Page 22 of Prince of Control

Lara scans the faces of the group, arriving at Anders, who pulls a bottle of champagne from the case he bought today to show her.

“Why don’t we start the champagne now?” Lara asks.

The tension breaks. “Aha! Now we’re talking!” Anders exclaims but looks at me for confirmation.

“Bring it along,” I concede. “We have to get to the courthouse before four-thirty.”

We split up and pile into my Range Rover and Leo’s BMW X7. Lara chooses to ride in the back with Lili and Anders, leaving Anya to ride up front with me.

I hear the pop of a cork. “Spill that, and you’ll be shampooing my upholstery,” I growl from the front seat even though I can already hear the sound of liquid pouring onto the floor and Lili squealing.

“Oops,” Anders laughs.

I glance in the rearview mirror to see him trying to pour the champagne in a glass. Lara reaches over and takes it from him, drinking straight from the mouth of the bottle.

“Okay! The bride is quelling her nerves. Nothing wrong with that,” he narrates.

“Pass it over here.” Lili takes the bottle from Lara.

“Uh…am I supposed to let your underage sister drink?” Anders asks.

Lili makes a popping sound when her lips come away from the bottle. “Fuck you, Anders.”

“I trust Lili to be responsible.”

It’s not true. I don’t trust Lili, and I don’t trust anyone with Lili. In my mind, she’s still that six-year-old with a gun to her head. The one I had to save from being murdered.

It’s why I’m so overprotective now.

But I can’t put restrictions on her, or it will only drive her further away from me. She chose not to live in Baranov House, which already makes me insane.

So I say I trust her to make sure she understands I have expectations of her. She’s smart and driven. But being away from home for the first time can be intoxicating. I don’t want her to make a dumb decision that puts her in danger. But I have to remind myself that Thornecroft is one of the safest places she could be. And that I’m not going to let anything bad ever happen to her again.

“See?” Lili raises her brows at Anders. “He trusts me to be responsible.”

Lara takes the bottle back from Lili and chugs some more before passing it back.

“Don’t drink it all.” Anders intercepts and takes a long swig.

“So why did I have to hear from my friends that Baranov House is having a party next Friday?” Lili demands.

I don’t answer.

“They want invites,” she presses.

I knew this would come up. I don’t want my sister at our parties–there are things that go down there that I’d rather she not be involved in. But forbidding her from going will only create more problems. Besides, I want my sister protected by my reputation as a dangerous killer. Acting like we aren’t family doesn’t offer her that protection.

“You are a Baranov, so obviously, it’s your house, too. No invitation is needed to get through the door. You may choose to bring anyone you want, but they have to come with you. No one dropping your name at the door is going to be let in. Understand?”

“Can I bring as many people as I want?”

“Yes. But they have to come with you.” I meet her gaze in the rearview mirror, and she nods. “And you take responsibility for each of your guests.”

“What does that mean?”

“No drinking if they’re underage. No drugs. No bad behavior.”

“Doesn’t sound like much of a party.”