19
TATI
Every six months or so, my father gets it in his head to have a dinner with all his brigadiers and other high-ranking members of the Bratva. When I was young, I enjoyed it, but only because of Nicki. Being a little girl among all these men that I perceived as impenetrable mountain ranges was intimidating. I often felt like I was walking around in a world of stone giants when they gathered in the living room. Nicki was always by my side, though, making faces at me at the dinner table when father wasn’t watching. He had a flair for taking my mind off things.
By the time I was a teenager, things changed significantly, and there was nothing that Nicki could do to comfort me. Suddenly, I had hips and tits in a roomful of men loyal to my father, but slaves to their own libidos. By the time I was fourteen, that enjoyment I used to get from having dinner with my father and brother was long gone. I couldn’t walk from one end of the room to the other without eyes on my ass or tits. One year shy of my fifteenth birthday, my father bought me a dress with a longer hemline and a higher neckline in the hopes of curbing the stares. It did very little to stop that. The dress fit me snugly, hugging myhips and hiking up bit by bit when I walked. I made it a point to stay by Nicki’s side all night.
And so, here I am again. My first “family” dinner since I left home and my first dinner since Nikolai died. If I didn’t have a mission tonight, I’d find a way out of it. Hell, my father might allow me to not come if I wore the right dress tonight.
I’m standing on the landing, just out of sight of the activities downstairs. So far, all of my father’s brigadiers have arrived. I can see and hear them gathering in the living room, having drinks. The help has been buzzing about all evening and the smell of food has been floating through the air all the way upstairs to my room.
The dress I have on is conservative, but not offensively so. It’s a dark blue wraparound with a hem that goes at least an inch past my knees, loose and flowy around the hips and a square-cut neckline. Much better than the body glove my father chose for me that one year.
I took the extra step of putting my pink curls up in a bun in the hopes that it would make me look more severe and less approachable. Men seemed to like me better with my hair down, or at least that’s been my experience.
The door opens and Viktor walks in. He’s wearing a black suit with shiny rose patterns embossed on the sleeves. God, he looks good. The way suits fall on him perfectly is something that ought to be studied. He still looks muscular, but he doesn’t look squeezed into a suit like some men do. Just watching him move through the foyer as he acknowledges his colleagues is turning me on.
Focus, dammit. I can’t afford to lose sight of the goal. Yanov hasn’t arrived yet. The last time we talked, I mentioned that Yanov might actually have the journal on him tonight. Viktor kept batting that idea away, suggesting that he wouldn’t be that careless. I disagreed, though. If there’s one thing I know about Yanov, it’s that he doesn’t tend to trust it when something valuable or important is out of his reach. He’s going to have it on him or near him tonight.
Viktor turns his head upward and catches sight of me. He doesn’t smile, but his eyes say hello subtly and I go a little gooey inside.
He turns away and is led into the living room. Just about everybody’s here. Where the hell is Yanov?
The door opens the moment I think that, and Yanov walks in. He’s wearing a black suit with a matching turtleneck and a gold chain as an accent. I’ve got my eye on that suit jacket. It’s showtime.
I walk down the stairs as he moves across the foyer. He stops and sees me, his face like a bored statue. “Good evening, Tatiana.”
“Good evening,” I say. “You clean up pretty good, Yanov.”
He frowns slightly. “Thank you.”
“You want me to take your jacket? I’m in charge of putting them all away tonight.”
He seems hesitant but then nods. “All right.” He shrugs out of the jacket and hands it to me, his eyes darting down to my dress. “That’s a nice dress, Tatiana. Very respectable.”
“Thank you,” I say with a big smile. “It’s Dolce and Gabbana. Classy, right?”
“Hmm.” He looks at my hair, silently judging me. “Indeed. You’re a picture of grace, my dear.”
“Everyone’s in the living room,” I say, nodding toward the living room entrance. He nods back and thanks me, then walks away. I turn on my heel and walk toward the parlor, coat slung over my arm.
As soon as I’m behind the door, I’m looking through the pockets. Nothing. Nothing in the inside pockets. Nothing in the hidden pocket near the back. His outside pockets are pretty empty too. Well, except for his car keys.
I sigh and put them back. Dammit. I thought for sure he’d be carrying it around with him. I guess Viktor was right about something.
Still, I know Yanov. He just isn’t the kind of man who leaves anything to chance. Like leaving items in a safe in his house where someone could break in and get it while he isn’t home. I once heard him suggest to my father that he should always have incriminating evidence in sight or at least steps away from him.
I hang his coat up on the coatrack and leave the parlor. As soon as I reach the living room, my father’s help announces that dinner’s on the table. My father is sitting in his chair, surrounded by his top men. Viktor is among them, quietly sipping his drink. He looks up at me with a question on his face, his brow furrowed. Then he walks over to me casually.
“What did you do?” he asks me softly.
“Nothing,” I tell him. That’s not a lie, really. Not finding that journal qualifies as not having done anything, in my book.
“I asked you to keep your nose clean,” he says to me. “Are you being a good girl tonight?”
That melty feeling he gives me returns, and I have to look away from him to regain my footing. “I’m the very model of innocence.”
I can feel his eyes on me even though I’m not looking directly at him. I don’t think he believes me. After a few seconds, he says, “I’m not going to be able to stay for dinner. Teddy and I are meeting up to discuss everything we’ve found so far.”
