupid curiosity, I shook my head and pushed off the wall to resume working on the patients who counted on me for their recoveries.
Jack—and whoever else—could associate with criminals if they wanted to.
Iwouldn’t.
Smiling at the confidence behind that conviction, I shook my head again, amused with myself.
I would never lower my standards to associate with anyone from the criminal and lawless side of society.
5
MIKHAIL
One week passed with Anya in my home. Seven days of her not coming out of her room.
She sulked and avoided me, and that was fine by me. Easier, too. She’d be here, safe and fed, and that was all that mattered. Martin arranged her tutoring and provided her with any needs she wanted—clothes and the like. According to what he reported, she was a bibliophile, a voracious reader. She also played the piano, and that was the only reason she ever left her room.
Hearing live music was different. She’d go down to the lower floor with the ballroom and play on the grand piano that was mostly only there for show. Martin hired someone to come in and tune the instrument once Anya proved that she was an avid player and pianist.
She didn’t try to speak with me, and the few times I came to say hello when she read in the library or played the piano, I was met with silence.
Still, I let her be. I wouldn’t pry. If she wanted to stick with this silent treatment, she’d cave sooner or later. Any prisoner in an isolated cell would crack after so much time. I was confident she wouldn’t be any different.
“I invited her to lunch,” Roman said when he joined me for dinner. Andre and Sergei were out and about, busy or preferring their own residences for the night.
I raised my brows and smirked. “Why bother?”
He shrugged. “I figure if no one else can get her to talk, I might.”
I rolled my eyes. He usually was the one who could schmooze and charm women. Anya was impervious even to him. “Don’t sweat it.”
“Oh, I’m not.” He didn’t look up from cutting his steak. “But I do wonder if we’re missing out on intel through her.”
“I doubt it.”
“You don’t think that the Volkovs had secrets we could benefit from knowing about?” he asked.
“No. They gambled away their money. They mismanaged their finances to a state of ruin I had no desire to help them out of.”
He snorted. “You did help them.”
I nodded. Years ago, I offered my father-in-law a lump sum to ease his worries. I only did so to ensure he wouldn’t seek loans from one of my enemies. He accepted the money, but still, he lost it all and had the audacity to ask for more, which I turned down.
“I’ve been wondering about it all,” he replied casually. “Since she came and those men were trying to break in and kidnap her.”
“Nothing special about that.” There really wasn’t. None of them had a woman to be concerned about. No offspring. Roman would be the loose cannon, the one to worry about in that regard. I prayed he had the common sense to bag it when he fucked the women who came in and out of his life. Not a single one of us was celibate, but we’d so far made sure to avoid having children.
One day, we’d need to secure a future. I had with Andre. My older brother had with Sergei and Roman. They’d have to have children someday, though. When that happened, we’d be facing the increased threats of those young ones being taken for leverage. Just like the attempt that had already been made on Anya.
