9. Michael

Michael

I looked forward to seeing Olga again all week. We’d exchanged a few texts, but other than that I hadn’t talked to her since we said goodbye at Sweet Cocktails the other night. I knew it was ridiculous to be building this up in my head – we were going to be roommates not lovers – I still felt as nervous as a teenaged boy going on his first date.

The doorman called up around eleven, letting me know that Olga was coming up in the service elevator. I’d already put her on the approved list, but since I hadn’t given her a keycard yet, I told her to check in on the first floor whenever she and her sister’s brothers-in-law got there.

I waited by the front door, listening to the sound of the service elevator dinging in the far corner of the building. I heard a rumble of male voices and then a stream of guys came in, each larger than the last one, all of them loaded down with a stack of boxes. Olga was bringing up the rear, pulling a large suitcase in one hand and carrying a cat carrier in the other.

Judging by the high-pitched screeching coming from inside, her cat was less than thrilled with his current situation.

“Hey Olga,” I said, giving her a smile. “Welcome.”

She looked adorable in short cut-off denim shorts, running shoes, and a loose tank top that did little to hide her gorgeous curves.

“Hi there, thanks again for helping me out.”

I held up my hand. “Don’t mention it.”

“Where do we put this stuff?” the largest guy grunted, giving me a chin tilt of acknowledgement.

I showed them down the hallway to the bedroom Olga would be moving into, then moved aside to let them in. After they set down their boxes, Olga introduced them. It was obvious that four of them were brothers, each of them with similar coloring and the same eyes. They all appeared to be a few years older than me and Olga, probably in their early forties.

“This is my brother-in-law Jayden,” she said, pointing to one of the guys. “Those are Jayden’s brothers, Jim, Johnny, and Justin. And their sister’s husband, Nick.”

I studied the group. I could swear I’d seen the brothers before sometime. “You guys look kind of familiar, but I don’t know why.”

“They used to be in a band a long time ago,” Olga said almost dismissively. “Where’s the bathroom? I’m going to put Nutella in there until we’re done.”

“Next door down.”

The instant Olga stepped out of the room, the guys surrounded me, all of them suddenly vibrating with menace. Nick, the one who wasn’t a brother, puffed himself up and gave me a hard stare that made me want to step back in fear. I took half a step before I stopped myself.

“Olga forbade me from running a background check on you,” he said, clearly irritated about that fact. “So I’ll respect her wishes and hope that you’re a good guy. Don’t make me regret trusting you.”

What the hell was he talking about? He appeared to be expecting me to answer, so I stammered, “Um, okay.”

Jayden, the guy she said was married to her sister, stepped closer, getting into my space. With his brothers surrounding me, I couldn’t move away.

“Olga is my wife’s sister, which makes her a sister to all of us,” he started.

All the guys nodded in agreement.

“Olga is a great girl and she’s very important to all of us. You’d better treat her well,” he ordered. “Don’t get any funny ideas or grabby hands or hurt her in any way, or I promise you it’ll be the last thing you do. You seem like a nice enough guy, but that doesn’t mean we won’t kill you. And we’ll make it hurt, too.”

“What are you guys doing?” Olga screeched, pushing her way through the guys to stand in front of me as if blocking me from an attack.

I kind of loved that she was trying to protect me, even if that made me a wuss.

“This is an old friend who’s helping me out of a tight spot. Now leave poor Mikey alone!”

One of the guys snickered at the childish nickname and Olga waved a finger in his face.

“Look, you’re a retired rock star, not a tough guy, so back off Johnny or I’ll smash one of your guitars!”

“Wait, are you guys the Oliver Boys?” I asked, suddenly remembering the posters my sister had on her bedroom wall when we were kids. “Am I really getting shaken down by a middle aged boy band?”

Olga snickered. “Yeah, be careful or they’ll sing you to death.”

Over her head, Nick gave me another death glare. “I’m not in the band. I have my own security company and I know a lot of ways to hide a body. Remember that.”

Then he strode out of the room to go get more boxes, aging rock stars trailing behind him like little ducklings. When we were alone in the room, Olga turned to me.

“I’m so sorry about all that,” she said, wringing her hands like she thought I’d be mad at her. “For some reason, when my sister married into that family they decided to adopt me as their little sister. Their helpless little sister. They’re ridiculously overprotective.”

“Don’t they already have a sister?” I asked. “She’s married to the big guy?”

“Yeah, but Jen is the oldest and she kicks all their asses,” she said. “They wouldn’t dare try to boss her around the way they do with me. They’re too afraid of her. Thankfully, none of them besides Jayden live in Chicago, so I don’t see that more than a few times a year.”

“I have a feeling living with you is going to be interesting,” I said.

“You have no idea.”

Olga and I headed downstairs to help the guys move the rest of her belongings. She had way less stuff than I expected, all of it fitting in a small van and the back of her car.

“Are you bringing back another load?” I asked. “This can’t be all of it.”

“We threw out most of her shit,” Jayden said. “She had all this mismatched furniture that’s older than she is. Not even the damned Goodwill wanted it.”

“Shut it,” Olga said, bumping him with her shoulder as she walked by with a potted plant. “Don’t make me sorry that I helped you get together with my sister.”

I raised an eyebrow at Jayden.

“Her sister was less than excited about my history as a musician,” he explained. “Even though I’m mostly retired from the music industry and working as an attorney now, she still needed a little convincing to take a chance on me. Fortunately, Olga and her mother were on my side.”

He gave me a big, goofy smile. “We’re married now.”

I made a mental note to get on the good side of both Olga’s sister and her mother.

When the guys finished, they refused our offer of lunch, saying they were having dinner at Mrs. Pavlenko’s and needed to save their appetites. They each gave Olga a hug, then with a few parting warning glares at me, left the apartment. It seemed incredibly quiet without them all stomping around on my hardwood floors.

I spent a few minutes showing Olga around the rest of the apartment and telling her repeatedly to make herself at home.

“Do you mind if I let Nutella out now?” she asked. “He’s going to need a little bit of time to get used to the new space.”

“Sure, no problem.”

And then, for the second time today, I was threatened by a male in Olga’s life. This time it involved claws.