Obsidian Mask

by Scarlett Dawn

  Katie’s breath caught, and she yanked me behind her a little, saying quickly, “Ignore her. Oddly, she’s just trying to be helpful.” She stared at cracked-eyed Grigori, who had wrenched his neck on both sides, popping it. “You’re fine just how you are.” Katie kept a straight face while saying that doozy of a fib.

  I tried to be courteous and do the same.

  There was silence until Artur snickered quietly, and everyone looked at him. He was holding up the Death Comes thermal shirt. Glancing at me, he looked positively furious even as he laughed. “Where did you get this?”

  Grigori moved and yanked it out of his hands, staring at it…then at me. Before I could even speak, he shouted, “Have you been in our fucking house?” Christ. Least Ugly was bound to have heard that—a man’s voice inside my room—but maybe not. My door didn’t bust open.

  I bit my lip, feeling my gut talking to me again. “Is that your shirt?”

  “Yes. My favorite,” he ground out, shaking it. “It’s been missing for two weeks. How the hell do you have it?”

  Roman rested against the wall and grumbled, “I told you I didn’t take the damn thing.”

  My lips trembled I wanted to laugh so badly. Maybe I was as irrational as they were.

  Katie saved me, stating in a calm tone, “Elizabeth took that shirt from Ember’s room when we first came in.”

  I added, “She was wearing it this morning when I found her in my bed. I thought it was an odd choice. She also paired it with these huge black athletic shorts. She said she liked them when I commented on her clothing.” This was fucking sweet. Ember had stolen his shirt—probably his shorts, too—right out of his own house. And only two weeks ago. Good thing I’d had a change of heart about reporting piddly shit like this. Otherwise, I would be typing up an article tonight.

  Everyone stared at me silently.

  Grigori’s grip on the shirt was white-knuckled.

  Slowly, he asked, “Ember had this?”

  I nodded. If he wanted to be pissed, let it be aimed at the bitch.

  “She was in your bed?” Eva asked.

  Grigori blinked, and suddenly, he was charging me.

  Artur and Roman grabbed him, even as Katie and I stumbled into the closet doors.

  Eva said quickly, “Explain, Elizabeth.”

  Grigori was staring at me like the devil’s own was seeing through his eyes as he struggled with his brothers. I quickly sputtered, “Brent and Cole were sleeping outside her door. She came in here to get away from their racket. I spent the night…elsewhere…so I didn’t find her until the next morning.” There. Dammit. Calm down, bucko.

  Roman shook his brother. “She was hiding, not having sex with Elizabeth!”

  Grigori stopped struggling, dazed where they had fallen on my bed.

  My door made a clicking sound…and in stormed a breathless Daniil.

  He wore only his black linen pants from earlier. He sucked in air, his large bare pecs rising with the motion and abs constricting, slamming the door shut behind him as his gaze darted all around the room, his children suddenly frozen. When he strode past Katie and me, I had a full view of the silver handgun in the back waistline of his pant. His gaze took in Grigori, Artur, and Roman on the bed, obviously from a struggle. Eva was standing off to the side. In a soft voice, he asked, “Who made her cry?”

  “Katie,” Eva stated immediately. “They were talking about how Elizabeth doesn’t let anyone call her Beth because of her cousin—Katie’s brother—who died. I’m assuming he used to call her that. And when they started talking about him, she started bawling.”

  I gaped and swiped at my cheeks, feeling the dried, salty tears there.

  Total tattletale.

  Daniil’s eyes darted to mine for a few seconds, his gaze unreadable, before going back to his children. “Did Grigori attack her?”

  “No,” I stated instantly before they could say anything. Fuck, I didn’t want anyone in trouble. They hadn’t really done anything. “There was a slight miscommunication about Ember staying the night in here. Once it was explained, he calmed down.” At least, it had looked like he was about to.

  Daniil hummed. He didn’t look convinced, staring hard at his children. He jerked his head at the door. “Get fuck out of here and up to my room. Now.” When it appeared they weren’t moving fast enough for his liking, he started speaking harshly in Russian.

  Eva and Roman darted out of the room.

  Artur paused to stare down at Katie for a moment before walking out calmly.

  And Grigori stood…staring down at the red thermal in his hand…then at the adjoining door, his mind somewhere not nice again from the look in his eye.

  Daniil rolled his shoulders and crossed his arms. He spoke calmly to Grigori—still in Russian. Grigori flinched, his gaze going to his dad for a heartbeat before he stared down at the shirt and started answering him—also in Russian.

  I whispered, “I need to get one of those Russian/English books.”

  Katie nodded as she stared wide-eyed at Daniil. “He doesn’t look like any father I’ve ever seen.” Her eyes moved down his body. I scowled and elbowed her in the gut before walking over and blatantly pulling up Daniil’s pants that were starting to slip to dangerous levels. Daniil looked down at me, and for the barest heartbeat, his gaze flicked to Katie. His attention held amusement, but he kept talking to his son.

  Even as he helped adjust his waistline to appropriate levels.

  I let him move the gun.

  Grigori spoke, and Daniil’s attention went to the shirt. He blinked. He hid a smile before he started speaking again. Grigori shook his head and tossed the shirt to me, stating in English, “You’ll put that back where you found it.” He then went to the dresser and shoved it back to its original starting point. Easily.

  I stared. That thing was fucking heavy.

  He opened the door, staring into her room before gesturing for me to enter. “Now. Exactly where she had it.”

  “Grigori…” Daniil’s voice was a low growl. A warning to be nice.

  Grigori flicked him an irritated glance but didn’t say anything else.

  I ground my teeth together but placed the shirt back over her chair. I probably shouldn’t have taken it in the first place. That was what I got for acting on impulse.

  Back into my room, Grigori shut the door and mine. But he didn’t lock it. “If you seriously think putting a dresser in front of a locked door will keep her out, you’re delusional.” He almost looked proud of her B&E skills.

  Daniil growled something low in Russian.

  Grigori clenched his jaw, but he stalked out of my room. My door slammed shut.

  Daniil sighed, taking a hand off his hips and rubbed in the center of his bare chest.

  The side of his pants he had released lowered.

  I grabbed it, pulling it back up. I glared at his pants. Maybe I would splurge on my charge card and purchase a pair of pants for him that didn’t look so fucking sexy. Flannel maybe. Or cartoon characters. And ones that didn’t ride so damn low, showing every sexified part of his body.

  He chuckled softly, deep and slow.

  “What is so damn funny about all of this?” I tried getting that side to stay, but it just kept falling back to fuck me level.

  “Nothing,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head as I tried to get it to stay put one last time. I growled and gave up when it was obvious it was no use, going to my suitcase and pulling out a large yellow shirt I wore to bed sometimes. I tossed it to him.

  He caught it, his lips twitching. “You want me to wear this?”

  I crossed my arms, irritated. “What do you think?” I scowled at his chest. And then lower. “Put it on.”

  I ignored his low snickering, watching as he put the shirt on. It had been huge on me but fit him perfectly. And covered everything that needed to be covered. I nodded, satisfied. “Better.” Now he wouldn’t be walking down the halls flashing everyone his fucking perfect body.

  He was
still chuckling, but he bent, his hands sliding over my hips. “If you don’t want me calling you Beth anymore, I’ll understand.”

  Biting my lip, I mumbled, “No. I kinda like you doing it.” Yeah. I really did.

  He kissed my neck. “Then I need to say goodnight…Beth. I have some unruly children to attend to.”

  “They really didn’t do anything too bad.”

  He nodded. “Yes, but they were still in here in the first place. And I need to deal with that.” Delicately, he kissed my lips, his warm and soft…and damn perfect…then turned toward Katie. He moved through the room while he asked her. “Are you single, Katie?”

  She blinked, then asked baffled, “Excuse me?” Her gaze was huge as she banged back against the closet door. He was just that intimating.

  My eyebrows snapped together as he asked her slowly, “Are. You. Single?”

  Her eyes darted between him and me.

  I shrugged. I had no clue where he was going with this.

  Her attention returned to him, and she sputtered, “Yes. Why?”

  Running a hand through his hair, he stared at the door. “No reason.” He opened said door, then started speaking harshly in Russian to Least Ugly—who must have called Daniil earlier when the noise levels rose—as he shut the door behind him.

  Katie stared at the shut door. “What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?” A glance at me, before staring back at the door. “And why the hell did he want to know if I was single?”

  “I have no clue to both questions,” I murmured. “It’s not a party of the newly minted black sheep of the family without intruders, threats, and the Mafia. Right?”

  She laughed outright. “Christ. You really have taken over the roll.”

  “Yes. I would have to agree with you.” I gestured at the dresser. “Let’s get this shit cleaned up, so we can both relax and watch a movie.” Plus, I just remembered I did have a photo I could send off to my editor. The doctored photo of Daniil and Zoya kissing. That one everybody already knew about. No harm there.

  “Would someone answer the fucking phone, already?” The feminine voice came from my right, next to where I lay, waking me. “Whoever it is, has already called twice. In a row.”

  The voice belonged to Ember.

  The ringing phone on the nightstand was just a bonus.

  I jerked to a sitting position as Katie groaned on my left, rolling over onto my pillow. “What the hell are you doing in here?” Ember was sleeping on my right side, snuggled up tight under the covers, her red hair barely visible from beneath.

  “My bed’s lumpy,” she grumbled. “Answer the damn phone before I get pissed.”

  Irritated beyond belief, I reached over her to the phone as Katie woke. She blinked and stared at Ember’s visible hair. I barked into the receiver, “Hello?”

  “Good morning, sweetie!” Mom’s overly perky voice sung over the line. And it was barely dawn outside. “Meet us for breakfast.”

  Like hell I would. Katie and I had been up all night watching movies. “Not this morning. Katie and I had a late night. Thanks anyway.” I hung up, ending the call the official way a pissed off daughter did with her mom. Enough of that shit. I was sure Mom was going to ruin my day. I didn’t want her doing it to my morning, too.

  Katie was up on one elbow, staring wide-eyed at Ember.

  I shoved the intruding redhead. “Get out of here.”

  “No,” she griped, bringing a red thermal covered arm out from under the covers and shoving me back. Not-so-lightly. I fell back against Katie as she continued. “I had a late night, too. Leave me alone.” She paused and then snickered. “If you shut up and let me sleep here, I’ll let you in on a secret you can publish when we wake up. When it’s daylight.”

  I stopped in the act of pushing her, my reporter’s instinct coming to the fore. “Is it good?”

  “Let’s just say Zoya hasn’t been exactly truthful with everyone.” She paused. “I’ll let you know more when I’m really up.” Not even a second later, she was snoring softly.

  I scowled, but damn if I wasn’t curious. That part of me would never back down. It was too deeply ingrained. Grumbling, I laid back on my—soft, not lumpy—mattress, squished between two people.

  Katie was still frozen in place. “You’re going to let her stay?” She was completely disbelieving. “She could be lying.”

  “She may be a bitch, but she hasn’t lied to me yet.” And she hadn’t. Not from what I understood. “Now, hush. I’m tired.”

  Katie blinked a few times and shook her head before falling back down onto the bed. “You’re living a very interesting life lately, cousin.”

  “Whatever,” I grumbled. Like I didn’t know this. I tossed and finally managed to get comfortable when I, grudgingly, threw an arm over Ember since I couldn’t push it under my pillow—because of her own arm. Then I fell back asleep.

  We all woke two hours later to a loud ass shriek. Startled, the three of us shot up to sitting positions. Albeit, Katie and I didn’t hold a gun like Ember did, aiming it at…my mom and dad and aunt. She blinked when Mom shrieked again—it had been her before—and quickly hid it under the blanket.

  I rubbed my eyes, muttering, “How did you get in?”

  Did everyone have a damn key?

  And was I really getting so used to seeing a weapon unholstered that I didn’t freak?

  “The maid let us in,” my aunt stated quickly. She shoved my gawking parents toward the door. Or, at least tried, but my parents dug in their heels. “We’ll come back later…when you’re alone.” Her stunned mien was stuck on Ember.

  Ember stayed mute, blinking sleepily.

  My family had a very wrong impression. “No. No. It’s not what you guys think.” I’d had my fucking arm over Ember. No wonder they thought the worst. “She just slept in here because her bed’s lumpy.”

  Mom was holding her throat. “You weren’t…”

  Dad asked point blank, “You’re not having sex with a woman, are you?”

  I gawked, even as Katie started snickering.

  Ember stated slowly, “We are not sleeping together. I wouldn’t do anything with her if I was stuck on a deserted island with only her.” She paused, her eyebrows coming together. “And I’m bi, so that’s clearly saying something.”

  I gaped at her now—because I didn’t know that.

  “Same to you,” I muttered, agreeing wholeheartedly.

  Dad straightened to his full height, staring at Ember. “I think you, and I need to have another chat, young lady.”

  Ember’s face was priceless as she fully remembered who she had let that little bit of information slip in front of. She almost appeared to panic, glancing at me for help. I just shrugged, at least trying not to laugh at her. In the end, it was my mother who saved her when she asked, “Sweetie, that bruise is horrible. It looks like you were strangled.” Then I heard her gasp as I still stared at Ember, her face slowly shutting down, probably fully expecting me to rat her out. “You were choked, weren’t you? Who did it?” She sounded like she wanted to strangle whoever had strangled me.

  Winking at Ember so my parents couldn’t see, I said, “It was Chrissy. The woman who attacked me.” I turned back toward my parents after seeing Ember not react at all. Like she was a block of cool nothing. She was fucking good at hiding her emotions when she tried hard enough. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” Last night, I gave the same story to Katie when she saw the bruise, once I changed into my pajamas. I was going to keep Ember’s deal and not tell anyone. No reason to go back on it since I hadn’t gotten my interview from her yet. “Now. What are you doing in here?”

  Mom still stared at my throat.

  Dad cleared his. “We thought we’d take you on one of those day cruises. Your flight isn’t until later, so we reserved a spot for all of us. But we need to leave,” he glanced at his watch, “in a half hour to get there on time.”

  “I changed my flight, so don’t worry about it anymore.” I sig
hed. I knew I wasn’t getting out of this. And honestly, it was better than being caught around here with them pestering each one of Lion Security’s group. “All right. Out you go. I need to get ready.”

  Katie, Ember, and I started to climb out of bed.

  My dad watched—probably to make sure we had clothes on—and nodded, before they left the room, telling us to meet them in the lobby.

  I turned to Ember. “Spill it. I let you sleep.”

  “Is the preacher really going to try to talk to me?” Ember asked slowly, holding up the black athletic shorts.

  Katie was taking in her attire, trying—badly—to keep a grin off her face.

  I nodded. “Probably. But you set yourself up for that one. Now give me what you have on Zoya.”

  Ember cleared her throat, and her eyes gleamed with an unholy light. “You can’t say in your article how you got the information. I want to be anonymous in this.” She paused, letting the suspense build, then said quietly, “Zoya was married five months ago. Her husband only thought she was visiting old friends here in the States. None of the pictures ever showed her cheating, so apparently, he believed whatever lie she was telling him.” She grinned as I gawked. “Make sure you’re back for the party tonight. We’ll be having dinner at the Rock Restaurant. It’s supposed to be reserved privately for us like we normally do for dinner. You can get the first shots of Zoya and her husband’s happy reunion then. You see, her husband received a photo. One showing that she had been lying.” She yawned even as she grinned. “I stayed up most of the night making sure he did as I expected and hopped on a flight. My contact over there said he made it just fine.”

  “Christ,” I hissed, starting to pace. Daniil wasn’t going to be happy with me on this one. “I sent that picture of him and Zoya kissing to my editor last night. I’m sure it’s in the paper today.”

  Ember’s grin dropped instantly, and her face hardened. “I guess I can only be happy you waited this long, but I think it would be a good idea for you to follow up on this story, clearly explaining that Grigori didn’t know she was married. Which he didn’t. He already looks bad enough in the press. There’s no reason to hurt Lion Security or him by being branded a homewrecker, too.”