Evette’s chuckle was low, but full of understanding. “Don’t try to understand it all at once. Easier to just roll with it.”
“Amen to that,” Dorothy added.
The waiter wandered up to the table, thankfully offering Cassie a minute or two to get her bearings. Another respite came in the form of a gift for Sergei from Emerson in honor of Father’s Day—two tickets to a superhero movie Cassie had never heard of, but that practically made Emerson bounce in his chair.
“Mom said she can get two more if Roman and Kir wanna go,” Emerson said. He cast expectant glances at each of the men.
“Nyet,” Roman said with a shake of his head. “Movies are better at home.”
“Nuh-uh,” Emerson argued with all the indignation of a young boy. “You gotta see it on the big screen with the awesome sound system.” He looked to Kir. “You wanna go?”
“I think a Father’s Day gift is best spent one-on-one with your father.” On the surface, Kir’s response was both diplomatic and thoughtful, but Cassie could have sworn there was a bitterness behind it, too.
“He is correct.” Sergei tucked the tickets inside his suit jacket. “I spend too much time with those two as it is. Better for you and I to make a night of it on our own.”
He meant it, too, the words offered with the utmost sincerity and an unflinching gaze. Mob boss or not, Sergei Petrovyh had a soft spot for his boy. And his wife.
And from the way he studied each person around the table a second later, maybe even for everyone else. “Thank you all for joining me today. I’m blessed to have Emerson for a son and to have each of you to help me celebrate my first Father’s Day.”
Lizzy smiled and elbowed Axel. “You better not let your momma hear anything like that. They’ll be hijacking my birth control pills.”
Axel’s grin was pure wickedness. “And how do ya know I haven’t already been monkeyin’ with ’em myself?”
“You wouldn’t?”
He lifted both eyebrows. A playful Oh, wouldn’t I? conveyed without a word.
Lizzy rolled her eyes and zigzagged her attention between the women. “God save me. I’ve got four more months on tour and a new album to cut after that, and he’s hinting at kids.”
And that was how it went through the salads and most of the entrees. Lighthearted jabs or witty comments shared from those listening. Questions asked and answered. Laughter that ranged from easygoing to all out hilarity.
Absolutely nothing like the scenarios she’d imagined.
Kir had been right. They were a family. Not the blood-linked kind that suffered through a Father’s Day dinner because they had to, but people who came together and genuinely communed because they wanted to. Because they enjoyed everyone’s company.
The experience was exceptional. On par with the one-on-one time she spent with her aunt but had never experienced with anyone else.
And wasn’t that sad, considering she had a family of her own? Dinners with her parents and brother were brief. Rigorous in manners and filled only with professional chatter carried on politely modulated voices. Honestly, she’d reported on town council meetings with more personality and warmth than meals with her family.
Tears stung her eyes, and a sharp discomfort nudged her heart.
Oh, no, Cassie. You will not cry. Not here. Not now.
“So, Cassie,” Evette said. “How’d you end up as a fancy TV news reporter?”
Cassie ducked her head and smoothed her napkin across her lap to buy herself a little time. Her first words were a little rough, but by the time she lifted her head and finished her answer, she’d shaken most of her melancholy. “It was an accident, really. I started photography in high school and a friend who worked on the school paper asked me to take some pictures for her. The process seemed fun, so I tried it for myself and ended up I had a knack for it.”
“Yeah, but that’s newspaper, not TV,” Emerson said. “How’d you end up there?”
“That happened in college. I was one year in and planning on sticking with the newspaper routine with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, but my aunt Frieda said I’d be shooting myself in the foot if I didn’t shift to television.”
“Good girl,” Dorothy said. “You listened to your auntie.”
Cassie chuckled. “Not exactly. Not at first, anyway. She basically ended up daring me to go for an internship at a Houston television station. I think we were both surprised when I got it.”
“You’re very good at it,” Sergei said. “Natural. People respond to you.”
Goose bumps lifted along her forearms, and for some stupid reason, the urge to sit up a little taller tugged at her spine. “Thank you.”
“Do you still do photography, too?” Lizzy asked. “Axel’s gone through about fifteen different people so far trying to get good shots of the band in action and hasn’t settled on one yet.”
“That’s a damned fine idea.” Axel shifted his focus to Kir. “We’ve got a show here in New Orleans in late September. Ye should bring the lass and let her work her magic.”
“Oh...” Cassie shook her head. “It’s just a hobby. I’m not a professional.”
“But you’re very good,” Kir stated firmly. “I saw the pictures you’ve hung in your home. When we met for coffee, the passion you felt for photography was evident, and you mentioned the first night I met you that you’d once wanted to pursue it as a career.”
“Of course, I did. When I was sixteen. But it’s not realistic.”
Lizzy barked out a sharp laugh. “Who cares what’s realistic? People told me I was stupid for slogging from one bar to another for years, but look at me now.”
Roman nodded, his gaze uncomfortably keen and locked on Cassie.
“Ye want something, ye just do it,” Axel said. “Anyone who tells ya different can bugger off.”
Seven people around the table.
All of them strangers but one.
And they’d shown more kindness and acceptance in little more than an hour than her own family had shown in years.
A slow burn fired along the bridge of her nose, and her gaze blurred. “Thank you.” She fixed her attention on the mostly empty plate in front of her, fought to keep her breathing steady and prayed the tears wouldn’t spill over. “It does sound like fun. I’ll definitely think about it.”
Her bottom lip quivered, and her lungs hitched. She leaned close to Kir and whispered. “Would you excuse me just a minute? I need to run to the restroom.”
She didn’t wait for an answer. Just rose, nabbed her clutch and tried to nonchalantly navigate her tear-blurred way through the restaurant toward the restrooms at the front of the building.
It took a good five minutes hiding in a stall and focusing on nothing but slow steady inhalations before the threat of a full-on crying jag subsided. Another two or three before she trusted herself to step in front of the mirror and repair what she could of her makeup.
She’d been so wrong about these people. Kir was right. Somewhere along the way, she’d painted them all as dangerous, self-serving people who sat around figuring out ways to take advantage of others. The truth? They were kind. Personable. Fiercely loving and loyal to each other.
Behind her, the bathroom door opened.
Evette stepped through, scanned open stalls, then locked on to Cassie in front of the ornate vanities. “Oh, thank God.” She pressed a hand to her heart and strolled toward Cassie. “For a second or two, I was worried I was gonna have to come out of this bathroom without you and send Kir on a full-scale search.”
She rested one hip on the marble ledge and cocked her head. “You took off mighty quick out there. You okay?”
“Embarrassed more than anything.” Cassie jerked her head toward the dining room beyond. “You guys caught me a little off guard. Actually, everything tonight’s caught me off guard.” She shook her head and let out
a shaky, ironic laugh. “Maybe I’m pre-menstrual, or something.”
“Oh, girl. If you are, I’ll totally volunteer to sit in for an ice cream eating binge. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I could stuff my face with some good ’ole Ben and Jerry’s and not have a string of men look at me like I’m crazy?”
Definitely good people. Every freaking one of them. “I think I owe you an apology.”
Evette straightened to the very height of her petite frame. “You do? For what?”
How could she say what she wanted to without looking like an idiot? Or worse, digging a hole she’d never crawl out of? “I misjudged you. All of you.” She scanned the room and ensured no one was there to overhear. “People told me stories at work. About Kir. About Sergei...”
Comprehension settled in Evette’s sharp eyes, but with it came an unexpected lightness. A knowing humor as bright and bold as her personality. “Oh, that. Thought you were gonna show up and find a stiff crowd with all of us packing heat, huh?” She laughed and waved it off. “I get it. I was knocked off-kilter the first time I came around these guys, too. And trust me, there are some aspects to being around them that will make you absolutely bonkers—like when Kir finally decides you’re not allowed to so much as cross the street without a bodyguard with you. But for the most part, they’re the best damned family a girl could ask for.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Do what?”
“Put a bodyguard on me.”
Evette’s head snapped back. “Seriously?”
Cassie nodded.
Gaze narrowing, Evette pursed her mouth for a second. “How about if I ask you a question first.”
“Such as?”
“How serious would you say you and Kir are?”
“We’re not. I mean, we were...something. Intimate, I guess. But that was a while ago. Then I went and screwed it up because I listened to what everyone at work was telling me about...well... Sergei, so I didn’t return Kir’s calls. Then, after I apologized a few weeks ago, he asked me to help him do some research.”
“Some research.” Not a snarky clarification so much as that tone your mom got when she absolutely could not believe you’d asked her for money one day after she’d given you your allowance.
“Mmm-hmm.”
Evette cast her a sidelong look. “You know, when you two walked in here tonight, Kir was looking mighty possessive of you.”
“I know. That’s one of the things that’s thrown me off tonight. He’s always been very gentlemanly. Opens doors and holds my elbow when I’m walking to the car, but tonight he was...different. Much more attentive and very hands on. And secretive, or something.”
“And you haven’t asked yourself why he was different?”
“Well, yes. But I only had the drive here to ponder it, and then I got here and got distracted by everyone else.”
While Evette didn’t outright laugh in her face, her eyes sure did spark with delight. “Yeah, I can see how we’d throw a girl for a loop.” Still smiling, she studied Cassie for a second or two. As if she wanted to let Cassie in on a secret, but wasn’t altogether sure it was a good idea.
“What?” Cassie prodded.
Evette snickered. “It’s just funny—being on the outside and watching the things I experienced happen to someone else.”
“Such as?”
“Such as seeing another woman be the sole target of a Russian man’s attention. I was there once and let me tell you—Cinderella got the short end of the stick compared to these guys. When Russian men decide who they want, they’ll move heaven, hell and the big bad wolf all at once to make them theirs.”
“But Kir and I aren’t like that. We agreed to just be partners.”
That was right, wasn’t it? They’d said they’d be silent partners. Just two people helping each other out.
Evette rolled her lips inward for a second then cleared her throat. “Don’t know how to break it to you, sister, but from where I’m sitting, the partnership you thought you were in has escalated to a very serious committed relationship.”
No way.
Things like that didn’t just happen. Not with as little history as they had between them. Especially with the kind of history they had between them.
But Kir had been much more attentive. Possessive and protective. Had used those sexy Russian endearments more times than she could count tonight and been concerned about her home’s security.
You are exactly where I want you to be.
The muted thrum of her pulse grew louder in her ears, and her legs shook as though she’d sprinted up three flights of stairs.
“Don’t be too hard on him,” Evette said as though she hadn’t just completely upended her world. “My guess on the reason Kir hasn’t said anything is the fact that he hasn’t fully admitted it to himself yet. But he’ll get there. And when he does, you’re gonna have to hold on for all you’re worth, because he’s gonna be a hell of a ride.”
“I don’t...” Cassie licked her lips—or tried to, considering how dry her mouth had become. “I don’t know what to do with this. With him. I don’t know that I’m cut out for him.”
Evette cocked her head. “Do you like him, Cassie? Not what he does, or what you’ve heard from your friends, but him. The man. The way he treats you and how it feels to be with him.”
She did.
Always had.
Even beyond the stellar physical interactions they’d had, spending time with him was easy. Uncomplicated and fun the way it was with her aunt, but on a more intimate level.
She nodded.
“Then don’t do anything except enjoy yourself. Be who you are and let Kir be him. The rest will take care of itself.” Evette cupped her shoulder and urged her to the door. “But do it out there, because if we don’t make an appearance in the next few minutes, we’ll have Kir, Sergei, and maybe even Roman in here, and I don’t think you’re up for that much testosterone right now.”
How Cassie put one foot in front of the other without toppling off balance, she couldn’t say. The plush details in the hallway were little more than a blur, and the growing murmur of those in the dining room like thunder rumbling in the distance.
Surely Evette was blowing things out of proportion. Yes, it was possible Kir was interested in something more, but no one went from platonic to serious in three days. And three very silent days at that!
A yelp and the quick scuffle of feet ripped her from her distracting thoughts in time to see a man and woman laughing off a near collision at the bar.
But it was the woman perched on a barstool and nursing a martini opposite them that made her heartbeat slow and her senses sharpen. The woman’s eyes were downcast, and her profile partially obscured by a thick wave of auburn hair as she stood and grabbed her purse, but she looked frustratingly familiar.
“Cassie?” Evette’s voice ripped her attention away from the woman. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fine.” She motioned to the man and woman who’d somehow turned their near collision into a conversation. “They just startled me.”
“Well, good. ’Cause you’ve got about five seconds to brace.” She dipped her head toward Kir who was stalking their way. “I’ll leave you to it. Take all the time you need.”
Well, shoot. She needed more than five seconds. More like five hours just to steady herself. And it’d be a whole lot easier if she had a wingman to keep things balanced.
She glanced over her shoulder, but the woman was gone, the seat she’d vacated already filled with another waiting patron.
Kir moved in all of a heartbeat later, his hands easily sliding to her hips and his body nearly touching. “Everything all right, milaya?”
Darling.
Now that she knew what it meant, she couldn’t stop the shiver that moved through her. Especially when paired with the hus
ky rasp of his voice. She nodded. “I’m fine. I just got a little overwhelmed, that’s all.”
“Overwhelmed at what?”
“At everything. You. Your family.” She swallowed hard, uncertain what to say next. As locations for frank discussions went, standing beside a crowded bar wasn’t ideal. “I just think we need to talk.”
His gaze roamed her face, his scrutiny so intense that holding his stare was a challenge. When he finally spoke, there was an implacable determination in his voice. “We will have dessert, and then I will take you home. I will let you ask me whatever you want, and I will answer what I can.”
Her breath rushed out on a sigh of relief, and her shoulders relaxed for the first time since she’d headed for the restroom. “Good. Thank you.”
“But Cassie?”
“Hmm?”
He cupped one side of her face and leaned in close enough his warm breath whispered across her face. “You should understand upfront. We’ll be doing much more than talking.”
Chapter Ten
Cassie was quiet. Too quiet for Kir’s liking. Quiet for her meant she was thinking, and the outcome of her thoughts had already derailed things for them once.
Kir exited off the main roadway onto the backstreets of Marigny, the only sound to break the silence between them the low strains of Nothing But Thieves’ “Last Orders.”
It didn’t matter. No matter what obstacles she threw at him, he would overcome them. The three days since his conversation with Sergei had given him much clarity. Time spent facing his fears from the past and coming to grips with what he wanted for the future. What he believed in, and what he was willing to do to change his life.
And he was starting with Cassie.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” Cassie said. From the perplexed frown on her face, he surmised that the last few miles had indeed consisted of an internal debate she’d finally decided to make him a part of.
“I’ve taken many actions in my lifetime, but I’m afraid you’ll need to be more specific if I’m to accept responsibility for the one you’re referring to.”
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