Page 33 of Plaintive Vow

“You’ve met Blair, right?”

“Briefly,” he bites out.

“I’m glad to hear it. Now invite them in.”

Alexei’s a dick, I’ll never deny that, but he’s also one of the few men I can trust to watch them while I can’t, if only to help clear the debt he owes me.

“Nadya,” he calls over his shoulder, making no move to let them in. “We have guests.”

A beat passes before Nadya wanders over to him, a hand towel thrown over her shoulder and a streak of flour in her darkhair. Alexei moves just enough to gesture toward us. “Andrei’s friends are going to join us. Have you met Blair before?”

When she shakes her head, he makes brief introductions before finally stepping aside. Only then does Nadya notice Niko from where he peeks around my legs, Blair’s hand resting on the top of his head.

She shoves Alexei out of the way and kneels, smiling warmly at him. “Hi there. I’m Nadya, what’s your name?”

He looks up, and Blair gives him an encouraging smile. “Nikolai, but Mama calls me Niko.”

“Well, Niko, it’s nice to meet you. Would you like to help me with dinner? I’m making pirozhki.” He nods, and when she stands, he moves to follow her, still not letting go of Blair’s pants. After a moment of hesitation, Blair moves with them.

“I’ll pick you guys up in a few hours.”

She looks over her shoulder and nods, not meeting my eyes. When the trio turns the corner, Alexei shoves me out into the hall, closing the door behind him with an angry scoff.

“I know you’re doing your best to get on Maksim’s shit list, but you’re not going to drag me into this. Why the fuck did you bring her here?”

I debate how much to tell him. I trust him to protect them, but what if I’m wrong? He could just as easily call Pavel as soon as I’m gone and toss her straight to the wolves.

Then again, he knows I’d go after him twice as hard. And for all his faults, Alexei won’t do anything to risk something happening to him or his sister.

“Maksim’s sending me out of town on some bullshit errand.”

“And what? You think he’s going to go afterher?”

“Not him, no. But Pavel? Maybe.”

He thinks for a moment, tilting his head from side to side.

“So why not send her to her mother-in-law’s? Or have her hide at yours? Don’t drag Nadya and I into it.”

“Mila would have sold her out even when Daniil was alive. What do you think will happen if Blair isn’t at home?”

Publicly standing up to Maksim at the wake was the right thing for me to do for Blair, but it also made it clear that I care about her. If she isn’t where someone expects her to be, the next logical thing for her to do is lie low at my place.

“After the mess you made at Virgo, why should I do anything for you, huh?”

I don’t bother to hide my eye roll. “It was closed for five days, Alexei. Get over it.”

“Five very expensive days,” he hisses between clenched teeth. “I lost income, I have to pay for repairs, and now I have to woo back the girls and customers that got scared off. That’s not even accounting for the bribes I had to pay to make the officials forget that the place even exists. Five days is fucking expensive,mudak.”

I want to throttle him.

“I need you to do this for me. I have no other way to guarantee her safety.”

A beat passes.

“Fine. But find a long-term solution, because if the higher-ups want her dead, they’ll keep finding ways to send you away until they get what they want, and I’m not going to harbor her here.”

I hate to admit it, but he’s right. This is just a stop-gap. But it buys me time that I desperately need.