Page 14

Dmitri

“We can’t allow them to keep your shipment at the port; what’s being done to stop them?” My uncle leans back in his chair, balancing his glass of whiskey on the arm.

“Kost is heading there this week to fish out the problem. It will be solved soon and the shipment sent off. But I agree, we can’t let Kozlov get away with getting involved here.” I glance at the door of the study.

Amelia has been a great success with my family. Everyone has fallen for her head over heels already. Every question and conversation was aimed at her during the entirety of dinner, and she navigated all of it with perfect grace.

After we’d finished eating, the women shooed us out of the dining room so they could have Amelia to themselves.

Anyone would be overwhelmed with all the attention, but she simply shrugged at me and said she’d let us know when the coffee and desserts were ready.

“Konstantin?” Nikolai clears his throat. “Your brother?”

I drum my fingers on the arm of my chair. How long can it take to brew a pot of coffee and cut up some cake?

“Yes.” I glance once more at the door.

“You think it’s wise to involve him again?” Arman questions.

The last time my younger brother was entwined in business dealings on my behalf, a war erupted back home.

“Kost knows who to deal with at the port. He’ll get it handled, and the shipment will be released. If I allow it to be delayed any longer, I’ll have to answer to some very upset dignitaries who have paid an obscene sum to be certain their weapons get into the wrong hands at the right time,” I explain.

Not making good on my part of a deal gives them leverage, and I make it a point to keep very few people out in the world who can claim to have that.

“In order for Kozlov to have gotten the Zhukov family who control the Novorossiysk port, they’ve had to have come to an agreement of some sort. Yusef Zhukov doesn’t like the Kozlov family any more than we do,” my uncle points out.

“And you wanted Roman to marry one of their daughters?” Arman frowns. The bad blood between my uncle and Arman has healed, but it’s no surprise that Uncle Igor would try to get involved with his oldest son’s marriage plans.

“I wanted Roman to marry.” Uncle Igor swipes a hand through the air. “The Kozlov girl wasn’t a horrible idea at the time, but once he told me about his engagement to Billie, I dropped it.”

“You have a habit of backing the wrong horse,” Nikolai jokes. “Maybe you should stay out of the matchmaking business.”

“Who’s making matches?” Uncle opens his arms wide like he’s tired of being the butt of their harassment. “All I ask now is my sons fill their nurseries so I can have dozens of grandbabies.”

“I’m doing the best I can,” Arman laughs.

They announced at dinner that Anya is expecting.

Igor swings his gaze onto me. “A few grandnieces and nephews would be nice as well. I can hear my sister complaining all the way from Russia that she has no grandchildren.”

“She’s said nothing to me.” I lift a shoulder.

“You lie straight to my face?” He leans forward, the levity dropping.

I grin. “Of course not, Uncle. You know her as well as I do, and she’s told me at length what she expects. I’ve gotten married; doesn’t that allow me at least a week before the screams for babies begin?”

Though, my own thoughts have already turned to the subject. I’m not an old man, but I’m not young either. Having my baby swell Amelia’s belly soon is in the forefront of my mind.

“Maybe Kost will find a woman soon and start a family,” Nikolai says with a straight face as he brings his drink to his lips.

“Kost?” Arman laughs. “He’d sooner cut off his left foot than settle down with one woman.”

“He enjoys his life the way it is,” I agree with a frown.

It wouldn’t hurt him to settle in one place for longer than a few months. But he’s always enjoyed the adventures that come with the work he does.

Uncle Igor raises a glass to me. “He’s never not found his mark, I’ll give him that. No man can hide from Konstantin.”

I glance at my watch then the door again. What are they doing in the kitchen? I should have asked the cook to stay instead of listening to Amelia about letting her have the night off.

“Then there’s Dmitri here, who hasn’t stopped looking at the door since we sat down.” Nikolai laughs. “Let your bride have time with the girls. She’s probably filling their heads with all the insane things you’ve done since she found out she had to marry you.”

“Don’t look so angry. Anya accused me of losing my mind at least once a day when we first got together.” Arman pushes up from his chair to refill his glass.

“That’s because you did, and there are days when you still do,” Anya says, sweeping into the room with Amelia and the other women right behind her.

Anya brings the tray with plated desserts to a nearby table and Amelia brings a tray carrying the coffee.

The carafe looks wobbly, so I get up to help her, not wanting her to spill the hot drink all over herself.

“I have it.” She frowns at me when I get to her side.

“It’s heavy.” I take the tray from her grasp and bring it to the table where Anya has put the dessert.

“It’s just coffee.” She shakes her head at me. “I can carry a pot of coffee.”

“That’s not the point,” Charlotte and Anya say in unison at the same time as I do.

I shoot them a heated glare, but they only grin back at me.

“Don’t look at my wife like that, Dmitri. Only I get to glare at her like that.” Nikolai picks up his wife’s hand.

It’s a facade, his anger toward me.

“Then do your damn job, cousin,” I shoot at him, only to be laughed at again.

“Don’t antagonize them, they’re family,” Amelia says softly as she pours coffee into a cup. “Do you want some?”

“You’re serving me coffee?” I question hesitantly.

This woman was ready to remove my heart with a spoon only twenty-four hours earlier; should I trust anything she hands me?

“It’s just coffee, don’t get all Dmitri about it.” She places the cup on a saucer and hands it to me. “Who all wants a cup?” she calls to the rest of the room.

I take my cup back to my seat and watch as she pours and serves coffee to my family. Charlotte and Anya have already passed out the chocolate cake and sit beside their husbands in the chairs each of them has vacated for their wives. The men have moved to straight-back chairs brought in from the dining room.

“Lia, Nikolai told me that you’re in charge of the Moreau Center.” Charlotte swipes a finger beneath her lips, wiping away a bit of chocolate frosting. “That must be a lot of work.”

“It is.” Amelia nods. “But it’s good work, you know? I mean the mundane things like building maintenance, budgets—all that stuff is annoying, but the actual helping people makes up for all that.”

“You don’t have enough staff to do all that?” Anya questions.

Amelia eyes the chair beside me. It’s the only one left for her to sit in, but she remains standing with her coffee. The urge to demand her to sit with me, in my lap actually, is strong, but I won’t push the issue.

She’s been so gracious with my family and all of their questions during dinner, I’ll let her have this tiny defiance.

“I do, but there’s only so much everyone can do.” She takes a sip of her coffee and her eyes widen. “That reminds me, I have a meeting tomorrow with the accountant I’ve been putting off.”

“The meeting rooms in the basement will be ready by morning,” I contribute. “The last of the drywall was installed and painted this afternoon. All the carpets have been replaced.”

Her shoulders relax as though I’ve just pulled a boulder off of them. A small, but genuine smile touches her lips.

“Oh, good. Thank you.”

I feel five sets of eyes turn on me and my jaw clenches at the attention. If I would allow it, I think my cheeks would heat.

“What does the accountant want?” I ask, skipping right over the moment.

She lifts a shoulder. “I have no idea. He’s been trying to meet for a while, but I’ve been busy and then Lucas—” She cuts off at the mention of her brother.

There’s silence for a beat; she looks shaken in that moment, but she clears her throat and continues. “When Lucas died, things were too chaotic to deal with him. But it’s been long enough. I need to start settling things.”

“Yes, we heard about your brother. He was a good man,” Uncle Igor pipes in.

She brings her eyes to him and for a moment they harden. The reason he knows her brother is probably running through her mind.

“Now that the marriage is settled, we can start working our way through whatever else needs to be done for his estate.” I get up, bringing my half-empty cup to the table and placing it on the tray, standing behind her.

“The paperwork after something like this can be so overwhelming. When my father passed, it was like an avalanche fell on me.” Charlotte gives a sympathetic smile.

“Thankfully most of that is taken care of, but I need to sort out his apartment. I might just let Christian handle it like he offered. He’s Lucas’ closest friend,” she says to the girls.

“Christian?” I step closer to her. “When did he offer this?”

The muscles in her neck tense.

“Yesterday. He stopped by the apartment when I was there. He’s been good enough to check on the place since it’s empty. I hadn’t even thought to do it.” She takes a sip of her coffee.

“You saw him yesterday.” My palm itches at the idea of her being in the same room with that asshole.

There’s a reason Lucas never brought Christian into the fold when it came to his business. They had been close friends, but Lucas didn’t trust him. Not when it came to money or business.

“I did.” She puts her cup down on the table. “Does anyone need a refill?”

All five of our guests decline the offer, turning their eyes to me. My cousins have knowing grins tugging on their lips. Her continued disobedience amuses them. From the stories I’ve heard, they had their own troubles with their women at the beginning.

“Even after I said I didn’t want you alone with him again?”

She puts the coffee carafe back down. “I didn’t know he was going to show up. He just did.”

“To check that the apartment in a highly secured building in the city was still there?” I scoff. “What else did he want?”

“Can we talk about it later? We have guests.” She turns a heated stare on me.

“Are you talking about Christian Sendell?” Arman brings his empty plate to the table.

“Yes. Do you know him?” Amelia asks curiously.

“Not personally, no, but I’ve heard him mentioned here and there. I only made the connection now because I recall one of the few times I met your brother, Christian was with him.” He slides his hands into the front pockets of his slacks and eyes me. “I never got a good feeling about him.”

“Oh, he’s harmless,” Amelia defends him. “He was friends with Lucas since college. He’s got a great head for marketing, but he sucks with investments. That’s why Lucas never brought him into the firm, but he’s the third person on our board of trustees for the Moreau Foundation.”

“What sort of access does he have to the foundation’s investments and accounts?” I question.

She frowns at me. “I guess he has the same access as I do. We put all three of our names on the bank accounts in case there was ever a situation where it was needed.” She’s quick to add, “But he’s never so much as even looked at a bank statement. He and Lucas left the foundation and the center completely up to me.”

Uncle Igor’s gaze hits mine and he doesn’t need to voice his concerns. I’m having the same.

But I won’t argue with her about it right now. Once I have information, I’ll bring it to her.

“Nikolai, Sophia isn’t going down,” Charlotte says while tapping on her phone. “I’m sorry, but I think we need to go.”

Nikolai is up on his feet before she’s finished speaking. “Sophia is having a hard time at night and sometimes won’t go to sleep unless Charlotte is there.” He eyes his wife. “A problem I think is getting worse because we continue to give in to what she wants.”

“She’s a baby. You can’t spoil a baby with too much love,” Charlotte chastises him. “How would you like it to have the one thing you depend on in life to just abandon you? You’d hate it.”

Nikolai raises an eyebrow and shakes his head a little. He’s choosing his battles as much as I am, and this isn’t the hill to take a bullet on.

“We’ll go.” He brings his coffee cup and Charlotte’s empty plate. “Good luck to you. If she’s anything like mine, you’re going to need it,” he mutters to me as he passes, slapping me on the back as he escorts his wife out of the study.

“We should probably get going, too.” Arman puts his hand out for his wife.

“But it’s early still,” she complains. “And I didn’t get a chance to talk with Lia on my own.”

“She’s family now, Anya. You can talk to her whenever you want.”

Anya steps up to Amelia.

“Next weekend you, me, and Charlie should go out for lunch. Maybe a little shopping. Some of my pants are starting to get a little tight already.” She pats her belly that has only the smallest bulge from the baby resting inside.

“She will join you,” I answer for her. The woman needs more clothes.

Twice what she currently has, I think. And shoes. I’ve never known a woman to own fewer shoes than me.

“I can answer for myself.” Amelia shoots me a glare. “But, yes, that would be fun, and I do need a few things for work.”

“Work,” I mutter beneath my breath. All she thinks about is work; she needs to take a day off. To rest.

To breathe.

Has she taken even an afternoon off since Lucas’ accident?

Anya gives her a quick hug.

“She’s grieving not only her brother, but the life she had. Give her time,” she whispers to me when she hugs me goodbye.

Arman glares at me. If we were not blood, he would consider removing my ear for letting his wife’s lips get so close.

I can’t blame him.

I would do the same.

“I’ll walk you out,” I say to my uncle as he makes his way past me.

He’s retired now, not working in any of the family affairs and it’s done him a world of good. Not only for his temperament, but he’s looking younger. The stress of our world damages us at a faster rate than most.

“I’ll get this cleaned up.” Amelia starts to pile up the plates.

“I have a full staff, Amelia. Let them do their jobs.” I stop her, but when she looks up at me, I can see the tiredness in her eyes.

Everything between us has been a struggle. Maybe she’s just as exhausted by it as I am.

Now that we’re married, maybe we can start fresh. Stop fighting each other and become one team.

“Just don’t overdo. You said you have a lot going on tomorrow, you should get some sleep.”

“It’s not late.” She checks the time on her phone. “But I do have some reading to do. I’ll get this cleared and head upstairs.”

I press a kiss to her forehead. “Good girl,” I whisper just for the fun of watching her eyes dilate before me.

She’s so responsive, it would be cruel to deny myself.

Uncle Igor clears his throat, reminding me he’s waiting for me.

As we walk down the hall toward the foyer, he pockets his hands.

“That boy she mentioned, Christian Sendell,” Uncle Igor says, coming to a stop once we’re at the front door.

“What about him?” I grab his coat from the closet and hold it out to him.

He drapes it over his arm and frowns.

“I never worked directly with Lucas or his father before him, but I remember there being some trouble with Christian. It was a while ago, mind you, years back. Lucas’ father was still an Alderman at the time.”

“What sort of trouble?”

“Gambling debts if I remember right. Nikolai might remember. If I’m right, he’d taken a loan to cover the debts and when he couldn’t repay, Lucas came to his rescue.” He shuffles the coat open to put it on.

“I’m not getting in the middle here; I learned my lesson on that with my own sons. I’m just suggesting you might want to take a closer look at him. If he’s so friendly to Lia, there might be other reasons.”

“I’ll look into it.” I’m already listing what information I want by morning about this man in my mind.

“Good.” He gives me a hard nod as he buttons his last button. “Let me know if you need anything.”

He smacks my shoulder and heads out, leaving me alone in the foyer.

“Shit!” Amelia yells and a second later a clamor of cups and plates echoes down the hall.

She definitely tried to carry everything at one time.