Page 35 of Hunt Me

“I have total faith in you, but I want you to succeed, not fail. Life is tough enough, Bristol, jobs not easy to find. I want you to think about my offer. Being the lead attorney on the commission will provide you with another set of doors.”

Doors that he wanted me to open.

“I appreciate it, Dad, and I’ll think about it.” No, I wouldn’t. When I made up my mind about something, it was extremely rare anyone could manage to get me to change my mind.

Unless I was given no other choice.

“Oh, and your mother asked me to remind you about the fundraiser dinner, sweetheart. You’re scheduled to attend.”

Scheduled to attend, which meant my father would show me off like a prized seal.

“That’s the least you can do for your mom. Plus, I’d like to show off my beautiful daughter who just passed the bar.”

Now he was pulling the mom card.

“I forgot all about that.” My mother was actively involved in fundraising, the huge culmination an expensive dinner that the upper echelon of society attended. She was the master of obtaining charitable contributions all while running a multimillion-dollar marketing company that my sister worked for.

Meanwhile, the success of her lavish events didn’t hurt my father’s career one bit. I’d only been in town a week before I realized my father was considered a mover and a shaker. He was attempting to influence some powerful people for his commission.

“You will be there. Yes?” There was a twinkle in his eye. “If you say no, your mother will never let me hear the end of it.”

“Fine. I’ll be there.”

Why did I have a terrible feeling my father had a hidden agenda in asking me to come work for him? Because I knew my father far too well.

He was hiding something and if my instinct was right, it was horribly explosive.

CHAPTER 9

Mikhail

Soldiers surrounded the property, prepared to keep the family safe.

In other words, shoot to kill.

I’d required more of my men on duty because my instinct continued to raise a red flag. Family celebrations were ripe locations for a catastrophic attack. I’d remained on edge for years and refused to ignore my gut.

While the soldiers were attempting to blend in, including two landscapers who were actively working on cutting back shrubs, I could see the bulge from where they’d hidden their weapons.

For some reason, it brought a laugh. We’d come so far in the world of legitimacy, yet the old ways remained indoctrinated into our systems. Not necessarily by choice.

I shut down all thoughts of business if only for an afternoon, turning my attention to my uncle-like duties.

Pink and purple.

The colors were certainly nothing I’d ever thought I’d see in my possession. As I grabbed the colorfully wrapped packages from the backseat of my car, the spectacular wrapping courtesy of one of my female employees, I wondered if parts of my house would eventually be covered in the very shades that I loathed.

Kids.

They certainly weren’t part of my repertoire but would be necessary at some point in my life. It was an old requirement of the Russian Bratva, and my father and uncle were determined to keep the old legacies alive. In days of old, every Pakhan was supposed to have a family. For most, they also had at least one mistress on the side. That was nothing I had any interest in, but knew I’d heard about my disrespect for the honorable state of marriage at least once.

Usually the marriages were arranged, a useful tool when creating alliances. Even today, various Bratvas throughout the country carried on the tradition. While I wouldn’t admit my distaste to my father, I wanted no part of the traditional yet Neanderthal ways.

I had to wrestle with the stuffed unicorn before managing to jerk it from the passenger seat of the car, immediately slamming the door with my foot afterwards. Maybe I’d gone a little overboard with presents, but I adored Nina. Maybe kids weren’t so bad after all.

I sighed as I glanced at the array of cars parked in front of my uncle’s house, the lavish estate competing with my father’s for being the largest in the city limits, I shook my head. The entirefamily was here. Great. While I adored my family, two huge celebrations in a close timeframe were suffocating.

The music was lively, the lilt of children giggling and screaming permeating the front courtyard. Since Nina’s birth, Uncle Ivan and Aunt Galina had gone all out on lavish birthday parties. Christmas was a magical fairyland. With only one grandchild in the family, the entire Dmitriyev world seemed to revolve around the little girl.