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He takes my hand and pulls me around to face him, turning his body away from the table.

“What’s going on, little one?” he asks, looking up at me.

“Thank you for making me feel so welcome in your family. It means a lot to me,” I say quickly, feeling overwhelmed with emotion and trying not to cry and make it weird.

He chuckles and pulls me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me. His eyes study mine as he gently brushes hair behind my ear. “I’m happy it was you,” he says.

His words are so simple, and I shouldn’t read into them, but my heart wants to.

I bite my bottom lip, realizing that I’m about to kiss him. Quickly, I stand up. I can’t do that. I want to talk to him about things.

I hurry around to my own seat, and he watches me like a hawk, a mischievous grin on his face the entire time.

Once I’m settled with food in front of me, I nod and push my shoulders back.

“I have skills, work experience, and I want to help you somehow. I can be useful in your world. There is no reason for me to just live off you without also contributing.”

He snorts. “Lara, you aren’t a drain in any way. You don’t have to contribute anything to the business,” he says, his brows furrowed with curiosity.

“I want to, though. I want to help you—to make things easier somehow.”

“Mm,” he says, picking up his fork and scooping up some lasagna. “I’ll think about it.”

I nod. “Okay, that’s great,” I smile, perking up.

I think he’s just not sure about my skill level. I’ll need to prove that I’m capable. I can do that. If he gives me the chance.

Chapter 17 - Nestor

Lara keeps asking me about how she can help in the business, and while I trust she would be perfectly capable, I don’t want to involve her in anything that might put her in danger. The more I expose her to this world, the greater the risk she will face. It’s not fair of me to do that to her, and I don’t think she understands the risk she is taking by offering that.

And me not wanting to expose her to this world is also the reason I’m not taking her to the charity event this evening. My mother and sister will be attending, but they have been trained to handle these types of things. I have allies attending, but among them, there is always an enemy. Someone in hiding, someone looking for information or ways to target me. I don’t want them to meet Lara yet. Her innocence is glaringly obvious. She would be an instant target.

As much as I want to show her off, it’s not safe for her to be there.

When I arrive at the black-tie event, my mother is already there with Sergei. I wander over to them to say hello, giving Sergei the cold shoulder but embracing my mother with warmth.

“Where is Ulyana?” I ask, looking around and not finding her. She’s usually easy to spot as she attracts a lot of attention from the men.

“She was running late, so her driver will bring her,” Sergei answers.

“As usual,” I chuckle, not looking at him.

“Are you bidding on anything for the charity?” Mom asks.

“You decide, let me know if there’s anything that catches your eye. I had a feeling you might like the artwork, the one directly over the entrance.”

“Is that up for auction? Oh my word, yes. Let me go look at it again.”

“I’m going to do my rounds, I’ll see you later.” I smile at my mom and turn away from them both.

It’s time to mingle and show respect to my allies. I really don’t enjoy these things. They always seem so fake. Everyone grovels and oozes respect. It’s easy to spot someone trying to be nice for the sake of gaining your business. It annoys me. But it’s part of the world I live in, and I’ve gotten quite good at handling it.

Roan is around here somewhere, mingling as well.

Doing his part.

I spot a good acquaintance of mine and head over to him first, starting with the easy conversations.