Page 24 of Silent Ties (Ruling Love #1)

He shrugs, not taking the bait. “I worried when you agreed to Dad’s plan because I know you. You always go along with every plan he puts out there.”

I don’t need one of Roma’s family rants right now.

“I agreed to help my family.”

“Russ is your family.”

Roma slides the plate of bacon toward the three of us, motioning for us to eat. I’m not in the mood for breakfast but Dima sits down, no conversation ever affecting his appetite.

“This might be news to you,” Roma goes on, worked up. Elijah sits down, his movements stiff. “But you don’t have a magical cock, Maxim.”

Uncle Dima wipes his mouth with a napkin.

“Fuck your wife all you want,” Roma says, ignoring how I simmer. “But it’s not a cure all for a stable relationship.”

“Did you listen to a relationship podcast or something?”

He adds salt and pepper to his eggs. “You married Russ because you’re loyal to this family, but now you need to realize you have to be loyal to her.”

“You’re talking in fucking circles. I’m loyal to my wife.”

“I’m not talking about cheating. I’m talking about. . .” The right words don’t come to him.

“Growing together,” Dima supplies. He’s watched the men around him get married off for the better of the bratva. He’s watched couples strengthen their relationships and watched them make mistakes.

Around a forkful of eggs, Dima goes on. “Russet’s not dumb and she’s not afraid. Show her who you are, Maxie. Give her a chance to get to know you.”

She does.

“And in the meantime get to know her,” Elijah suggests.

I frown. “I do.”

The bastard leans forward. “What’s her favorite show?”

My fingers curl into fists.

“No more.” Dima holds up his hand.

Elijah smirks. “And for the love of God, fire that bitch Olga.”

I look at the three of them. “Can someone care to explain why everyone hates her?”

Roma’s face creases into disbelief. “You know Dad fired her right?”

“What?”

“She’s annoying,” he replies.

I turn to Uncle Dima.

“I’ve met with cartel lords easier going than that cunt.”

Christ.

“Let me guess,” Elijah says. “Your mother suggested you hire her.”

I came up with the idea to hire a full-time person, thinking it’d help Russ, but when I mentioned it to Mom she hired Olga for me.

“Brother,” Elijah says. “I hate to break it to you, but you’ve got to start believing me when I tell you your mother’s a bitch.”

I wait to see if Roma tries to dispute it. When he remains quiet, I elbow him.

“What?” He wipes his mouth and shrugs. “I love you, twin brother, but at some point you’ve got to understand that our parents aren’t saints.”

He’s been like this since Ren.

“Then why do you still work for Dad?” I ask. I expect every day to hear that my twin’s vanished in the night. That he’s left us all behind. He almost did after Ren. I still don’t know why he came back.

But Roma surprises me, his dark eyes serious. “I’m not complaining about my boss. I’m complaining about our father.”

“Or in this case, his wife,” Elijah says. “You understand what Olga does right?”

I don’t.

Elijah groans at my stupidity. “She’s spying on you!”

“She’s spying on Russ,” Roma quietly corrects.

They’re right of course. It shouldn’t have taken me so long to see it.

My thumb taps the handle of my fork. “Would. . . ”

Russet wouldn’t be afraid of tattling on Olga if she’d been the one who slapped her. And since as my brothers point out, her social circle isn’t wide, there’s only one other possibility.

“Would Mom slap Russet?”

Elijah’s head snaps up. “She never mentioned anything.”

Roma, for all his bitching, stops eating. “You think?”

Only Dima, remains unbothered, letting us work it out.

“You think the worst of her,” I remind Elijah.

He sighs, leaning forward on his elbows. “She used to slap the staff around.”

“What?” Roma’s flabbergasted again.

So am I.

Elijah explains. “When she first came.” His life is solidly divided into two time periods—Before Yelena and After Yelena. “I remember she slapped the shit out of one of the maids. Dad put a stop to it.”

I turn toward Uncle Dima, who remains focused on his food.

“Why?” I ask.

I’ve always thought I was more like Mom. My quietness often mistaken for cold arrogance.

What’s the point of Mom installing Olga in our place? Or slapping my wife.

My molars grind at the idea. The memory of a desolate Russet on the floor sparks pain in my chest.

How the fuck is my mother the cause of Russet’s pain?

And how did I not see it before?

“They go to lunch every week.”

Elijah and Roma remain unimpressed.

“I told you it was a stupid idea at the time,” my twin reminds, stabbing his eggs.

“Did you ever think maybe mother dearest, loves to keep her enemies close,” Elijah says.

“She’s not an enemy,” I defend my wife. Russet’s right. She paid Daisy’s debt but what did she get in return? She’s now attached to a bat shit crazy family.

Elijah tsks. “Mother and daughter-in-law relationships are hard.”

My fork clatters to the plate. “This family drives me insane.”

The moment I married Russet, I agreed to protect her. I didn’t realize that’d be from my own mother.

No wonder she hates me.

I came up with the weekly lunch date idea. She only went along with it because I suggested it. She didn’t feel like she could say no.

Maybe she thought she was protecting you from the truth about your mother.

Horror slices deep.

“Why did Dad even marry her?”

I sound like Elijah, but he has the grace not to gloat. He ducks his chin, almost like he’s pained to see me finally question my mom.

Roma pushes his eggs around his plate. It’s Uncle Dima, still eating, who explains.

“Because he wanted Elijah to have siblings.” Using his knife, Dima pushes eggs onto his fork, calmly taking a bite.

“He wanted your brother to have someone. Like how Lev and I have each other. I think it’s safe to say you all know your father well enough to know he’s a business man.

Not only did he need a wife, he had the opportunity to strengthen the business.

So he agreed to the marriage with Yelena. ”

She grew up in Russia, the daughter of a high-profile businessman. I’ve never met my maternal grandfather, but his name is respected as much as any of the Zimin’s.

“Good lord,” Elijah says under his breath. “He could have just fucking adopted. ”

Except that’s not our father. A prestigious match to strengthen his power. Of course, he took it.

“How the fuck did he do it, though?” Roma asks, confusion marring his face. “Put up with her?”

Our mother wasn’t awful to us, but we didn’t grow up under the illusion that he loved her like he did Elijah’s mom. Any cracks they had, they hid from us. Or tried to.

Dima shoots me a look. “Well for starters they actually talked to one another. And. . .” He sighs. “For what it’s worth they always agreed on one thing. The children come first.”

Elijah opens his mouth.

Dima cuts him off. “Including you, dickhead. You think she never wanted to fuck with you, considering all the crap you threw her way? Nah, you’re lucky she didn’t slap the shit out of you.”

“She shouldn’t be slapping the shit out of anyone.” Roma frowns.

But she did slap someone. My wife.

“It’ll just be a moment, sweetheart.” I kiss the back of Russ’s hand.

The skin between her brows knits together. It’s been that way since I arrived. And she keeps chewing her bottom lip, confused by my appearance.

I raced from Dad’s house back to our penthouse. Having just missed her I threw on some proper clothes, made sure Elijah didn’t mar my face anywhere, and hurried to the restaurant.

Sadness clings to Russet, but her face lit up in surprise. I let myself hope she wanted me to be there.

The week’s been a disaster, but what if Uncle Dima is right? If we talked instead of shuffling around each other, things could get better. They will get better.

It’s not divorce or death for us. Only marriage.

A union.

Mom leans back in her chair. Her blonde hair is swept up into a ponytail, her bony chin angling as she studies me.

She reaches out a hand, her fingers skimming my cheek before I jerk away.

“What is wrong, Maxie?” she asks softly.

“Did you hit my wife?”

She pouts, crossing her arms in front of her chest and leaning over the table. “Where is this coming from?”

“Mom.”

“Why would you say such a thing?”

“Don’t lie.”

Her frown deepens. “I do not know why you’re treating me in such a way.”

“Why did you slap my wife?”

“Is that what she said?”

We stare at one another. A fake scandalous expression cuts across her face. I remain impassive, refusing to give in.

She shrugs, picking a different tactic. “People are so sensitive these days.”

“Russet’s not coming to lunch anymore.”

She waves her hand, caring less.

“You’ll never come into contact with Russet unless I’m there.”

She rolls her eyes.

“And I’ll go out of my way to avoid you at all costs.”

My mother’s eyes are crystal clear as they search my face.

“You already lost Roma.” I dig the knife deeper, disgusted by my mom.

She hisses under her breath, losing control for a moment. “ Do not blame me for your brother! That was all your father’s fault.”

Rage sparks in her eyes along with something else. Despair.

I wish I could care.

“This one’s not on him.”

She falls back in her seat. “So you choose her, over your own mother.”

“You forced my hand the moment you laid hands on her. Never again, Mother. Never again.”

I leave her at the table.

It’s a miracle my dad wasn’t at home when Elijah arrived. He’d double-booked himself and missed the shitshow. I doubt he’d be happy to know we were rolling around on his kitchen floor.

I’m ashamed of my behavior. But I don’t mean punching Elijah’s teeth in. I mean the fact that he and Roma held an intervention regarding my marriage.

The marriage I’m determined to fix.