by Sarah Bailey
“Wait, why?”
“He wants to see you.”
I sat back, unsure of what to even say to that. It’s not as if I didn’t want to see my father, I just hadn’t been expecting to. Not after seeing Isabella. My mind whirled with everything she’d told me. I wasn’t exactly in a fit state for company.
The journey to Viktor’s office was quiet except for the soft tinkle of classical music playing on the radio. When we pulled up outside, André fired off a message on his phone. A few minutes later, Viktor himself got in the car. He smiled when his eyes fell on me after he got settled.
“Hello kotik.”
“Hi.”
I fidgeted, unsure of what to say to him. André pulled away from the curb into the rush hour traffic.
“How was your meeting with Isabella?”
Isn’t that a question and a half!
“To be perfectly honest, it was shit.”
He didn’t even blink at my reply.
“Did she not answer your questions?”
I waved a hand.
“Oh no, she did, I just didn’t like her answers. And I really don’t know how to feel about what I’ve learnt. The only thing I do care about right now is she told me Frank is trying to band together the other families to declare war against Il Diavolo which puts me, Quinn and the boys in danger. They won’t do anything until he has proof I’m with them, but it’s still worrying.”
When it came to matters of my safety, I didn’t hesitate to let Viktor know what was going on. It involved him as much as it did Quinn.
“This is… concerning news.”
“You’re telling me. All I want to do is to get home so I can tell Quinn. He’s not going to be happy.”
I watched Viktor carefully for signs as to what he truly thought of this situation, but his expression didn’t give much away.
“Would you like André to take you straight home?”
I wasn’t sure Quinn would appreciate Viktor knowing where he lived, but then again, he probably already knew anyway.
“If that’s okay, then I don’t have to make him drive all the way to yours to get me.”
Viktor issued a command in Russian to André who nodded.
“Uh, do you need directions?”
“André knows where he needs to go.”
I decided not to comment on that. My suspicions had been correct. Viktor had been thorough and left no stone unturned when it came to Quinn clearly. I wasn’t exactly comfortable with how much my dad knew about my boyfriends but there wasn’t much I could do about it now.
He didn’t try to engage me in conversation whilst André drove. I thought about texting Quinn to let him know I was on the way but decided I’d be there soon enough. Staring out at the window, I realised how much I missed being outside. Even though London was muggy and full of tourists as it was summer, I still missed my city. The sights. The sounds. The smells? Not so much. I could do without that. Really, I missed my freedom. One day I’d get it back. One day when Frank was gone from our lives. One day the five of us would be able to get on with our lives without his shadow looming over us.
When we pulled up outside the house, I turned to Viktor. He’d been on his phone during the drive, but now he was watching me carefully.
“Um… thank you for bringing me home.”
Home.
I don’t know when it became home to me. This house where I’d been locked away for what felt like forever. Perhaps when I realised I belonged with the boys. Belonged to them. We were each other’s in the most fundamental way a person could be. I couldn’t imagine going back to the flat Frank had bought for me. That wasn’t home. It never had been. But this house… these men… they were my home. My forever home.
“Did you… did you want to come in and maybe stay for dinner?”
I don’t know why the words tumbled out of my mouth. Perhaps it was the need to forge a real connection with him. I had absolutely zero clue what Quinn and the boys would say about me inviting my dad in. Xav and Eric hadn’t met him yet and Rory hadn’t been formally introduced. And would he even say yes? He was probably busy. Why had I even asked him?
I’m so stupid.
“Are you sure?”
I nodded profusely because I really did want him to come in. Was it crazy to be so eager to make my relationship with my dad work? Especially when I’d had such a shitty father growing up. I guess you could call Frank my stepfather, but honestly, I really didn’t feel anything for him but anger and bitterness.
Viktor turned to André and spoke to him in Russian for a few minutes. I tapped my fingers on my leg, afraid to hope he was agreeing. When he turned his gaze back to me, he smiled.
“Shall we go in then?”
I grinned and hopped out of the car. Viktor followed me as André pulled away. I had no idea what Viktor had told him, but at this point, it didn’t matter. We walked up the steps to the house and I dug out the key Quinn had given me a couple of days ago. He’d made me promise not to leave the house but he thought since this was now my home, I should have a key. I’d jumped on him and planted kisses all over his face which I think surprised him, but then again, I seemed to keep Quinn on his toes a lot.
I let us in the house and took my coat off, hanging it up in the hall cupboard along with Viktor’s. I wasn’t sure where the boys would be so I walked towards the living room first. Upon entering I was met with quite the scene. Quinn was squished between Eric and Xav with Rory sitting on one of the armchairs watching them with amusement in his eyes. They all turned their heads to look at me as Viktor walked in behind.
Quinn, Xav and Eric sprung apart abruptly, with Quinn scowling at the two of them.
“Are we interrupting something?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow up.
I couldn’t imagine Quinn ever instigating a hug from Xav or Eric so they’d probably been winding him up.
“No,” Quinn ground out. “You’re back. I thought I was picking you up.”
So he didn’t want to address the elephant in the room. I couldn’t blame him considering I’d arrived unannounced with my dad on my heels. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to invite him in.
“A change of plans… and I, um, invited Viktor to stay for dinner.”
The four of them looked stunned for all of five seconds before Quinn stepped forward. I thought he might actually tear me from the room and discipline me for daring to invite Viktor into our house without informing him.
“That’s… fine.”
I could tell by the way his jaw ticked it wasn’t. No, he was pissed as hell. I almost shrunk back but it wouldn’t do to show Viktor the kind of relationship we had behind closed doors. So, I decided to ignore the growing tension in the room.
“So, this is Viktor… and this is Rory, Xavier, who goes by Xav, and Eric… of course, you’ve met Quinn.”
I indicated each of them in turn. Eric was the first to come around the sofa and shake Viktor’s hand followed by Xav, murmuring it was nice to meet him. Quinn hung back and Rory stayed where he was. I leant towards Viktor when Xav and Eric stepped away and lowered my voice, “Rory has issues with human contact so please don’t think he’s being rude.”
“I understand, kotik,” he murmured back.
I fidgeted because introducing him to my boyfriends was a weird experience, to say the least, especially since I hadn’t explicitly told him the truth.
“I’ll just go put dinner on,” Eric said with a glance between the two of us.
“I’ll help,” Xav piped up and the two of them disappeared together, both giving me raised eyebrows as they left. Okay, yes, I should’ve texted Quinn. I realised that now. Maybe I wouldn’t have caught them at an awkward moment if I had.
I gave Quinn a significant look. Regardless of whether he was pissed off with me or not, Viktor was here now and he needed to deal with it.
“Would you like to take a seat? And can I offer you something to drink?” Quinn said, p
utting his hand out to the sofa and armchairs.
“A vodka straight if you have it,” Viktor replied as he walked further into the room.
I followed him over to the sofa, but not before I passed by Rory and laid a hand on his where it was resting on the arm of his chair for the briefest of moments. He gave me a smile which set my heart on fire.
Quinn disappeared to fetch Viktor a drink and I sat down next to him on the sofa. This was going to be one hell of an awkward evening at this rate, but no part of me regretted inviting my dad in. No matter the consequences I’d surely face from Quinn, I wanted to use this opportunity to get to know Viktor better. And to deal with the Isabella and Frank situation head on. Whether they liked it or not, Viktor was involved in my life and by extension theirs. So Quinn would have to suck it up. One way or another, we needed Viktor’s help if we were ever going to destroy Frank. I was pretty sure if we kept him out of the loop now I knew Frank was banding together the other families, it would be a grave error on our part.
So tonight would be about forging ahead with my relationship with my dad and creating a new alliance between the boys and him. I hoped it wouldn’t all fall apart before it’d even begun.
Chapter 12
I had absolutely no idea what the hell to serve the father of my girlfriend. Honestly, I hadn’t really done the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing with any other relationship I’d had. With Ash, I’d now met all three, even if we wanted to destroy one of them. That was beside the point.
“Well, this is entirely awkward as fuck,” Xav said as he leant up against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest.
“No shit.”
I thought Quinn was going to kill us when we’d hugged him and it was even worse when Ash and Viktor had turned up. I was surprised he hadn’t completely lost it and stormed out. Then again, Quinn was pretty good under pressure. I couldn’t help wondering what Ash was thinking, inviting him home with her without telling any of us. And no one had a chance to ask her how her meeting with Isabella had gone yet.
Quinn stomped in with a deep scowl etched into his features. He ventured over to the freezer and tore the door open, squatting down to pull out the bottom shelf, retrieving a bottle of vodka from it before he rose back to his feet.
“Just what we fucking need,” he muttered. “An evening of entertaining a fucking Russian mogul.”
“Don’t forget that’s our potential father-in-law,” Xav said.
The glare Quinn sent his way could’ve killed a man.
“What kind of relationship do you think we have with Ash? We’re not marrying the girl for fuck’s sake. That would make her a serial bigamist.”
“I was joking. Jesus, you really are a boar with a sore head today.”
Quinn ripped a tumbler from the glasses cupboard and slammed it down on the counter before pouring a measure of vodka in it.
“Can you fucking blame me? I love that girl, but she should’ve fucking told me she was bringing him home with her.” He turned to me. “What are you making?”
I shrugged. I had been planning on something simple like pesto pasta tonight, but you didn’t make that for your girlfriend’s father.
“What do you make a man like Viktor for dinner?”
“Well, I don’t fucking know.”
“Some help you’re being today.”
Quinn glared at me this time.
“Why is it always me who has to make the plans in this fucking household?”
“Chill, man,” Xav interjected. “Why don’t you make that steak stir fry thing we all like? That’s quick and easy, isn’t it?”
“There you go,” Quinn said, waving a hand at Xav. “Do that.”
I raised an eyebrow. That didn’t seem like a dish I should make for him, but I didn’t have any better ideas. Plus, I had all of those ingredients in so Xav was right. It would be easy and perhaps that’s what we needed.
“Fine, you can go set the table,” I replied, pointing at Xav.
Quinn nodded and stalked from the room.
“Do you think he’s so pissy as he’s not got laid in a couple of days?” Xav asked when Quinn was out of sight with a smirk on his face.
I shook my head and walked over to the fridge to get out the steak so I could marinate it.
“Even if he is, don’t say that to him. He’s probably going to take out all of his frustration on Ash later.”
Xav shrugged and walked over to the cupboard with all the plates in it.
“It’s not his turn.”
“What?”
“With Ash.”
I looked over at him with a frown.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, she told me she wanted to spend an equal amount of time with us so no one feels left out when she stayed with me. So tonight isn’t Quinn’s night… it’s Rory’s.”
Last night Ash had been with me and she hadn’t mentioned anything about it. Though honestly, I’d been too busy stripping her off, pressing her down on my bed and getting inside her for there to be much conversation between us. To say having her body pressed against mine whilst I thrust inside her over and over was the sweetest way to spend an evening would be an understatement. I’d had her this morning as well, being completely unable to resist the temptation when she was very naked between my sheets. Ash certainly hadn’t been complaining when I’d fucked her from behind with my fingers on her clit. Nor when I’d had her against the shower wall with her legs locked around my back after we’d finally got out of bed.
I didn’t mind her having a schedule with us. It would only be fair. Though some nights I’d like to spend with both Ash and Xav. The time we’d all been together had been hot as hell. Too bad it’d been interrupted by the shit with Julian. Something we had yet to deal with properly although he was getting out of the hospital in a couple of days.
“Does Rory know that?”
“Probably not. We’ve yet to have an official conversation about how this shit between us even works what with everything else going on.”
“That’s true, probably need to do it soon.”
It’s not as though the four of us didn’t respect each other’s claim to Ash, but things could get complicated really fast if we didn’t at least talk about everything.
“So… if Ash is with Rory tonight…”
I was digging more stuff out of the fridge so didn’t turn back to look at him.
“That’s if he even agrees.”
“…do you want to stay with me?”
The hesitancy in his voice wasn’t at all like Xav. I dropped the stuff I’d got out of the fridge on the counter and turned to him.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
He tipped his head towards me, his blue eyes full of caution.
“Don’t know.”
“What’s wrong, Xavi?”
He looked away, pulling out the cutlery drawer and fiddling with it for a moment.
“Nothing.”
“Hmm, yeah, really nothing when you’re acting all weird and nervy.”
He dumped the cutlery onto the plates he’d got out and picked them up. I thought he might not say anything before he went into the dining room.
“I’ll talk to you about it later.”
And that was all I got before he disappeared. I had no fucking clue what was making him nervous or why he was acting this way. Now wasn’t really the time to deal with it. I had dinner to prepare. Leaving Quinn and Rory alone with Viktor didn’t entirely sit well with me either. Rory might not do anything, but with Quinn being so on edge, it would be best if I was there to keep the peace in case anything went wrong. This evening had the potential to go downhill very fast if he lost his shit.
Time to get on with it before Quinn ends up killing someone.
Chapter 13
Ash made small talk with Viktor after I handed him a drink and sat down next to her. She slipped her hand into mine which had my stomach in knots
. I was pissed off with her turning up with him. Even more so that he’d seen me getting hugged by Xav and Eric. The only saving grace was no one had mentioned it. I wasn’t really in the mood to talk about why they’d been doing it in the first place.
I watched Ash for signs of how she felt about her meeting with Isabella, but she didn’t seem out of sorts. If anything, she seemed happy her father was here. And at least she was right here and safe. That eased my discomfort a little. It’s why I’d got so damn agitated earlier.
Xav came in after setting the table and sat down on the arm of Rory’s chair, much to his disapproval. Though when Xav leant down and whispered something to him, Rory’s hazel eyes went wide and he stared straight at Ash with some surprise. I had no idea what Xav said to him, but he was smirking.
Ash’s voice brought my head back around to her.
“I’ll tell him at the table, then I don’t have to repeat myself.”
Tell me what?
I knew she was talking about me by the way she glanced my way with a worried expression on her face. It made me very suspicious. What on earth had happened with her and Isabella?
“You wish to tell everyone at once?”
“We talk about things like this together… as a group.”
Viktor glanced over at the three of us with an odd expression on his face but he didn’t say anything about it. Ash had mentioned she thought he knew about our relationship. The fact he’d not got up in our faces about it made me wonder what he really thought. Would any man be okay with his daughter having a relationship with four men at once? Though he hadn’t known about Ash for very long. He seemed to be the type of man who didn’t like to step on her toes or control her. He had left it up to her to decide Isabella’s fate after all.
When we embarked on this relationship together, I hadn’t really thought much about it how it would all work. Now Xav had mentioned Viktor being our father-in-law, it made me think a little too hard about what our future would look like. It’s not as if any of us could marry Ash since that would make her legally bound to one of us, leaving the rest out. I didn’t think it would be fair nor would I agree to it. Would we even all still want to be with her long term? I knew I did, but who knew about the others. It’s not something we’d ever discussed. We’d fallen into this arrangement without really thinking too much about how it would impact our futures together.