Chapter 28

JUNE 19 – MONDAY 9:17 PM

R en

"I'm taking Snowflake for my partner, and we want the blue piece," Myles said.

"Shocking," Nash drawled as he walked into the room after getting seconds. He dropped down into the chair beside me, which was Blake's, but he didn't seem to care as he moved Blake's plate over.

"Ha, yer just jealous I claimed her first," Myles said. Nash smirked and glanced between me and Myles.

"Are you sure about that," he whispered under his breath, too low for Myles to hear, but I did. I glared at him, but he just put the entire chicken wing in his mouth and pulled it out perfectly clean before licking his lips. He'd been like this every day he'd come to train me. The tension was always there with him, but he'd ramped it up. I didn't think it was possible, but he somehow managed to make my heart pound out of my chest while I wanted to break his nose.

Why can I not look away?

"What are you doing?" I tried for annoyance, which wasn't difficult with Nash.

"Sitting, eating, breathing, looking at you. What does it look like I'm doing?" He dropped the bone on his plate and licked his fingers off before sucking each one into his mouth, taking much longer than necessary to clean them. "Got nothing to say?" He had a drop of sauce at the corner of his mouth, and I had to fight the urge to wipe it away.

"Nope," I said and forced myself to focus on my food.

He snorted, and I expected him to say something else, but he turned to Liam instead. They started talking about a building, which I'd learned was a business he was starting up with the rest of the guys. It actually sounded like a brilliant idea, and Myles promised to take me to see it once they were closer to being done.

Liam taking lead on the project was the last bit I heard before I tuned them out. Blake, Myles, and Theo were in a heated and animated discussion about something to do with sports, so I tuned them out, too, and happily ate.

When my phone vibrated in my pocket, I jumped. I didn't think anyone had this new number. There was a message from Fiona when I pulled it out. Had to be Myles that gave it to her.

F: Hey, do ya have a minute to talk?

That was weird. She'd normally just text. I pushed my chair away from the table and hit her number as I walked to the bedroom and closed the door.

"Fiona here."

"It's me, Ren."

"Tank the good Lord. I was so worried when I couldn't reach ya. Don't ya be doin' that ta me again," she said, making me smile as I sat down. The instant fear that had gripped my chest eased.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. Myles said not to contact anyone. He gave you the number?"

"Aye, when I couldn't reach ya, I texted him instead. I cannie believe that ya were in a shootout."

"It was crazy," I said, trying not to think about the fact that my aunt died and there was no one to give her a funeral. Or the fact that there was a good chance I'd never see my old house again. I closed my eyes and tried to put the image aside. It already kept me awake at night. I tried not to let the sadness consume me during the day.

"I'm sorry about yer family. Myles said ya lost yer aunt."

"Yeah, I did. I'm not sure when I'll be home again. I need to sort out who is after me first." I picked little fluffies off the comforter.

"About that." I sat up straighter. "I've been doin' some diggin' over here."

My pulse jumped. "Did you find anything?"

"Hmm, not as much as I woulda liked, but there is some serious unrest in the entire Mikhailov family. Like a whole family feud. I'm no supposed ta know that, but I have me ways of diggin'."

"What do you mean by feud?"

"The Mikhailov family be a large one. There is who we think is yer granda, but he had two brothas and a sista. They all have kids who have kids. Big, powerful families like that always have turmoil for control, but from what I've been able to find, things have been quiet for years until recently."

I stood and walked over to the window. It wasn't completely dark out yet, but it would be soon, and the forest looked eerie as Fiona spoke.

"What's changed?"

"Dunno, but whatever it is, it's big. The infightin' has ramped up, and one of yer distant cousins was just murdered fir tryin' to take control from yer granda. If that be who this is. Vadin Mikhailov is a scary man." Fiona made a shivering noise.

"How scary?"

"He's skin ya alive, deep fry yer skin, and eat it for dinner, scary." Fear snaked down my spine, and I wrapped my arm around myself. "Da said that he heard that Vadin once killed a man for touchin' his wife by mistake. The guy fell into her and died the next day. I also heard that he kept a tight hold on yer ma, and I could definitely see him wantin' her dead if she ran off and embarrassed the family."

"Do you think he was already trying to kill her before she left or after?"

My poor mum. She'd run from home and had been terrified so much that she put a panic room in the house. It explained why she refused to do art shows or have her picture in print. She made excellent money, and only a very small group of art curators knew who she was, except maybe Count Dick. He was a whole other story. The rage that coursed through my body at the thought of him taking advantage of my father all this time or threatening him made my blood boil. I still hadn't heard from him, and I became more afraid with each passing day.

"Honestly…girl, it coulda been either. Oh, I did find out one other thing. The name ya said was in yer passport…um…well…um."

"It's okay, Fiona, just say it." I braced myself for the worst.

"Yer ma did marry a Christov Ivankov. At least there are clips from old newspapers with the announcement. I'm sorry, Ren. I dinnie know what ta say."

I swallowed, trying to steady my erratic pulse as she confirmed what we'd found at my home. Was my dad my dad? If he was, then when and how did he and my mum meet? "It's okay, it's another small piece. Can you send me the announcement?"

"Aye, it's in Russian, though."

I smiled. "Good thing I took it last year," I said, and Fiona laughed. "I better go, but thank you so much for looking into everything."

"Bye, Ren, and make sure that Myles is treatin' ya right."

"I will."

Hanging up, I tapped the phone on my chin as I stared at the darkness that had crept in while I spoke to Fiona. Everything was blanketed now, and I pulled the drapes, hating the idea that someone could see in, but I couldn't see out.

I turned around and clutched my chest as I almost screamed. "Liam…oh my god, you scared the shit out of me. How did I not hear you come in?" He shrugged as he casually leaned up against the door. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Enough to know that a demon is chasing you," he said, and I swallowed hard.

He walked across the room, and it felt strange to be in here alone with him when we hadn't been alone…ever. I glanced at the door, but he grabbed my arm and pushed me back until I was up against the wall.

"What do you want?"

I couldn't tell if he wanted to hurt me or fuck me or both. He gave off similar confusing signals as Nash. His eyes were intense, but other than that, his face gave nothing away.

"You want Theo to be part of your line-up of men, sure. You want me to fuck you with him, sure. But I'm only going to say this once. If you try to take him from me, it won't be your famously dangerous family you'll have to worry about."

A bead of sweat trickled down my back. "I wouldn't do that to you and Theo."

"Maybe. You don't seem the type and I'm good at reading people. But I wanted there to be no miscommunication where I stand." Liam leaned in close and whispered in my ear. "I'll make you scream if Theo wants me to, but make no mistake…Theo. Is. Mine. Understand?"

I had no idea that Liam could be as terrifying as Nash, maybe more. It was whiplash from the quiet guy who hung around the group and made the odd joke or even the guy who had saved my life.

"Yes, I understand."

"Good, then we'll get along fine." He pushed back and crossed his arms just as Myles opened the door.

"What's going on," Myles asked, his tone suspicious as he eyed us.

"Just having a chat with Ren. She was speaking to Fiona, who confirmed that her mother married an Ivankov."

He really had heard everything. Liam was far deadlier than I'd ever imagined. It was like he fucking materialized in here. I hadn't seen or heard the door move, and there was a squeaky floorboard just inside the room that he avoided. Myles looked to me for confirmation, and this was another one of those moments where I needed to tread carefully.

"Yeah, she also found out that my grandfather is terrifying. He almost makes Lawrence sound like a pussy cat." I held up my finger before either of them could say anything. "I said almost."

"Is that all that was going on," Myles asked, stepping into the room.

"Liam and I needed to chat about…." I bit my lip. "Him and Theo and how this is going to work if we go forward," I said, and Myles's face relaxed.

"Oh. Aye, I guess that should be a conversation." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm good. I said all I need to." Liam clamped his hand on Myles's shoulder and smiled at him. "I don't plan on having you in the room when I make her scream," he said and then ducked as Myles playfully swung at him. If I hadn't just seen a very sinister side to Liam, I would've said he was as easygoing as Myles. Did they even realize that they all wore masks and hid who they really were so much?

Myles wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head. "You ready to kick Theo's arse."

"Better believe I am."

An hour later, everyone else had given up but me and Theo as we argued every single question until we were blue in the face.

Theo drew the next card and sighed. "Oh, come on. This is too easy."

"Just give me the question, and stop trying to find the hardest. We'll get to them."

"Fine. Hockey and blank make up the two national sports of Canada?"

"Okay, you're right, that's too easy." I looked at Myles sitting on the couch. "Lacrosse."

"Correct."

"My turn." I grabbed the box from him and pulled out a random card. "Oh, this is a good one. In what year did Canadian Fredrick Banting and his team succeed in purifying insulin for diabetes treatment?"

"Please, everyone knows that. Nineteen-twenty-one."

"Hold up. A Canadian invented insulin," Blake asked, and Theo and I nodded together. "Shit, the things you learn playing…no, I take that back, listening to a trivia game."

"We've exhausted almost the whole box." Theo held up the box that only had a few dozen cards left and then chose one. "In what province and city is the largest provincial legislative building," Theo asked.

"That would be Regina, Saskatchewan." I smiled at Theo, who rolled his eyes.

"Don't you mean Vagina," Nash said and then laughed.

"Like I've never heard that one before." I retorted and then grabbed the box to find another card.

"What I want to know is when my fucking cabin had a girl bomb go off in it." Nash held up one of my scrunchies from the table beside the couch and pointed at it. "And where did this doggie blanket even come from?"

"It's a throw, not a blanket."

He growled and stomped out of the room to the bathroom.

Closing my eyes, I picked a card and laughed as I read it. "In what Canadian province would you get screeched?" Theo blinked, opened his mouth, and then tapped his cheek. He tossed his glasses on the table and repeated the question. "Do you have a guess?"

"I don't guess," Theo said, waving his hand with a haughty air.

"Fine, then you lose by refusing to answer."

Theo's eyes flared. "Fine…Nova Scotia," he said, and I smiled.

"Wrong, Newfoundland." I tossed the card down on the table and stood as Myles cheered.

"Did we just win against Theo?" I nodded. "Hell yeah."

"What the fuck is this." We all turned to look at Nash, who was holding up a round ball between his fingers. "What the hell are these?"

"They're bath bombs. They make the water smell pretty and your skin smooth. I wouldn't suggest licking it."

"What the fuck has happened to my place," he groaned, making us all laugh.

"Can we watch the fucking movie now," Liam grumbled.

Blake dashed out of the room to get popcorn while Myles took drink orders. I stood there and looked around at them—including Nash as he trudged back to his seat and flopped down—and felt divided. Part of me was still so sad, scared of my past and the unknown of what was to come, but the other half of me was determined to live carefree in the moment and enjoy every second of this.

"Come on, Snowflake, we're ready," Myles said, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the couch. Life was so unpredictable. How did anyone plan for so many unknowns?