8. Anton

8

ANTON

After Nina leaves, I head to my home gym to try and blow off some steam.

Seeing her this morning in those tight leggings had the blood pumping straight to my cock. Last night was even better than I imagined it would be, and I’m already craving more, which is exactly why I’m refraining from taking myself in my hand. I can’t afford to grow attached when I know it can’t go anywhere, and fantasizing about her won’t help either.

Which means hitting the gym to burn off all this pent-up frustration.

I spend a few hours in the gym, working up a solid sweat before heading upstairs to take a shower.

I pass Nina’s room on the way and glance inside.

The bed is unmade, and her clothes from yesterday lie discarded on the floor.

I eye the lilac skirt, remembering what it looked like bunched up around her tiny waist as I fucked her from behind?—

“Christ.” I slam the door closed.

Even when she’s not here, Nina still gets me all fired up.

“I need a fucking cold shower.” I stalk down the hall into my room, closing the door behind me to try and put as much distance between me and her skimpy clothes as possible.

As I head into my bathroom to turn the shower on, my phone vibrates in the pocket of my shorts, and I pull it out to see a message from my cousin Mikhail telling me to meet him and his brothers at their penthouse in the city.

I’m grateful for the distraction it will provide, and I send a reply telling him I’ll be there in an hour, though I have no doubt that the conversation will be anything but light.

I drive down into the private underground garage that belongs to the penthouse apartment, parking between Mikhail’s G Wagon and Alexei’s Mercedes.

The upper East Side penthouse is mostly used for business these days, with my four cousins having their own residences both in and out of the city. Though the three eldest brothers are choosing the latter more and more these days now that they have kids of their own.

I find my cousins in the lounge, each one of them with a drink in hand as they chat among themselves.

“Your favorite cousin has arrived.” I stroll out of the elevator.

“You’re our only cousin.” Danil chuckles, rolling his eyes at me as he looks over from his spot on the couch, dressed in workout gear and wearing a backwards baseball cap.

He’s always been the leanest out of his brothers, but it seems his hard work is finally paying off from the way he’s starting to fill out.

“My brother might be god knows where, but he’s still alive, Danil.”

“Oh shit, yeah.” He laughs. “I forgot about Nikolai.”

Mikhail smacks his younger brother around the head, and Danil curses.

I shake my head. “He’ll be glad to hear how much you miss him.”

Mikhail gets to his feet and slaps me on the shoulder in greeting. “Have you heard from him lately?”

“No. You know how he is.”

“I do.” Mikhail scoffs.

Before he has a chance to say anything else about my waste-of-space brother, I turn to greet Alexei and Dimitri before fixing myself a drink.

“So, what did I miss?” I sink down into one of the leather armchairs, glancing at Alexei, who sits beside Dimitri on the couch to my right.

Alexei swirls his drink around in his glass. “We were waiting for you.”

I glance at Dimitri who’s sitting beside him, covering his mouth to try and stifle his laughter.

“Ah, you must have heard about my little adventure last night.” I sigh. “I was hoping you would hear it directly from me, but I take it Reid mentioned something?”

Alexei smirks. “He did.”

I can’t be mad. Ultimately, Alexei is the head of this family, and Reid is obligated to inform him of any potential threats to our family.

Alexei lifts his glass as if he is clinking mine at a distance. “So, I suggest you fill us in on what happened.”

My cousins all sit in silence as I fill them in on last night, from the moment I saw Nina, minus the detail of her falling in my lap, to beating the guys unconscious in the alley. I show them all the photos of the two guys, and the frown on Alexei’s face only deepens.

“I don’t recognize them.” He zoom in on their faces. “You think they work for Igor?”

Dimitri runs his fingers through his dark hair. “He’s been awfully quiet these past few months.”

Danil nods. “No doubt, he’s busy planning something.”

Mikhail rolls his shirtsleeves up to reveal his tattooed forearms. “I’m surprised he hasn’t retaliated sooner.”

Where Alexei, Dimitri, and Danil are fairly clean cut, Mikhail is a bit rougher around the edges. I was with him when he got the majority of his tattoos done, including his latest one of his daughter’s name down the side of his neck.

Alexei hums. “Igor doesn’t like to rush these things. It’s what makes him so dangerous. There’re very rarely any flaws to his plans, which makes him that much harder to intercept and take out. I think he wants to make us feel restless.”

Dimitri leans forward. “So, we’ll make the first move out of fear?”

“Exactly, because then he thinks we’ll be more likely to make a mistake.”

Danil shakes his head. “But that contradicts the theory that Igor was behind the attack last night.”

I nod. “That might have been him trying to give us a little nudge. His men likely saw Nina and me drinking together and thought we were dating, so they decided to go after her to get to me. After all, I am the one who took out Maxim.”

Alexei takes a sip. “It’s a likely theory. Where is Nina now?”

“She’s at my place upstate.”

Danil chuckles. “Nice, got yourself a hot roommate.”

I shoot him a glare. “She’s agreed to stay there until I can be sure she’s no longer a target.”

Alexei looks at me. “Well, hopefully, we can sort this out soon.”

Danil flashes me a wink. “Not too soon, am I right, Anton?”

I walked right into that one.

Alexei and Danil stay for another thirty minutes to discuss business before leaving to head to the Russian Tea Rooms to have a meeting with Alexei’s PI. Once they leave, Mikhail fixes us all another drink, and I move to take Danil’s spot on the couch.

“So, this new girl of yours… Is she hot?” Mikhail hands me a fresh vodka on the rocks.

“She’s not my new girl.”

Mikhail shares a knowing smile with Dimitri, and they both chuckle.

I will say that married life suits Mikhail. He’s smiled more in the last year since he met his wife, Lucia, than he has done since we were kids. She’s been good for him, and I’m glad he’s finally happy.

Though I can’t help but feel a little envious.

“Do you want her to be?” Dimitri quirks an eyebrow as he takes a gulp of his drink.

I shrug.

“There’s chemistry there, for sure.” I try not to remember the way Nina screamed my name as she came on my cock.

I clear my throat before downing the rest of my drink, forcing the memories to the back of my mind.

“It’s about fucking time you started seriously dating.” Mikhail claps me on the shoulder. “It’s been too long.”

“Calm the fuck down. I’m not dating anyone.”

“Yet.” Dimitri’s eyes twinkle.

“All I’m doing is keeping her safe.”

“And warm…” Dimitri teases, and Mikhail chuckles under his breath.

I scowl at the pair of them.

The truth is that I haven’t had a serious relationship since Katerina, and that was well over a decade ago, and it gets on my nerves when my family seem to forget what happened.

It’s not like we broke up and I’m still pining after her. What happened didn’t just break my heart.

It shattered it into a thousand pieces.

I know Mikhail only wants what’s best for me, and believe me, there’re times where I want nothing more than a wife and family.

I see Alexei, Dimitri, and Mikhail all settling into their new roles as husbands and fathers, and I’ve never seen them happier.

But every time I think I’m ready to move on, something happens that sets dating to the bottom of my priority list. Whether it’s my brother fucking around and getting into trouble or my mother getting diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, someone else always needs me more.

My love life will just have to wait.

By the time I head home from the city after a few more drinks with my cousins as well as stopping by Espionage , it’s almost dinner time.

As I park my car around the back of the house, I’m hit by a pang of guilt as I look at the side door that leads to my mother’s rooms. I haven’t been to see her all day and as eager as I am to check in on Nina and hear how her day went, I need to spend some time with my mother first.

The moment I walk into her living area, I know she’s had a bad day from the way she’s just staring at the TV even though it’s not on. Annie, her night nurse, comes straight over to greet me by the door.

“How is she?”

Annie grimaces.

“When I took over from Jen at four, she said she'd been very agitated all day. She could barely get her to eat or do much of anything. She hasn’t spoken a word to me in the two hours I’ve been here.” Annie glances over her shoulder at my mother. “She keeps asking for Nikolai.”

I grind my teeth at the mention of my brother.

“Thank you, Annie.” I force a smile. “Why don’t you go and take a break, and I’ll fix her some dinner.”

Annie nods and disappears into her room that adjoins my mother’s. She’s been her night nurse for almost a year and despite her only being in her early twenties, she’s extremely mature and reliable, and I’ve grown to trust her immensely. She has a very calming presence that I know is good for my mother.

“Hi, Mamulichka .” I come to sit beside her on the couch. “What do you fancy for dinner?’

She turns to look at me and frowns.

“Who are you? What are you doing in my house?”

“ Mamulichka , it’s me, Anton. Your son.”

She shakes her head again.

“Nikolai is my son.” She gets to her feet. “Nikolai is my son.”

The look of devastation on my mother’s face as she paces around the room, clearly confused and disorientated, has my heart feeling like it’s being cracked open.

I hate that Nikolai is the reason behind it.

“Why don’t I make us some pelmeni?” It’s a traditional Russian dish she always used to make for my brother and I all the time when we were kids, and I hope it can bring her some comfort.

Despite her worsening condition, her memory from before my father died is pretty much intact, though she’s starting to have episodes where she remembers almost nothing.

“No.”

Her gray hair is loose and all messy around her shoulders.

I can only imagine the fight Jen had to have with her just to get her dressed, let alone putting a brush through her hair.

My mother could be a stubborn woman before the Alzheimer’s, and now she’s even worse.

She shakes her head. “No.”

“Annie says you haven’t eaten all day.”

“Annie is a liar!” She picks up the potted plant off the coffee table, launching it across the room where it smashes against the wall.

I take a deep breath, not wanting to react to the outburst.

“I’m going to make us some dinner.” I walk into the kitchen area.

As I’m pulling ingredients for the dumplings out of the fridge, my mother’s footsteps approach. I keep my head down as I get to work slicing some mushrooms for the filling.

“Are you the chef?”

I turn to look at her over my shoulder and see no recognition in her eyes.

“Yes.” I try to ignore the growing pit in my stomach.

“This is a small restaurant.” She scoffs, eyeing the single table in the kitchen. “You mustn’t make much money.”

“I get by.”

“Hmm. Where is your menu?”

“It’s just pelmeni on the menu.”

“What if I don’t want that?”

“You will.”

She mutters in Russian under her breath, but she takes a seat at the table, nonetheless. She doesn’t speak as I prepare the food and when I set the bowl of dumplings in front of her, she wrinkles her nose.

I try not to feel disheartened; this just comes with the territory.

She’s going to have good days and bad days, and I need to make sure I’m there for her no matter what.

After polishing off my plate of food in silence, I wrap up my mother’s portion and set it in the fridge in case she changes her mind. As I’m finishing off the dishes, Annie appears to take my mother for her evening bath.

“Sleep well, Mamulichka .”

She ignores me completely as she walks out of the kitchen, and Annie offers me a sympathetic smile.

I nod at Annie. “Don’t hesitate to come and get me.”

“Of course. Have a good evening.”

Once I’ve finished tidying up the kitchen, I head through the door to the left of the fridge that leads into the lounge.

I hid the entrance behind one of the bookcases so any potential houseguests wouldn’t accidentally go wandering into my mother’s rooms and disturb her.

I try not to take it personally when my mother doesn’t acknowledge my existence. But it’s fucking tough when she demands to see my brother who hasn’t bothered to visit her in years.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need a medal of recognition or a pat on the back for taking care of her. Far from it. I’m happy that I’m in a position to help my mother. But it doesn’t stop it from hurting any less when she sees me as nothing more than a stranger.

My mood slightly brightens when I head into the kitchen and find Nina bent over in front of the oven, and I take a moment to admire her perfect ass in those leggings.

It’s exactly the sort of distraction I needed. Though I can’t help but picture what it was like to take her from behind, and the thoughts have my cock instantly hardening.

She sets the casserole dish on the stove top and turns around.

She cries out, holding a hand to her heart. “Oh Anton, you scared me.”

“Sorry.” I chuckle. “I was just admiring the view.”

She rolls her eyes.

“What’s all this?” I eye the kitchen table that’s been laid for dinner.

“I made dinner.” She grabs the bowl of salad off the counter, bringing it over to the table. “I hope that’s ok?”

“It’s more than ok.” I sit down at the table. “What are we having?”

“I made a vegetarian lasagna with homemade garlic bread.” A soft blush creeps up her neck.

She’s beautiful, sexy, has a smart-ass mouth, and can cook?

This girl is turning out to be the whole damn package.

Nina sets all the dishes on the table, and I get to work plating both of us up some food.

I fail to mention that I’ve already eaten, not wanting to hurt her feelings. Plus, the lasagna smells incredible, and it’s making me forget the dozen or so pelmeni I wolfed down barely thirty minutes ago.

I get to my feet. “Do you want some wine?”

Nina hesitates but then nods, and I grab one of the bottles of red from the small selection I keep in the kitchen and grab a couple of glasses from the cupboard.

“How did your exam go?” I pour us both a glass.

Nina looks at me with a puzzled expression.

I frown. “What?”

“You’re genuinely asking?”

“Yes, I want to know.”

Is she not used to people taking an interest in her?

The thought has my chest tightening.

She’s the most interesting woman I’ve ever met, and she deserves to feel important.

“Uh, well, it went well, I think.” She reaches for her wine. “There were a few moves in the middle where I almost lost my balance because someone barged in late halfway through and knocked my concentration.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah.” She scoffs. “But I managed to save it, so I think it’s fine.”

“And the rest of your day?”

“It was interesting…”

“How so?”

“Well, when a giant of a man is following you everywhere you go, people like to stare and ask questions.”

“Ah, so Yakov was the issue.”

“No, he was fine.” She sighs, pushing her food around her plate. “It just caused a lot of unwanted attention.”

“I bet. But hopefully, it won’t be for much longer.”

“Is there any update on those men that attacked me?” She looks hopeful.

I shake my head and a pang of guilt hits me as her smile fades.

“Not yet .” I take a sip of my wine.

“Oh…”

“It might be nothing more than a coincidence.”

“Maybe,” she mumbles.

“Just a classic case of wrong place, wrong time.” I try to make her feel a little more at ease, though I know better than to believe in coincidences, especially when you’re dealing with Igor Ivanov.