When we round the corner past the bar and the private dining area opens up ahead of us, I get the shock of my life. Vera is seated at the head of the family table in a black dress with her hair pinned up and diamonds at her throat and her wrists. Sabine is on her left and Sofi is on her right, and both of them have their cleavage on display. All three of them look like they've been invited to a ball or something.
I look down at myself, wearing a gray blouse tucked into dark trousers with flat shoes because Roman told me to dress for work—not some fancy dinner. And my hair is pulled back in a knot at the base of my neck because I didn't know this would be considered formal. Next to the three of them, I look exactly what Roman introduced me as—an assistant, an employee, hired help.
Vera's eyes find me before we've reached the table and they move from my face to my blouse to my shoes and back up again, and the corner of her mouth tightens in a nasty smirk no one else probably even notices, but I notice. The way she looks down her nose at me is unmistakable.
"Roman." Vera stands and extends her hand and he takes it briefly, his fingers barely closing around hers before he lets go. "How good of you to come. We weren't sure you'd accept."
"I always accept when the food is worth the company." He pulls out a chair for me and I sit, tucking myself in close to the table with my hands in my lap. He takes the seat beside me and unbuttons his jacket and leans back. "Ladies."
"Hi," Sofi says, lifting her wine glass, already halfway through it.
Sabine nods at Roman and then smirks at me, much like the dirty expressions her mother offers me. "Mila. I didn't realize you'd be joining us."
"She's with me," Roman says before I can answer.
"As what?" Vera asks as she takes her seat. There's a hint of concern on her face until Roman answers.
"As my assistant. She takes notes, keeps my schedule, handles my correspondence." The entire time he speaks, he doesn't bother to look at her. It's a tiny vindication for me, though I wish he'd have just told me I should dress up. "She's been very useful."
Vera's mouth tightens into a thin line, and Sabine glances at her mother and then back at her own menu. The waiter brings a bottle of red and pours for Roman first and then for me, and I pick up the glass because my hands need to be occupied, and at this point, a little wine wouldn't hurt. I had no idea he was dragging me into this or I'd have been better prepared.
The hors d'oeuvres arrive in a spread of smoked fish and blini and pickled mushrooms and thin slices of cured meat, and Vera directs the conversation toward Sabine while the plates are passed around. She tells Roman that Sabine's been managing several of the family's properties since Anton's death and that she has a strong head for business, and Sabine sits up a little straighter.
"She'd love to show you the books sometime," Vera says, spreading a thin layer of fresh cream on a blini. "Privately, of course. Perhaps dinner at your home next week?"
"She's welcome anytime," Roman says as he picks up a piece of smoked fish and eats it with his fingers. "But I didn't come tonight to talk about Sabine's bookkeeping."
Vera's hand stills on the blini. "Oh?"
Fire shoots down my back, causing me to sit straighter, and I try to mask the shock on my face by looking down at my plate. What the hell is he doing now? Because before he even opens his mouth to tell her the real reason he's dragged me out here tonight, I already know it.
"I've heard there's trouble in the family." He wipes his fingers on his napkin and sets it back in his lap and picks up his wine glass, turning the stem between his thumb and forefinger. "Unrest among the lower ranks, assaults, men consolidating power and making moves against the current leadership."
The table goes still. Sofi's glass stops halfway to her mouth and Sabine's eyes dart to Vera, who sets the blini down on her plate and folds her hands together on the edge of the table. Then she folds her fingers and rests them in her lap as she narrows her eyes on me. Her lips are pursed so tightly, you'd think she was puckering up for a kiss.
"Where did you hear that?" I'll give her credit. She's better at modulating her tone of voice than I am. She'd make an excellent poker player.
"It doesn't concern you where I heard it." Roman drinks from his glass and sets it down. "What concerns me is that I heard it at all. Don't you think?" His word hits its target, and she squares her shoulders. "If I'm hearing about instability in the Radin organization, so is everyone else in this city. Every family, everycompetitor, every man who's been waiting for an opening since Anton died."
"We're handling it," Vera says curtly, and I almost snort as I laugh quietly. Roman is putting her in her place right in front of me, doing exactly what he said he'd do last night in bed. And I find myself growing warm all over my entire body as I remember the way he made me feel.
"Are you?" There's one thing I've learned about Roman Kuzin. He doesn't have to be violent or openly expressive to prove his point or make his authority known. He got so furious with me when I stole from him, but other times, I've seen him reprimand one of his fighters with nothing more than a glance to Yegor or Radimir. The fact that he's openly directing his rebuke at her with words is enough.
Vera's throat bobs as she swallows, though she's not stupid enough to cut off her own hand. She knows if she has any chance of Roman choosing one of her daughters in whatever sick marriage arrangement she has planned in her head, she has to control her temper. Which I know is almost an impossible feat for her. Sofi's head is hanging, and Sabine's chin is erect just like her mother's but her hostility isn't masked as well.
God, this is almost too good to be true.
"If you're still interested in my marrying into this family," Roman says, and he picks up another piece of fish and eats it, taking his time chewing before he finishes the sentence, "then you need to understand what I'm risking by even sitting at this table. I can't be seen courting your daughters while the organization they're attached to is falling apart from the inside."
"The situation is under control, Roman." Now Vera turns her attention to me, narrowing her eyes in anger. She knows I went and asked him for help and she hates me even more because of it. Frankly, I have zero fucks to give. Roman isn't choosing me as his future wife, and if I can help it, I'll stop her from taking control of my family somehow, even if it means I have to marry someone I'm not in love with to seize the power so she doesn't get it.
"Then get it under control faster." He sets his napkin on the table and leans forward. "Get your men in line. Settle whatever internal business needs settling or I'm going to lose interest, Vera. And once I lose interest, I don't come back."
Neither of the girls is looking up from the table at all now, though I'm sitting a bit taller in my chair. I may be underdressed for this dinner, but I feel like the queen as Vera glares at me openly now. She's not even trying to hide it from Roman, either.
"I'll handle it," she says, and then she drinks.
"Good." Roman leans back in his chair and gestures to the waiter for another bottle. "Now, tell me more about these properties Sabine's been managing. I'm curious."
