She shrugged, still smirking. “I’m no longer the black sheep of the family.” She raised her right hand, holding it there. “You hold that title now.”
Sighing, I gave her a weak high five. Yeah. She might be the wild child of our family, but apparently, I had even surpassed her colorful lifestyle. I covertly glanced at Daniil. He had the pamphlet closed on top of his plate; he hadn’t touched it other than to accept it. He was speaking to a—now—cool and composed Carl. And as if he could feel me looking at him, his gaze darted to mine and his lips twitched before continuing his conversation, accent ever so slowly getting lighter.
He was coaxing the memory-sound out of my mother’s mind.
Damn cunning is what it was.
My aunt casually asked against my curls in an extremely soft voice, “You do realize if your father or mother finds out you’re having sex with the head of the Russian Mafia, they will ship you off to another country, don’t you?” I sucked in a harsh breath, and Daniil’s speech faltered with Carl before continuing, and she snickered. “Don’t worry, dear. Your secret’s safe with me. Although, I will say, aside from the obvious danger and stupidity of your choice, he is a little old for you. Now me, on the other hand…” She tilted back and fluttered her eyelashes at me…and I started having a coughing fit.
Two glasses of downed water later, demanded by my mother that I drink, I recovered. I trusted my aunt to keep quiet. She was a wild woman herself, but it was still unnerving knowing she had been observant enough to catch on and…well, just that she knew. Daniil understood she knew too, from the way he had assessed her when she wasn’t watching. Probably trying to make sure she wasn’t going to snitch on me. Because the truth was, she wasn’t too far off about what my parents would do if they found out. I was pretty sure neither Daniil nor I was ready to give each other up yet. Our time was definitely not finished with each other.
Once again, Daniil’s plate was far more appetizing than mine was, but I didn’t see any way to get around stealing his food. The man had a sixth sense and ordered what I wanted, even when I didn’t know. I picked at my food, staring at his, watching as he twirled his fork in his spicy Cajun pasta. Glancing down at my burger, it just looked like a dead cow smashed inside a bun. I felt a little nauseous even looking at it.
Sometimes, my pickiness in food annoyed even me.
Daniil rubbed his chest. “I forgot. This will give me heartburn.” He sat his fork down with frustration. “I’ll have to order something else.”
Artur glanced up from his plate. “That’ll take forever, Papa.”
I blurted, “I’ll trade you.” I paused when Mom’s gaze shot up in surprise. “I haven’t touched mine yet, same as him. Plus his,” I pointed at his plate, “looks really good.”
“Deal.” Daniil reached over and swapped out our plates. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I mumbled, staring down at my new plate.Mmm.I grabbed the fork he had left on the plate and chowed down.
God, it was good.
The table sat in companionable silence as we all enjoyed our first few bites.
With a mouth full of food, I almost choked when Mom said, “Elizabeth, your father and I went ahead and set up a date for you and Don to meet. He’s the young man we were telling you about. His schedule is just as hectic as yours so we had to schedule it in advance.”
Everyone paused in mid-motion—at least those in the know that I was sleeping with Daniil—as I grabbed my water, taking a hefty gulp, firmly keeping my eyes off my lover. When I had full control of myself, I glanced up. “Mom, I told you I wasn’t interested in any more of your blind dates.”
Mom waved her hand. “I know you said that, but it’s already scheduled.”
I felt my features harden as irritation took hold. “Unscheduled it.”
Mom leaned forward, peering past her sister to me. She smiled. It was hard and determined. “No. I don’t think so.” Staring into my eyes, she stated firmly, “It would be rude to cancel now. You’re going.” She paused. “And besides, you really do have quite a bit in common. And he’s very handsome. We think you’ll get along with him perfectly.”
She stared me down as the table stayed silent. Those that weren’t in the know, finally catching on there was something amiss, soeveryonebegan to stare at us.
And…I was pissed.
She was doing this on purpose. My parents’ intuition skills had led them to believe I was sleeping with someone in this group. Correctly. And she was trying to ruin it. Humiliating me even more in the process.
If I said anything to dispute this further, they would make today’s antics look like child’s play with this group. I knew this from past experience. I hadn’t lived with them for eighteen years of my life without learning their ways. And theirwayscould be ten times worse than what they were doing right now.
Looking out for my best interests, they always called it.
Overbearing parents was what I called it.
I stayed silent until I felt I could speak without yelling. I turned my attention back to my plate. “I understand. I’ll go on the date with him.” A quick glance at her and away. “One date. That’s all.”
“I promise you’ll really like him. It won’t be a hardship by any stretch of the imagination.” She paused. “We even set the date up at that new club Crimson City. We know you love to dance.”
I felt my eyes close. Kirill owned that club, one of the Russian men sitting at our table. My parents didn’t know that though, since they didn’t keep up on things like that. It had been just dumb luck on their part. I muttered, “Perfect.”
Mom stated cheerfully, “We thought so.”
