He hums in confirmation and parks the car. Then steps out and comes around to open my door.
He puts out his hand, and I grasp it, giving him a small smile. I feel like I’m being swallowed alive by nerves at the thought of meeting his family. His other two brothers who probably think I’m some random guy who’s going to get their brother killed.
I’m speechless at what I see inside the house when we walk in. The interior is incredible with the entire floor made out of black marble, gold accents everywhere in the details and décor. With decorative panels covering them from floor to ceiling.
“Come on, let’s get this over with,” he mutters.
I trail after him while holding his hand, stunned by everything I’m seeing.
I hear shouting when we approach a big open living room.
I spot Mikhail and Daniil sitting in chairs opposite two other men who I assume are his older brothers. They’re playing UNO. I didn’t expect that from a mafia family.
They all turn around and stop talking when they see us in the entryway.
One of them who looks the oldest stands and drops his cards on the table, straightening out his suit as he walks over to us.
He has a shaved head, thick dark brown beard and brown eyes. The rest follow him.
The older one says something in Russian, and Alexei tenses beside me.
“In English,” he says back firmly.
The man clears his throat and is about to speak, but the other one who I think is the second oldest shoves him out of the way with a grin.
His eyes are bright blue, and he has long hair on top that’s shaved on the sides. He pushes out his hand toward me. I grab it on instinct.
“I’m Yulian, the bald one is Lev the oldest, and you know the other two idiots, Daniil and Mikhail.”
“So what draws you to Alexei? His award-winning personality, or the fact that he’s killed more people than most serial killers?” he says, clearly trying to get a reaction.
I open my mouth to respond, but Alexei barks something in Russian, his voice so harsh it makes me jump.
He lets go of my hand and steps up to grab his shirt. Yulian just keeps smiling at him and saying something back in Russian that’s clearly designed to piss him off more.
“That’s enough.”
Lina stands in a red dress with her hair braided and a red bow at the end. She looks gorgeous and festive. “Kelly, follow me. I need help setting the table.”
I nod and walk after her. As soon as we leave the room, I hear it erupting with shouting and the sound of something breaking.
“Don’t mind them, they do that a lot,” Lina says.
“I noticed.”
She hums. I follow her through the house to some sort of formal dining hall with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlook the back garden. I can’t even try to wrap my head around how much it cost to build a place like this.
“My husband couldn’t be here; he had a meeting,” she says, giving me a small smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“It’s okay,” I say, even though I’m pretty sure what she really means is that Alexei’s dad doesn’t want to see his son with another man. But whatever, I’m not going to make this harder for her than it already is.
She walks over to an ornate cabinet and starts picking out plates, handing them to me one by one. I take them carefully from her hands. I’m pretty sure these cost more than everything I own. I glance up at the ceiling once, and my eyes go wide at what look like bullet holes. I shake my head and try to focus on not dropping anything.
“Kelly.”
I put down the last plate and look over at her. “Hm?”
“I looked into your file. It said you’re a veterinarian and that your mother died of cancer. I’m sorry for your loss.”
