The action, although playful in his eyes, had me livid.
“Zedd. Back off,” I spat out, shooting daggers at his arm hoping to singe it off.
We were caught in a stare down when Drex pulled Zedd away from my Ana. I moved in next to her. I knew she wouldn’t find me at all comforting, but I was the one that needed her comfort.
“My God, man,” Drex joked to our brother. “We’re here two minutes and you’re already causing trouble. Just chill out.” Drex punched Zedd’s shoulder playfully, the resounding thump making me glad it wasn’t me dealing the blows for once. The tension in the room evaporated.
A moment later and Heather popped up to break the tension that had settled in the air. “Mr King, dinner is nearly ready and the table is set.”
“No ‘hello’ for your favorite boys?” Drex joked as he gave her a small nudge.
Heather smiled and said hello before scuttling back to the kitchen. We had our chef working tonight but I knew Heather wasn’t comfortable being out in the limelight, so she hid away in the kitchen.
I stood and led the way into the dining room. I noticed Anastasia lag behind everyone else. When she entered the room I signaled for her to take the seat by me. I couldn’t stand the idea of being more than a few feet away from her, not only because she looked beautiful, and I was afraid one of my brothers would actually take her home with them, but also to be able to comfort her if she needed it. As she sat down I silently questioned who needed to be comforted more, me or her.
Despite my concerns, she seemed to be holding her own against my brothers. I was impressed.
“You sure you wanna sit there?” Zedd asked her from across the table. I held my breath as I waited for it. Unfortunately for the rest of us, Drex and Zedd liked to take turns being the class clown. It seemed they were both at the top of their game tonight. Zedd’s eyebrows waggled ridiculously causing Anastasia to smile a genuine smile.“I’m sure we could bunch up and make room for you over this side.”
It took me until the words left his mouth to realize that Anastasia, while sat to my left, was also right next to Finch. I wasn’t exactly happy about the seating arrangement but the only way I’d be happy was if Anastasia and I were dining alone.
I supposed that there was nothing to be done and prayed that dinner went smoothly.
“Guess who brought board games?” Zedd exclaimed cheerfully. We all laughed at his idiotic excitement.
“Dammit. Not again,” Drex exclaimed loudly from his seat next to me, the sudden loud noise causing me to flinch. I glanced down at the board to find his silver top hat sitting in jail and Drex reaching out to put hisChancecard back. Bummer for him.
So far, so good. It was still a strange concept that I’d been kidnapped to sit around and play board games - after having maybe the nicest three-course meal I’d ever had. But, I also never thought that my first time playing Monopoly would’ve been with these guys either.
It was all very hard for me to grasp and my head hadn’t quite adjusted to the fact that this was becoming my new reality. I had no clue what was to come. I just had to roll with the punches. Aside from all that, I’d never have admitted it out loud, but I actually wasn’t having the worst time.
The whole night made me miss my family. It was a pointless longing, considering my family consisted of my aunt and my father. We’d never shared the closeness that Nikolai and his brothers had.
Hell, the only game I ever remember playing with my father was blackjack. The surprisingly fond memory made my lip quiver. I wish I’d been lucky enough to have had a brother or a sister, they looked like fun. And it must be nice, to have someone in your corner, no matter what, like these four seemed.
I went out of my way in avoiding all contact with Nikolai because, well, he was the reason I was here in the first place. The same with Finch, but that was because he just gave me a really bad vibe. I didn’t think we’d be linking arms and skipping around together any time soon.
Honestly, I would’ve said he was a total jackass, but I probably didn’t know him well enough to make that assumption yet.
The other brothers I’d been introduced to seemed nice though. I’d been battling myself most of the night as to how I should be acting. Drex and Zedd had such an easy nature about them, so carefree - it was hard not to engage with them. If we were in any other situation I could’ve seen us being friends. Although, I could tell just by looking at them that they were typical playboys. So, in any other situation, I could imagine that their joking would have an underlying motive.
I had no idea why Zedd had thought to bring Monopoly to a dinner party. I guessed I should’ve felt lucky he didn’t bring Twister or Bop It, definitely could’ve been worse.
“It’s karma man, for making fun of my Scottie. Top hat ain’t bringing you no luck this time.” Zedd laughed at his brother before snatching the dice for his turn.
The dice show up a double one and everyone, including me, laughs at the look of ultimate defeat on Zedd’s face. By now, I’m starting to recognize a pattern of bickering between Nikolai’s younger brothers. Just another reason I feel a sense of comfort from them - they’re idiots.
“I need a drink.” I stood somewhat abruptly from my dining chair. I looked to Nikolai for anything resembling approval before pushing away.
“Me too. I’ll show you where everything is, Anastasia.” Ugh. Luckily, with my back turned, no one caught my eye roll at the sound of Finch’s voice.
Finch’s grip on my elbow wasn’t friendly, in fact, it was a notch above pinching. I knew something big was coming. If I was being honest with myself, I’d say that I’d been expecting this moment all night. I wasn’t sure it would be Finch but I felt that I’d get some kind of ‘chat’ from one of the brothers. It was very obvious how much they all cared for Nikolai.
“You seem like a smart girl, my brother wouldn’t like you otherwise. If I were you I’d fall in line rather quickly. You’re here to serve one purpose only, and that is to please my brother. Once he’s bored of you, you’ll be disposed of so you should make your time here count.”
I held my breath until he finished his little speech. It was cute but definitely needed some work if he wanted to scare me. I’d dealt with a lot of shit throughout my life, up to and including watching my father’s murder.
Not much scared me anymore, with maybe the only exception being the fact that my father’s killers were probably people I knew - maybe even close with. But this guy? I’d seen his type a hundred times over; young, idealistic, stubborn - and stupid. I wasn’t scared of him or what he threatened to do. I didn’t know if that made me brave or naive. I felt I had it figured out though. Nikolai went to an awful lot of trouble to get me here, I was pretty sure that the situation wasn’t supposed to be temporary.
