Page 32 of The Fixer

“No, I’m not gonna take advantage of the windfalls of your parents’ deaths any more than I have already. I consider myself more than blessed that they’re not hanging over our relationship.”

Soft palms caressed my sides and up my chest and Ophelia rested her cheek against my back.

Covering her hands with mine, I couldn’t hold in my sigh of utter contentment. Things were going back to normal faster than I had anticipated.

Almost… too fast, not to be suspicious.

“I want you to take advantage it. I want to share everything with you and I have the means. I’m never going to drive any of these, so the obvious is to give you one. And we’ll… we renovate the house. Rebuild it, even— maybe. If everything goes okay, I was going to fall off my apartment lease.”

Smiling at her tentativeness, I squeezed her hands in agreement, as warmth flooded my chest. “You have plenty of time to make a concrete decision, Oppie. I’ll support whatever you want to do. It’s your house, your money, your cars. I’m just riding your perky ass and all the benefits.” She grabbed my ass in response, and I turned to cup her chin and draw her lips to mine. “Make me proud with that beautiful mind.”

“You better get going before you miss the whole lecture, Sascha.”

The sultry lilt in her tone skittered up my spine. Ophelia just knew how to get me going. Twirling my keys, I shook my head slightly as her arm fell from around me. “I’ll see you later.”

22

Sascha

“You look happy. What happened in Saint Petersburg?”

Malda’s wasn’t a face I’d seen in a while… at least, it seemed like more than two days. “Ophelia fucked Aleksander in the ass,”

Slender brows rose high at this statement.

I grinned almost stupidly wide. “He made a mistake, not bothering with her.”

“I know and so does the Patriarch. Control is a fickle thing, isn’t it? I’ve been sent to ask you what you plan to do with what you know.” Sitting on the edge of the pew, Malda watched me with narrowed, intent eyes. “It’s true…he initiated the assassination on himself. The old man didn’t think she’d get it so fast. He wants to meet you.”

My eyes turned to slits. “What? When? I’m not dressed to meet royalty. I didn’t even comb my beard.” I stroked my beard as Malda giggled lightly, but I was anything but happy. The silence was deafening, my gazed drifting from her to discover the only other body in the room.

Seated all the way in the back, right next to the door, was a frail, gaunt body draped in a grey suit. His gaze took in everything, it seemed.

I had to physically stop myself from gulping in dread like some bad cartoon character.Shit— shit—I wasn’t prepared for this shit when I dismissed my class. Worse— I had an entire hour and a half until my next lecture.I’m not going to be able to go over my notes on the principle of atomic particle acceleration.

“You’re a very easy man to find, Sascha Matheson.” His voice crackled slightly from age. “I’ve been meaning to find the time to speak with you, but considering how intently I’ve had to manage my son…”

I inhaled a stabilizing breath. Taking the stairs slowly, I willed my heart to stop racing.

“Listen, uh— your… Patriarchship sir… I know you didn’t attempt to assassinate yourself just to have an excuse to talk to me without Aleksander knowing about it. He’s not you and it seems, he sees a lot less than he thinks.” I sat across the aisle from him to claps my hands together. “If you want to know about Oppie, you should ask her.”

A ghost of a smile tilted his thin lips. “You’ve met my daughter, Kiri.”

Blinking hard, I frowned in confusion.

The old man arched a brow. “Obviously, she didn’t make that good an impression on you. She’s at that age, I suppose Ophelia is the same age as my eldest daughter, Ana, when she married Zetski for power.”

“There’s too many problems with that to bother putting into words, but I’ll narrow it to three. Ophelia refuses to marry me…” Holding up a hand, I touched my fingertips together as I leaned back against the pew. “I’d be the one marrying up if she did. Thirdly, I don’t care about your daughters or Aleksander, or you. You’re Ophelia’s problem. Kiri Makovich’s bad attempt to flirt with me ? or whatever the hell she was doing ? is that what this is about?”

“… My wife would’ve liked you, Sascha. You’re realistic and patient. Nothing was a problem that couldn’t be solved. Knowledge is power, blah, blah, blah…” Twirling his wrist dismissively, Vyachaslav rolled his eyes with a disgusted expression. “I’ve known for a long time that Ophelia has been cleaning up her family’s… issues. The others, as well. I don’t approve of the way my son handled this, but it served his purpose and got the job done.”

“If you’re not satisfied, tell him, not me.”

He tilted his head curiously, his wrinkles deepening in thought.

“Honestly, sir, I still don’t understand why you’re here.”

“I’m here because I want you to convince Ophelia to abandon Aleksander.”