Vadim immediately let go, and Riley, frightened not only by Vadim’s actions but also by Jake’s sudden eruption, burst into tears, flinging himself intomyarms.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jake asked,bristling.
“These kids are not my job,” Vadim challenged, clearly incensed and not backing down. If it came to it, he had the size and training to take Jake out in less than two moves. It’s what made him a great bodyguard, but also a feared humanbeing.
“Your job is what I say it is. These kids are my family, and you’ll treat them with respect or you can find yourself newemployment.”
The two glared at one another. Vadim had been with Jake for years, and in all the time I’d known him, I’d never seen them disagree. But then, he barely spoke to me in the first place. When he had something to say to Jake, he always pulled him aside for a private discussion, as if I could not be trusted with pertinent information. I’d never really cared for him, but at the same time, I always felt that both Jake and I were safer when he wasaround.
“Sorry,” Vadim mumbled, breaking eye contact with Jake and leaning back in his seat. I could only imagine what it took for him to stand down when it was clear by his body language that was the last thing he wantedtodo.
Jake stood there a moment, still fuming, so I grabbed his hand, forcing his attention away from Vadim. Both Sydney and Riley had been watching the exchange intently, and how he handled himself now would be etched in their memories for a long time. I motioned toward the kids with my eyes and then at hischair.
The situation diffused, he nodded, but before taking his seat, Jake got the last word in with Vadim. “Don’t ever touch himagain.”
“You wantto talk about what happened earlier?” I asked, as he was getting ready for the concert. We’d arrived at the venue a couple hours earlier, but with the kids occupying every second of that time, this was the first opportunity I’d had to talk to him. And if it weren’t for Kyle wandering into the hornet’s nest and unwittingly taking over the parenting duties, we wouldn’t even have had thischance.
Seemingly bothered by the incident with Vadim, Jake didn’t look my way when he said, “Notparticularly.”
“I get why you were angry. I was too. Vadim didn’t have any right to grab himlikethat.”
“No, he didn’t,” Jake said, edgy once more. “There was no excuse. He was trying to intimidate Riley, and I’m not going to put up withthatshit.”
I understood then that this wasn’t just about Riley. Vadim’s aggressive behavior had triggered something in him. I imagine he’d been in Riley’s shoes more times than he could count – the difference being, he hadn’t had anyone to stand up for him during those dark times. His protective instincts had kicked in the minute Vadim grabbed Riley, and I had no doubt he would have defended his nephew with his life. I respected the hell out of himforthat.
“Hey.” I slid my arms around his back. “Don’t feel bad. You did the rightthing.”
“No. I lost my cool in front of them… in front ofeveryone.”
“A little bit, maybe, but it didn’t affect the kids in the way you think it did. They didn’t see you as being aggressive. What they saw was their uncle standing up for them. For better or worse, they now know you havetheirback.”
“Iwant Captain Crunch,”Riley demandedofKyle.
“Nope, I’m sorry. That’s not a dinner cereal,” he replied, taking the box out of my nephew’s hands and putting it at the top of thecupboard.
“That’s not a dinner cereal,” Rileymimicked.
“That’s not a dinner cereal,” Kylemimickedback.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Rileywhined.
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Kyle whinedrightback.
As we re-entered the room, Jake stepped between the two. This pre-adolescent pissing match could go on all day without properintervention.
“Okay. Enough, Riley,” he said. “And no cereal for dinner. We may be amateurs, but your Auntie Casey and I still have some common sense. Catering has food for us. Go get ready and we’ll leave in a fewminutes.”
The kids just stood there staring up at him. Jake looked to me, perplexed, then back atthekids.
“What?” heasked.
“We’reready.”
“You don’t have to, like, brush your hair or change clothes oranything?”
“We’re kids,” Sydney said in a snooty tone, lifting her arms in exasperation. “I thought you said you had commonsense.”
Kyle burst out laughing until he caught sight of our disapproving glares. “Well, she has you on that one,” he said under hisbreath.
