That was just the cherry on top.
“You do everything your father asks you to?” Anton inquires, almost mumbling the question as he pretends to be busy on his phone.
“I don’t know how you want me to answer that,” I admit, scratching the back of my head shortly. “Do you want me to say yes so you think I’m a good, dutiful son? Or do you want me to say no so that you think I’m not just some Capo’s lap dog.”
“I want you to be honest,” he grunts.
Shrugging, I accept his request for the truth. “I do what my father needs, but to be completely honest, he doesn’t ask me for much. I have eight older brothers who fall in the line of responsibility before me.”
“So you lack ambition,” Lev decides, almost sounding angrily pleased. Like he’s happy to have found a flaw, but also upset that I may possess said flaw. Silently, I wonder if he’s going to be like this all night.
“I lack the need for it.” I shrug, watching his eyes meet mine in the review mirror. “I don’t want to take my brothers’ places. I’ve really been focusing on the family aspect of life, rather than the criminal side. For now, at least. The twins are young, and some days it feels like Jade only just came to us. She needs a lot of support.”
“Dmitri is her support,” Lev says, though he sounds less grumpy as he does.
“He is,” I agree. “Ivan is too, and Anatoly as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if the twins end up learning three languages atonce. They’re surrounded by Italians and Russians and English speakers alike. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need me. She’s one of my best friends.”
A month ago, I might have called her my only best friend.
“It’s good,” Anton decides, voice full of approval that I didn’t know he was capable of. “Good that you care for your sister as a brother should.”
I don’t need his approval, especially where Jade is concerned, but it’s nice to hear something positive coming out of his mouth for once. Maybe he’ll come to respect my friendship with Anya after all.
“You know it’s good that we’re doing this now,” I muse, lips twitching. “Chances are I would have been coming along when Jade and Dmitri moved back here anyway.”
Lev scoffs, but Anton looks up from his phone, arching a brow.
“Is that so?”
“Yep,” I confirm, refusing to deny it. “Pretty sure everyone back home is already expecting it. It’s good that you’re getting to know me now, it should be less awkward later when the time comes.”
“You’re a rude little fucker.” Lev huffs. “Inviting yourself to live where you aren’t welcome.”
“My sister is yourKoroleva,is she not?” I challenge,feeling smug. “Pretty sure I’m welcome wherever your queen invites me.”
Mikhail makes a noise that sounds suspiciously like laughter while Lev fumes wordlessly next to him.
Turning to Anton with a grin, I ask, “Did I pronounce that right?”
He can’t hide the hint of amusement on his face. “I’ve heard it pronounced worse.”
Satisfied, I hum to myself happily. “That’s a compliment coming from a Russian. I’ll work on it though. I tried to mimic Ivan’s accent. He doesn’t like to teach me Russian words, though. He says I tease too much. It’s not my fault that you all have some of the weirdest expressions I’ve ever heard.”
“Like?” Anton asks, not offended but sounding doubtful.
“Ugh, he told me ‘a bear has stepped in my ear’ when I was showing Cesar how to bang on his little drum set. Like first of all, a bear would fucking kill me if it stepped on my head, and second of all, I wasn’t trying to demonstrate my musical prowess. I was trying to get Cesar to be as loud as possible to annoy him.”
“A bear?” Mikhail echoes.
“Medved’ na ukho nastupil,” Anton surmises, chuckling.
I snap my fingers and point at him, hearing the phrase. “Yes,that.”
“You’re friendly with my son?” he asks, ignoring the topic of the weird-ass expression.
“Ivan?” I nod with a small shrug. “We’re cool. I didn’t like him at first, of course, but he’s fine. A little uptight sometimes, honestly. But we’ve gotten used to each other now.”
Lev snorts. “I bet everyone seems uptight to you.”
