20. Ivan

CHAPTER 20

Ivan

I keep thinking to myself that maybe it's okay to let Alexei's disappearance go. Brush it under the rug and chalk it up to his usual antics. But I know something's wrong. Everything about it raises red flags. Especially the fact that despite spending the whole day trying to figure it all out, we're coming up blank.

"I'll go to the hotel and take over the search, sir," Ruslan says.

I've only just arrived home from the hotel. I spent most of the day with the hackers, trying to trace down the mercenaries that took my brother.

"When I left, they were trying to go through the files on his phone and his contacts in the past few days," I inform him.

"I'm sure we'll get a clue from there," Ruslan states.

We're leaning against my car, staring at the doors to the villa. I should go in, but a part of me wants to put this issue with Alexei at the back of my mind when I do. I want to focus on Lucia once I enter. Which means not worrying about where my brother could possibly be.

"I'm guessing you have your suspicions," I say, looking at Ruslan.

He nods. "The Italians. They're the only ones that would openly go against you in this way," he replies gruffly.

"Yeah, I'm thinking it's them, too. I hope it's not, though. Because it would not end well," I say on a sigh, looking at the house and thinking about the woman inside of it.

"She was happy today. Spending time with her family."

I arch an eyebrow at him. "Careful, Ruslan. You almost sound fond of her."

"She'll be your wife, Mr. Volkov. I have no choice to be fond of her. But she makes it easy," he adds after a pause.

That makes me chuckle, a sound that seems to surprise him.

"You smile a lot more now," he notes. "I'm grateful to her for that if nothing else."

I rub at my jaw, wondering at that. There's no denying the positive influence Lucia has had on me. I'm grateful to her too. She makes life better, I didn't realize how hollow my life was until she brightened it up and now I can't imagine not being with her anymore.

"Did anything else happen at the compound?" I question.

Ruslan hesitates before he tells me, "Miss Maranzano disappeared for a while with Adrian Rossi. She informed me that they were going for a walk on the compound and asked me not to follow them. They returned about thirty minutes later."

My jaw tightens. I don't like the sound of that. What could they possibly have to discuss that they left the main house to do so? I don't like the relationship between her and Rossi. I feel a flare of possessiveness in my chest.

"Alright, thanks for the hard work, Ruslan. You can head over to the hotel now. Let me know as soon as there's any new development."

He nods once before walking toward one of the black cars and entering the driver's seat. Lucia's not in the living room like I expected when I enter the house. I find her in the kitchen instead, hovering about as the chef prepares dinner. Despite myself, I smile as soon as I see her, especially at the sight of the brown smudge on her cheek. I think it's cocoa powder.

"Hey, Ivan," she greets with a smile of her own.

She leaves the chef's side to stand in front of me. I place a thumb on her cheek to wipe the powder off before leaning down to kiss the area.

"How was your day, krasavitsa ?"

"Pretty good," she states. "I'll tell you all about it later. Right now, Mrs. Benson and I are making dinner."

I look towards the older woman in my employ. She inclines her head once in respect before turning her focus back to the meal she's in the middle of preparing. I look at Lucia.

"I wasn't aware you knew how to cook."

"I don't. But she agreed to teach me. We're making tiramisu. And we're having chicken cacciatore for dinner. It's an Italian dish. When I told Mrs. Benson I'd never had it before, she insisted that as an Italian, I had to at least try it once."

"That's nice," I say.

"Yeah. You can go take a shower or get changed. Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes," she tells me.

"I could get used to this," I murmur, leaning down to kiss her despite current company. "But really, you're the only dinner I want to eat, milaya ," I whisper in her ear once we break apart.

Like I hoped, her cheeks heat. She practically pushes me out of the door. I chuckle as I leave, going to my bedroom to change as she requested. When I return, the table has been set for two. She and I take our seat to have our meal.

"Thanks for the food, baby," I say before digging in.

"Technically, my contribution to the meal was only some encouragement and handing Mrs. Benson the things she needed, but you're welcome."

I smile and start to eat. It's mostly quiet as we do so, with occasional hums of delight from Lucia. It's pretty clear she likes the food. I wait until we're having dessert before bringing up her visit to her sister.

"So, did you like seeing your family?"

"Of course," she says, her amber eyes growing brighter. "There was a little hiccup at the start, though. I decided to come clean and tell my sister about the real start to our relationship. She didn't take it well, and I understand why. I hate that I lied to her. But by the time I left, she and I were okay. We're good now. I had lunch with her, Nico, and Sabrina. Adrian was there, too. It was nice being with them. Nico even asked me to extend an invitation to you to join us next time."

"I'll consider it," I drawl. "Did anything else happen?"

She shakes her head. "It was pretty uneventful. I think Ale smiled at me when I was carrying him. He's the most adorable baby. I can't wait till he's walking and talking."

"I'm happy you're happy, milaya ," I say sincerely, and I really am.

Her joy is infectious and I feel the tension from earlier start to seep away. I don't think Lucia would intentionally hide anything important from me. I decide to chalk up her conversation with Adrian Rossi to a simple one she had with her friend. I might not like that they're friends, but there doesn't seem to be anything else going on.

"How about you? How was your day?" she asks, her expression growing solemn. "Any news on Alexei?"

I shake my head. "All we know right now is that he's still in the city. So far, though, there's been no news."

"You must be so worried."

"Normally, I wouldn't be. But the circumstances surrounding his disappearance aren't helping. There's something else going on and I'm going to get to the bottom of it."

"I hope you find him," she says softly.

It's clear she either doesn't care or can't remember that he tried to force her to go with him two days ago. It's amazing, how big her heart is.

"Alexei will be found," I state. "I'm just not sure I'm going to like what'll happen then."

The fact still remains that he went with those men willingly. Meaning whatever they're brewing, he's a part of it.

After dinner, we go to the living room to watch a couple of episodes of Ozark . Which ends pretty quickly when Lucia sits on top of my lap and starts grinding against my cock. I practically throw her over my shoulder and rush to my room, where I proceed to bury myself inside of her.

When I fall asleep that night, it's with a smile on my face. Because despite everything that's going on with my brother, I feel incredibly lucky that I found her. I start toying with the idea of an actual proposal. Lucia's a queen and she deserves more. She deserves everything I can give her and then some.

At this point, the feelings I have for her run deep. I gave her my heart without realizing it, and it's time for her to know that.

"We should go out tonight," I tell her when we wake up the next morning.

"Like on a date?"

"Sure, krasavitsa . Let's go out on a date."

"Where?"

"I'll make reservations at a restaurant."

"Okay." She smiles. "Please pick a restaurant that can cater to my refined palate."

"Refined?" I say, disbelieving. "Baby, you won't eat seventy percent of the foods on this planet. ‘Refined' isn't the word I'd use to describe your palate."

She pouts. "Don't be mean."

I chuckle and kiss her because she looks really fucking beautiful right now. Then again, she always looks beautiful to me. We eventually get out of bed and get dressed before heading downstairs hand in hand.

"Are you going to the hotel today?"

I shake my head. "Probably not. There's still no news on Alexei so there's no use hovering about."

I've barely finished that sentence when Ruslan appears in the hallway, a grim look on his face.

"What is it?" I ask once I notice him.

"There's news on your brother," he replies.

Dread settles in the pit of my stomach at that. "Go on," I prompt.

His eyes shift towards the woman who's standing still at my side.

"I'd rather not say in front of Miss Maranzano," he says.

Lucia immediately stiffens, while my eyes narrow.

"Considering you already mentioned it in front of her, you're going to have to, Ruslan," I snap. "Speak."

He hesitates before clearing his throat.

"Alexei was in contact with Adrian Rossi a week ago. We have reason to believe he's behind this. Considering he has the money and resources."

My eyebrows rise. But it's Lucia's reaction that has my jaw tightening.

"No," she says immediately, resolutely. "It's not Adrian."

Very slowly, I turn to look at her. "And why are you so sure about that?"

"I just know, okay? Adrian didn't do this. I swear."

Several seconds tick by as I stare at her. Then I'm looking at Ruslan.

"Get some men ready. We're going to Rossi's house," I inform him.

"No!" Lucia repeats, moving so she's in my line of sight. "Ivan, I need you to listen to me, Adrian has nothing to do with your brother."

"How do you know that?"

She's breathing heavily, her fists clenched. "Because I asked him about it. Yesterday."

"Why would you do that?" I ask, my voice calm. "I really hate it when people lie to me, Lucia, so answer honestly."

She swallows, her gaze shifty. My heart starts to pound and it hits me that she really is hiding something from me. I'll be damned if I don't get to the bottom of it.

"If Rossi's plotting something with my brother, it's because he has some sort of vendetta against me. You know what it is."

"He's not plotting with your brother," she says tiredly, running a hand through her hair.

My brow arches. "But he has a vendetta against me?"

The way her eyes widen is answer enough. "He does, doesn't he," I murmur when she doesn't reply. "What is it? What the fuck does he want?"

Lucia suddenly grows mute. It's almost comical, the way her lips press together. My jaw clenches.

"I can find out on my own, Lucia. In fact, I'm going to fucking find out. And once I do, you're not going to like what I do about it. Because not only are you defending another man in front of me, you're also hiding something from me. What do you expect me to do about that?"

She releases a shaky breath, looking anywhere but into my eyes. She still doesn't speak .

Fucking hell, what is she hiding?

"Just tell me, Lucia. It'll be better if I hear it from you than from anywhere else," I say, making my voice softer, trying to coerce her into telling me the truth.

Ruslan is still standing a few feet from us, still as a statute.

"He thinks—" She falters, her eyes welling with tears. The sight fills me with rage. Because I never want to see her crying. "He thinks you killed his mother," she says, her voice nearly a whisper.

I grow rigid at the confession. "What?"

"Adrian told me that he had suspicions that you were responsible for his mother's death," she repeats.

"I see," I murmur. "When did he tell you this?"

Again, she grows mute.

"Lucia," I grit out.

The tears she's been trying to keep back finally start to fall. The urge to reach for her and wipe them off crashes over me, but I don't. Because I know I'm not going to like whatever it is she has to say.

"He told me two weeks ago. Before I agreed to marry you."

My heart fucking drops. "And yet you still agreed to marry me. Why?"

She opens her mouth to answer but I raise a hand to stop her.

"Let me guess. Rossi had his suspicions, so he asked you to come into my home," I begin, taking a step closer to her. "He asked you to spy on me. To find evidence that I was responsible for his mother's death. Is that it, Lucia?"

My tone is still even, my voice scarily calm, despite the rage spreading through me. The hurt.

"Ivan," she says, her breath trembling, "I can explain."

My eyes fall shut for a couple of seconds as I try to calm down. When they open again, she's still standing in front of me, tears running down her face. I exhale softly before leaning down to look her in the eye. I finally give in to the urge to wipe the tears from her cheek. She shivers as my fingers move over her face, my touch tender despite the torrent of emotions within me.

"I need you to do something for me, Lucia," I say after a couple of seconds pass. "I need you to leave."

Her lips part in surprise. "No, wait?—"

I don't let her speak. "I'm trying my fucking hardest right now not to say something I'll regret. The one thing I can't stand is betrayal. I brought you into my home, I trusted you. I was falling for you, while you were lying to my face every day."

"I wasn't!"

"You were," I grit out. "Every single day you stood in front of me and smiled at me. You got to know me. I thought you were starting to like me?—"

"I was starting to like you. Ivan, I swear. You have to believe me," she says desperately.

"No. Get out of my life, Lucia. I mean it."

She tries to reach for me but I stay out of her grasp and walk away, unable to look into her eyes any longer. Not when my heart feels like it's about to burst in my chest.

I walk to my room and immediately her scent assaults me. Which makes me even angrier because this is supposed to my space and she's burrowed herself into it as well, the same way she's burrowed in my chest.

I hear someone walk into the room and turn to look at Ruslan. He seems to have something to say.

"What is it?" I snap.

His lips are in a thin line. "I think you should have heard her out, boss."

I scoff, "Are you fucking joking? The only reason she was here was to dig up information on me."

"Maybe that's why she came. But I don't think it was all pretend."

I glare at him. "Don't defend her, Ruslan. She played me. She played us all for fools. And I was serious when I asked her to leave. Take her home to her family, just get her out of my sight. Now!" I bark.

"Yes, sir." Ruslan nods before walking out and shutting the door behind him, leaving me alone.

I find myself wishing I'd never found out the truth. Because surely ignorance is better than the knowledge that the woman I'm falling in love with has been nothing but a lie.