Chapter 25 - Lev

My brother and I pulled into the swanky neighborhood and stopped in front of one of the gated houses. Both of us peered past the wrought iron bars, up the brick drive, and took in the stately, pillared house.

"Pretty nice for a mere councilman," Max said. "Family money?"

I snickered. "If he had family money to back him, he wouldn't have stagnated in his career. I think he's been taking kickbacks for some time, though, even before we arrived on the scene."

"I take it we haven't been invited around for afternoon tea?" he asked.

I picked up my brother to take him to the airport earlier, but decided I could use his help for this little detour. "He just needs to be reminded where his loyalties lay, in case he's thinking of choosing the wrong side."

I rolled down my window and reached out, pressing the call button on the gate until Hardy himself answered. It was an older model system, with no camera, and his tone shifted rapidly when he heard who it was.

The gate slowly slid open, and I pulled through. Before I had the emergency brake locked on the sloping drive, Hardy scurried onto his long front porch, wrapping his comically oversized cardigan around himself. He always managed to put on a certain amount of bluster when he wore his suits around town, and he had the minimum amount of charisma that all politicians needed to trick people into liking them. In his own front yard he looked much smaller, older, and his ruddy face was tight with worry.

"My goodness," he said, forcing a cheerful tone. "I'd invite you in, but my wife is in her gardening clothes, and she'd never forgive me."

I grabbed the bakery bag I picked up on our way over here and slid out of the car, not returning his false smile. Max got out and stood next to the car with his arms crossed, his eyes drilling holes into the sweating councilman.

"I wouldn't dream of putting you on the wrong side of your wife," I said, thrusting the bag at him. He clutched it automatically, his eyes widening with fear, as if I'd given him a bag of snakes. I laughed. "Open it."

Swallowing convulsively, Hardy unfolded the top of the bag, his fingers shaking with every crinkle of the paper. He visibly relaxed when he saw what it was, then looked up at me with confusion.

"Bread rolls?" he asked.

I could almost feel Max rolling his eyes behind me, but I was pretty pleased with my little joke. "And fresh butter," I said. "To remind you…"

Hardy groaned. "Mr. Volkov, there's no need for this. You've come to my house uninvited to remind me which side my bread is buttered on?"

"I thought it was clever," I said with a shrug. "And friendly." I raised a brow to let him understand that my friendliness could run out at any given moment. He was skating on thin ice with me. "If another Russian organization is telling you they're aligned with me, they're lying to you and putting you in danger."

This was cryptic enough not to give him unnecessary information, but if he showed any signs of understanding, I'd know he was colluding with the people who had started messing with my bars. The man Max interrogated was Russian and had admitted to acting under orders, but he didn't know who was at the top, only accepting money for a job. It wasn't much to go on, and anyone could be at the helm. I was throwing out crumbs without a line in the vain hope to catch a fish if Hardy thought I knew more than I did.

He blinked several times, looking sincerely confused. Of course, politicians were as good as actors, but he assured me he had no idea what I was talking about. He didn't slip up at all, and once again reiterated that he was under a lot of stress with the reelection campaign and missing my emails was an oversight.

Max had to get to the airport for his flight, so I nodded brusquely and left him standing there, clutching his cardigan in one hand and my gift in the other.

"What do you think?" Max asked. "Is he telling the truth?"

"Impossible to know for sure, but he's rattled enough not to step out of line again too quickly. If he ever stepped out in the first place."

"Why don't we just get rid of him?" Max rolled his neck casually as he said this, as if he were wondering what cocktail to have his personal flight attendant serve him on the plane.

I realized this suggestion wouldn't have fazed me a few weeks ago, but now I balked at it. There was no substantial evidence that Hardy had done anything to betray us, and Jenna admired the man, or at least his facade of good deeds. She wouldn't like it if he met up with an unfortunate accident. Was she making me soft?

"If he doesn't shape up, I'll just make sure he doesn't win the next election," I said. "I've got plenty of dirt on him. No need to make a mess for ourselves."

Max turned to me with a furrowed brow. "He's probably got dirt on you as well."

I only laughed it off. If push came to shove, our family had way more power than piddling Councilman Hardy.

"Really, I don't mind staying if you need a hand," he said as we neared the airport.

I pulled into the private airfield where his jet was waiting. He was always showy that way, wanting the best of everything, and impatient when it came to waiting for others. It was a generous offer to stay and help out up here when he had his wildly popular diner to run in Hollywood, and Aleks always ran him ragged.

"I think we have him properly intimidated into staying quiet," I said, clapping him on the shoulder. "You remember to keep your own mouth shut about Jenna and me, too."

Max groaned, probably wishing he wasn't saddled with such a big secret. Like all of us siblings, we adored Katie and thought she was the best thing to happen to our eldest brother. It was going to be rough on him to keep something like that from her.

"Why did you have to pick that particular girl to play around with?" he asked.

My sympathy for him evaporated, and I had to hold back from knocking him out. I gripped his shoulder hard enough to make him wince in pain.

"I'm not playing around," I said. "What we have is real. And forever. Got that?"

He shrugged out of my grip and rubbed his shoulder, scowling at me. "Well, your forever isn't going to be long because once Aleks finds out, he's going to put you in an early grave."

We both laughed, the tension easing. He was right that Aleks would at least try, but I was ready to fight for Jenna.

"Hey, Dima's still going to Moscow this week, right?" I asked, referring to our younger brother Dimitry.

Our mother had relented to letting one of us visit now that our father was out of the hospital. He still wasn't one hundred percent yet and didn't want anyone clucking around him. Dima was calm and peaceful compared to the rest of us, and could keep Papa in a good mood.

"Yeah, and Mila's going too. She figures once Mama sees her, she won't be pissed, and we all know how Papa still treats her like a baby, so he'll be thrilled even if she can't keep from worrying about every move he makes being too strenuous."

"Listen, why don't you tell them I'm in a relationship, but that's all you really know. Then Papa will have something to smile about, since the rest of you are so determined to stay single."

Despite wanting to knock his head off a few minutes earlier, I got out to give him a brotherly embrace, waving as he headed toward his plane. His pilot paced, eager to get the wheels off the ground. I loved it up here in San Francisco, where I could be in charge of my new domain, but I sometimes missed the big, raucous family gatherings.

The secrecy had to end eventually, but there was no reason to spring it on Katie when she was at the end of her pregnancy and risk her getting too upset. I could stand to go a little longer, keeping Jenna all to myself, and the prospect of the beating I was going to get was one I was glad to put off indefinitely.

Even missing my family and having to say goodbye to Max, I was in a great mood as I drove home. Jenna wasn't just some girl I was trifling with; she was my whole world. We were about to start a new chapter, with the house being fast-tracked to move into as soon as possible. The prospect of living there with Jenna, watching her confidence in us grow as she made the place the home of her dreams, filled me with something I couldn't name. A mix of contentment, excitement, and pure joy.

I wanted us to celebrate, but when I entered the apartment, she sat at her spot at the dining table, gazing out the window. Her brow was furrowed, and she gnawed absently at her lower lip. Her open book and her tablet lay in front of her, but she clearly hadn't been studying for some time. She only looked up when I noisily set my phone on a side table in the hall.

Her shoulders jerked, and she swiveled around. "Oh, I didn't hear you come in," she said. As much as she tried to arrange her face into a welcoming smile, her eyes were heavy with worry. She waved at the book she'd been ignoring. "I'm still behind. I don't know if I'll ever get caught up."

I had burst in wanting to whisk her away to somewhere fun for the evening, but she was so on edge I only went into the kitchen to boil water for her favorite tea. She had a cup already, but it was down to the dregs, the mug left as ignored as whatever subject she was trying to catch up on.

It would have been easier if she let me take care of her completely, forgot about school, or at least stopped trying so hard to always excel and get ahead. But that wasn't Jenna, and I only wanted her to be happy, even if her current misery was the way to get her there.

"How about you take the rest of the week off from assistant duties and get caught up," I said.

Did she look disappointed? Like she'd miss me? It wasn't like I couldn't also work from home. I placed the fresh mug of tea beside her and smoothed her hair, dropping a kiss on top of her head. As much as I longed to drag her into my arms and kiss her senseless, make her forget everything but me, I held back.

Like I'd told Max, Jenna and I were forever. There'd be plenty of time for celebrations after we moved into the new house and really settled down.