Page 26

O livia

I can think of a million ways I’d rather spend my afternoon than having tea with my mother.

Piotr and his uncle are supposed to be here with us, but I arrived a half hour ago and there’s no sign of them yet.

My mother has gone all out. The table is laid with our finest china.

There’s a fancy cake stand with delicate finger sandwiches and the most incredible looking pastries that she won’t allow me to touch until the men get here.

Sighing heavily to signal my displeasure at being made to wait, I look out over the garden.

It’s pretty at this time of year with the flowers in full bloom, but I can’t help wishing I was back in Paris.

Piotr and I spent ten days longer in the city than he originally intended.

Although we had a couple of dinners with his business associates, most of the time it was like we were in our own blissful bubble, shielded from the real world.

It was incredible to wake up next to Piotr each morning.

Though he had to work, he didn’t leave until we’d had breakfast together and he took an hour for lunch to spend with me each day.

I spent the rest of my time exploring the city with Jimmy, Marko, and Vlad by my side.

The Russians turned out to be surprisingly good company.

Marko was knowledgeable about history, and Vlad knew all the best places to eat.

I was sorry to leave them behind in Paris, but they work for Sev, not Piotr.

Everything changed when Piotr and I got back to New York.

He’s been working eighteen-hour days, coming home to fuck me, and then falling asleep.

He’s always gone before I wake. I hate rattling around in his enormous apartment on my own.

It doesn’t have the charm of Sev’s place in Paris.

The views are horrendous. All I can see are other apartment blocks.

Piotr told me I can start looking for a new place, but I don’t want to house hunt without him.

“You’re very distracted,” my mother says, cutting into my thoughts.

“Just thinking about Paris.”

“Are you sure that’s it? There’s nothing you want to tell me?”

“Like what?”

I follow her pointed gaze to where my hand is resting on my stomach. I roll my eyes. Is she seriously asking if I’m pregnant?

“Mama, I’ve been married for two weeks. It would be too early to tell.”

“I thought perhaps something happened between you and Piotr when you were in Florence.”

She makes it sound as if we’d gone there together on some romantic trip when, in fact, he followed me over there when Antonio banished me. I shake my head despairingly.

“You know I didn’t want to marry Piotr, but you still think I was fucking him in Italy?”

“Don’t be so vulgar, Olivia.” My mother picks an imaginary piece of fluff off her cardigan. “And I thought you were stringing the poor boy along, making him work to win your hand.”

I don’t set her straight. My mother rewrites history to suit her own romantic visions. It’s why she’s never taken my brothers to task for the ways they won their wives.

“Regardless, there is no baby on the way and there won’t be for some time. I plan to start a business.”

“Olivia!” She reacts as if I announced my intention to burn down a nunnery. “You can’t be serious.”

“Why not? Emilia runs a hotel, and Giulia and Vinnie both run their own charities.”

“Yes, but that’s not what I raised my daughter to do.”

That’s true. She concentrated all her efforts on teaching me to catch the eye of a powerful man and bend over backward to make him happy.

“It’s what I want to do.”

My mother purses her lips. “What do you know about running a business?”

“As much as I know about having a baby.”

“But having a baby is natural.”

My mother may only be in her early fifties, but her mindset is that of a much older woman. She speaks as if the sexual revolution never happened. I suppose in our world it didn’t. In fact, the attitudes of the people around me seem firmly rooted in the distant past.

“Just drop it, Mamma,” I snap just as Piotr and Boris come into the room.

Boris looks smart in a dark brown suit with a beige vest and a patterned tie. Piotr is dressed in his usual black ensemble. He bends to kiss my cheek before taking the seat to my right while Boris greets my mother and sits next to her.

“Tell me you don’t approve of Olivia’s nonsense.” Rather than dropping the subject, my mother tries to recruit Piotr to her side. “Tell me you’re not putting off starting a family so Olivia can play at running a business.”

Her condescending tone has me gritting my teeth.

“What’s this?” Boris looks at Piotr rather than me. “What business?”

Piotr smiles placidly. “Perhaps you would like to tell my uncle about it, malyskha ?”

He might simply be giving me the lead because I haven’t shared details with him yet, but I choose to believe he’s trying to empower me.

“Well, I want to start my own line of bath and spa products. You know, soaps, shampoos, oils, lotions.”

Boris frowns. “That’s a very crowded market.”

“Yes, but I was thinking I could start by supplying a few hotels. They could use my products in their spas and in their guest rooms. If people like them, they could buy some to take home with them.”

“You have hotels lined up?” Boris asks.

“She’ll start with the Reznov hotels here in the States,” Piotr says, surprising me. “And you thought you might approach Emilia about her hotel, didn’t you, malyskha ?”

“Uh, yes.” I smile at Piotr, hoping he knows how much I appreciate him jumping in.

If he hadn’t, I’d have been forced to admit to Boris that I hadn’t worked up the courage to ask my husband for his help yet.

“I’ve also found suppliers for the raw materials and I’m looking into suitable manufacturers. ”

My mother huffs out a breath. “And you’re okay with this, Piotr?”

“What my wife does with her time is her concern, but I am happy she’s pursuing her interests.”

Boris smiles, but it’s patronizing. “It’s good to support your wife’s little hobbies.”

I bristle with outrage, but Piotr squeezes my hand in warning.

“I’m sure if Olivia sets her mind to it, she’ll become a major player in the industry.

After all, she’s as accomplished as your other children, isn’t she, Ava?

I am right in thinking she has a higher GPA than her siblings and that she won many awards for dance and cheerleading as well as representing her school in regional math competitions? ”

Right now, I don’t care how he knows all that when I didn’t tell him. I’m almost pathetically grateful to have someone standing up for me for a change. Even Matteo wouldn’t set my mother straight like Piotr is doing.

“That’s all very well,” Boris says. “But dance and cheerleading are hardly a good foundation for running a business.”

The corner of Piotr’s mouth twitches. I get the feeling he’s not just trying to put my mother in his place, but to remind Boris of his, now that he’s stepped aside from the Reznov organization.

“On the contrary, Dyadya ,” Piotr says smoothly. “Her achievements show her commitment and work ethic. I support her plans wholeheartedly.”

Boris nods approvingly, seeming to accept that Piotr means what he says and that his word is now law. If I didn’t know it would give my mother a heart attack, I would climb onto my husband’s lap and kiss him senseless.

“Now, shall we have some tea?” Piotr suggests. “It’s been a busy day and I haven’t had time for lunch.”

“Oh.” My mother looks flustered. It’s not like her to fail in her duty as hostess. “Of course. Please, help yourself to some sandwiches.”

Piotr releases my hand to fill a plate. As he places it in front of me, I can’t help leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

“I love you,” I whisper, the words coming out before I can stop them.

Piotr raises his eyebrows in mild surprise, but says nothing. Feeling awkward, I nibble on a smoked salmon sandwich while my mother pours everyone’s tea. I don’t even like the drink, but I don’t complain.

“Ava,” Boris says. “Why don’t you tell Olivia the plans for her birthday?”

Shit. I forgot I told her to arrange a gathering. She was bugging me months ago about doing a family dinner and I did what I always do to get her off my back. I gave her free rein. It’s something I always end up regretting and I’m sure now will be no different.

“Yes, we’ll hold the party at Hotel Madeline. Emilia offered The Vicente, but it’s just too small.”

My eyes widen. “What do you mean too small? It’s just family, right?”

“Of course not.” My mother speaks as if the notion is absurd. “Some of your brothers’ men have known you a long time. They want to mark your special day.”

I try to contain my frustration. “How many people have you invited?”

“Three hundred.” She doesn’t even blink as she drops the bomb on me.

“Three hundred? We’ve only just had the wedding.”

“Yes, but that was a rushed affair. Some people couldn’t make it. I’ve been planning your birthday party for more than a year.”

I rub a hand over my eyes. “You only asked me about a family dinner a few months ago.”

“Yes, the family dinner’s a separate occasion,” she says.

“So now there’s a party and a dinner?”

My mother smiles as if she thinks I’m pleased by this. “Of course. You only turn twenty-one once. It’s the day you become a woman.”

I glare across the table at her. “And here I was thinking I became a woman on my wedding night.” I scoff loudly. “Or wedding evening, since Piotr couldn’t wait until we landed in Paris to fuck me for the first time.”

“Olivia!” My mother shoots me a scandalized glare.

I push to my feet and look down at Piotr, who as usual gives away nothing of what he’s thinking. There might be a glint of amusement in his eye.

“I have a headache. Can you take me home?”

Piotr instantly rises from his seat. He places an arm around my waist.

“It was a pleasure, as always, Ava,” he says politely before steering me from the room.

He ushers me out to the car. His driver, Yuri, puts his phone away and starts the engine as soon as we’re settled in the back seat.

Piotr leans over to speak to him and a moment later, the privacy screen between us is raised.

“Is it always like that between you and your mother?” Piotr asks.

“She thinks everything I do is wrong, yet she worships my brothers, who are actual criminals.” I clench my fists. “And now she’s wrecked my birthday.”

“It won’t be so bad,” Piotr says. “Everyone will fall at your feet. You’re no longer a princess, remember? You’re my queen.”

“You always know the right thing to say, unlike me.”

“Yes, that remark about our wedding night was unnecessary.”

I bite my thumbnail. “Yeah, I know. I just blurt out any old shit to shock her.”

Piotr turns to face me. He strokes the hair back from my face. “You know, you don’t need to get a reaction out of her or your brothers anymore.”

“And what about you? Do you want me to stop trying to provoke you?”

Piotr smiles. “No, I’m always up for the challenge, malyskha .” His smile fades. “Did you mean what you said back there?”

I don’t pretend not to know what he’s talking about. “That I love you?”

“Yes, that.”

“I meant it.” I lean into his touch as he caresses my face with the backs of his fingers.

“Then say it again.”

“I love you, Piotr.”

He stares at me for a minute, then unclips my seatbelt and drags me onto his lap.

“I love you too, malyskha .” He kisses my neck. “So fucking much.”

“Oh, yeah?” I reach for his belt and unfasten it. “Show me.”

Piotr doesn’t hesitate. He lifts his hips to drag his pants and briefs down, then rips off the flimsy lace underwear I wore beneath my sundress.

He helps me get into position and I slowly sink down onto his cock.

I grab onto the seat behind Piotr to brace myself and start to move.

Riding him feels like heaven. As he suckles on my neck, no doubt marking my skin, happiness sweeps through me.

I’m finally where I belong. So why does it feel like it’s all going to come crashing down?