Chapter Eighteen
Toni started to give Katya directions to her father’s house, but abruptly shut her mouth when she realized that the other woman knew exactly where they were going. Katya made good time in the little sports car. They whizzed through the streets and in no time they were pulling up at the gate in front of her father’s house.
There was no little guard booth here. Dimitri’s estate was much larger and usually far more guarded than her father’s home. Boris Rustikov was far too arrogant to believe he was vulnerable, which was pretty much what made him a sitting duck for Anatoli to blow out of the water.
“Do you think he’s home?” Katya murmured.
“I would say yes, because all the lights are on,” Toni mused. “Except he always leaves all the lights on. He says it makes the house seem more occupied. My mother used to say that he wanted everyone to think that our house was the place to party.”
Katya snorted. “Sounds like Boris.”
“Whatever attracted you to him in the first place?” Toni asked suddenly. She turned in the little car and stared at Katya in the muted glow of the dash lights. “I mean seriously. You’re beautiful and young. My father is twice your age.”
“You don’t understand.” Katya sighed, resting both her hands on the top of the steering wheel. “Your father is charming. He pays attention to women and he knows how to make us feel important.”
“You have two brothers who dote on you.”
“Oh please!” she scoffed. “They pay attention to me now. Before? I would be lucky if they’d say two words to me. We all lived up in the big house together, but they were so busy that I never saw them. They made sure I never got to date because they chased away any guy that dared to talk to me.”
“I know how that is,” Toni said darkly. “That’s what Boris is like on the other side of the action.”
Katya laughed. “I think they all are. They’re a bunch of controlling jerks who act like babies when they don’t get their way.”
“True enough.” Toni gestured to the little speaker box beside Katya’s window. “Are you going to ask them to buzz us in? Or are we going to sneak through the fence on foot?”
“There is no way I’m sneaking anywhere like this.” She gestured to her baby bump.
Toni had a chuckle at that. “Then buzz the house and let’s see what happens.”
Katya opened her window and leaned out as far as she could. Her belly got in the way and Toni couldn’t help but chuckle at the mother-to-be’s squirming and muttering as she finally managed to push the button on the speaker box.
“You look exhausted,” Toni commented.
Katya made a face. “I’m telling you, that is why pregnant women are so tired all of the time. It’s because it’s so damn awkward to move around with this huge basketball under my clothes.”
“State your name,” came the nasally voice from the box.
Toni started to speak, but Katya beat her to it. “Katya Alkaev here to see Boris Rustikov.”
There was a very long pause. Toni could imagine her father’s security guys freaking out as they attempted to find out if the boss wanted to see his discarded baby mama or not. There was something completely surreal about the notion of her father actually having a baby mama. Seriously. Couldn’t he grow up and act normal?
There was no more commentary from the speaker box. The front gates simply swung open. Katya drove right up the front steps and parked her car. By the time they started to open their doors, Toni’s father had exited the house and was waiting.
It was obvious that he’d truly believed that Katya was coming to see him all on her own. When Boris spotted Toni, he did an almost comical double take. Then he lifted his hands and grinned so wide that his face practically split open with the effort.
“Pyotr!” Boris shouted. “Go find Uday. I want him here immediately. And get the paperwork. My errant daughter has returned!”
Toni was getting a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. “We came to warn you that Anatoli Alkaev is very likely to be on his way here to make an attempt on your life. It’s not a social visit, and we’re not hanging around.”
“Katya,” Boris said with an exaggerated flourish. “Surely you’re going to stay and have a chat with me? How are you feeling? You look simply radiant!”
Toni gaped, watching Katya’s hard expression soften even as she stood there. What sort of strange mojo did her father have that a woman like Katya who had been summarily dismissed at such a vulnerable and sensitive time of her life, would now consider giving Boris even ten minutes of her time?
“Ah, here is Uday!” Her father gestured to a young enforcer she recalled seeing about the house a few times in the last several months. The youth hadn’t been in the US for long. He spoke most Russian, and now he looked very, very confused. “Uday, I’m going to give you a very special honor today,” her father said it Russian.
“Sir?”
“I’m going to marry you to my daughter.”
Toni’s mouth flew open in shock. In fact she could not recall ever feeling so very surprised in her life. What did her father think he was doing? “I came to warn you of an attack by Anatoli Alkaev, and this is what you do?” Toni shouted. “Are you insane? I’m not marrying this kid! Why would I do that?”
Katya had been moving toward Boris until that moment. Once the nuptial announcement was made, she stopped walking. “Boris, surely you can’t be serious.”
“Of course I can, my dear.” Boris reached out and snagged Katya. “And if my daughter wants to see her new friend stay safe and happy, she’ll do what she’d told.”
“Excuse me?” Katya tried to yank her arm away, but failed. “My brothers have always maintained that you were a complete ass, but I’ve tried to believe the best about you. Apparently I was dead wrong.”
Boris shrugged. He apparently didn’t care one whit about Katya’s opinion. He looked back at Toni instead, still keeping hold of Katya’s arm. “Did you know that Pyotr got ordained through an online course? It’s so easy! He can perform marriages now.”
Toni had a really bad feeling about this. “I still have to say yes.”
“No. You really don’t.”
From the corner of her eye she could see that Pyotr did not like this idea any more than she did. He had always been much more circumspect than Boris. Now Toni stared at him and tried—silently—to beg for his help.
“Come on, Pyotr,” Boris urged. “Let’s have a wedding ceremony.”
“Why?” Toni demanded. “I’m not going to say yes. The marriage won’t be valid. And…”
It suddenly occurred to Toni that one of the conditions of her inheritance from her Kabalevsky relations was that her husband should have equal control over the financial decisions regarding the money and investments. That meant if her father could marry her off to some weakling he could lead around by the balls—like Uday—Boris would be able to gain control of her mother’s fortune. It was the one thing he’d been unable to do during Maria’s lifetime.
“Figured it out, did you?” Boris said with a laugh. “It took you long enough, but then you never were very bright.”
***
Dimitri made it almost all the way back to the house without incident. He was slow, but he was steady and getting tired. Perhaps it was just that he’d overwhelmed his system, but he was feeling less pain than he had just a short bit ago.
The door loomed large, almost as if a holy light was shining down upon it. In reality it was just the porch light. Unfortunately Dimitri’s current state of mind was rather punch drunk. A state of being that was not conducive to figuring out the origin of the dark shadow crouched beside the porch.
Then the shadow unfolded itself and became a man. Dimitri blinked, feeling stupid. “Ivan?”
“Da.” Ivan’s rough voice betrayed his anger. “It is Ivan. The man you handed over to the enemy without reason.”
“Without reason?” Dimitri snorted. He edged closer to the railing, looking for something to lean against. “You betrayed me and followed my brother’s orders in direct violation of what I had already said. That made you a traitor.”
“That made me smarter,” Ivan blustered.
“Really?” Dimitri gripped the railing and used it to lever himself up onto the porch. Ivan was still standing on the ground. The man had always been a pretty slow processor. But when he did finally decide to act, it would likely be epic. Dimitri continued speaking, trying to keep him distracted. “So you think murdering Boris would really make him pay for what he did to Katya? Do you think Katya would appreciate us murdering the father of her unborn child in cold blood? Did you even think to ask her?”
Ivan was looking really confused. Then he shook his head. “Boris let me go.”
“Did he?” Dimitri had a bad feeling about why a man like Boris would make that sort of choice
“He said he would let me live as long as I came back here and murdered you.”
“Fortunately Anatoli already took care of that chore,” Dimitri motioned to his shoulder.
Ivan appeared to just now notice the bandage. “Where is your shirt?”
“Dr. Poole had to cut it off when he dug the bullet out of my shoulder,” Dimitri said grimly. “Anatoli attempted to murder me.”
“He didn’t shoot you in the head,” Ivan muttered. “I always tell that boy. You got to shoot them in the head after you get them in the body. He never listens.”
Dimitri was willing to overlook the absurdity of that statement for the moment. “He doesn’t listen, which is why he’d not fit to lead the Alkaev family. Can you imagine what a mess things will be with him running the show?”
“He’s not a good leader,” Ivan agreed.
“And yet you followed his orders when he disobeyed me!” Dimitri couldn’t hang onto his temper. He was shouting and didn’t care.
Ivan shrugged one massive shoulder. “I thought it was the better choice.”
“Oh, so you’re the leader now?” Dimitri gestured wildly at him. “Tell me, are you ready to take responsibility for the business interests of the entire family? Do you have any idea what that entails?” Dimitri was past caring that this man could squash him with one hand. He was sick and tired of everyone doubting his judgment when they had no idea what sort of responsibilities sat on his shoulders every day. “So many people think being a mafiya boss comes with some sort of free pass to have fun every single day!”
Ivan looked taken aback. “I have no experience in business.”
“Or diplomacy,” Dimitr said sarcastically. “So how about you forget this ridiculous notion of killing me and help me fix this mess instead?”
Ivan seemed to be working this through in his head. The big lug finally smiled and nodded. “Tell me what to do, Boss.”
Dimitri sighed. “I have to get to the computer in the office downstairs.”
“Ah, so you can send a message to everyone’s cell phone.” Ivan bobbed his head. “Good idea, Boss.”
“Thanks.” Dimitri glanced down at his shaky knees. “Do you think you could run upstairs and grab me a shirt first?”
“Yes, Boss.” Ivan gave a curt nod and disappeared into the house.
Dimitri watched him go and let out a shaky sigh of relief. That was one battle down, and only about a dozen to go.