Page 122 of A Lethal Game of Trust

He wouldn’t stop touching me as we approached Ivan and Vera at a small table, talking to Anton.

Dom’s uncle stood, ready to hug me, but our attention wason the hosts.

Ivan’s eyes zeroed in on Dom’s hand at my waist, his face void of emotion.

Vera sprang into action, almost throwing herself over the table, speaking quickly in Russian.

“What is she saying?” I murmured to Dom, hardly moving my lips. I knew Russian, but not at the speed she was going.

“A blessing!” she cried, pulling me away from her son to throw her arms around me. “Oh, thank the heavens. When did this happen?”

“A few weeks ago,” I wheezed in her grip.

“I knew it! I knew it! The other week, I told Ivan something was happening between the two of you.”

By the time she released me, Ivan was talking to Dom, their voices low and secretive. She ushered me over to a corner of the art gallery that she had transformed into artworks of the people important to the two of them. All but my mother. People often acted as if she didn’t exist until it suited them. In a line were Ivan, my father and Anton, hanging from the ceiling. My father was the only one grinning.

Vera’s tone and expression changed as she moved us away from the others. Her face turned stony. This was what I had been expecting. “Do you love him?”

“I…” My eyes stung, they were so wide.

“Okay, okay,” she said, waving a passive hand. “Not so heavy. Are you sure about him?”

“Certain.”

“I thought I was certain once, Leonie.” She looked up at the faces in front of us. “Then I met Ivan. Three hearts got broken, including mine. Just a little.”

Vera was just as severe as her husband but far moreunderstated. She often spoke in riddles.

She took a deep breath, a sip and then, “I met Anton first.”

Dom’s uncle. Ivan’s brother.

Even the Belovs had family drama.

“We often leave out that part of how we met,” she said, looking at the picture of her brother-in-law. “He wanted to show me the Mona Lisa, and Ivan joined us. Though I’m sure Anton only wanted me for my inheritance. Ivan had his own.”

I couldn’t imagine Ivan without Vera or Vera without Ivan.

She faced me again. “I just want you to be sure. Certain, as you said.”

My gaze flickered amongst the portraits, landing on Dom’s dazzling smile. “Certain, as I said.”

Her smile was soft as she laced her arm in mine. “Your dad and I always said the lines would join properly eventually. He’d be so happy, Leo.”

I only nodded once, my attention drawn back to his portrait.

But she hardly noticed, continuing with, “Your dad… he was such a great man. The best I’ve known. He really would be overjoyed.”

Dom and his dad were still talking quietly, and my heart started to beat faster, worrying about what they were saying.

“Are they…? Is Ivan…?”

“Ecstatic,” Vera confirmed. “You’ll be a real Belov!”

Derek and Julia joined us and Derek tapped me on the shoulder. “I don’t want to ruin a good moment, but I do have some news.”

I lowered my head and followed him to the bar, where we ordered our drinks and a whiskey sour for Dom.