“They go to lunch every week.”
Elijah and Roma remain unimpressed.
“I told you it was a stupid idea at the time,” my twin reminds, stabbing his eggs.
“Did you ever think maybe mother dearest, loves to keep her enemies close,” Elijah says.
“She’s not an enemy,” I defend my wife. Russet’s right.She paid Daisy’s debt but what did she get in return? She’s now attached to a bat shit crazy family.
Elijah tsks. “Mother and daughter-in-law relationships are hard.”
My fork clatters to the plate. “This family drives me insane.”
The moment I married Russet, I agreed to protect her. I didn’t realize that’d be from my own mother.
No wonder she hates me.
I came up with the weekly lunch date idea. She only went along with it because I suggested it. She didn’t feel like she could say no.
Maybe she thought she was protecting you from the truth about your mother.
Horror slices deep.
“Why did Dad even marry her?”
I sound like Elijah, but he has the grace not to gloat. He ducks his chin, almost like he’s pained to see me finally question my mom.
Roma pushes his eggs around his plate. It’s Uncle Dima, still eating, who explains.
“Because he wanted Elijah to have siblings.” Using his knife, Dima pushes eggs onto his fork, calmly taking a bite. “He wanted your brother to have someone. Like how Lev and I have each other. I think it’s safe to say you all know your father well enough to know he’s a business man. Not only did he need a wife, he had the opportunity to strengthen the business. So he agreed to the marriage with Yelena.”
She grew up in Russia, the daughter of a high-profile businessman. I’ve never met my maternal grandfather, but his name is respected as much as any of the Zimin’s.
“Good lord,” Elijah says under his breath. “He could have just fucking adopted.”
Except that’s not our father. A prestigious match to strengthenhispower. Of course, he took it.
“How the fuck did he do it, though?” Roma asks, confusion marring his face. “Put up with her?”
Our mother wasn’t awful to us, but we didn’t grow up under the illusion that he loved her like he did Elijah’s mom. Any cracks they had, they hid from us. Or tried to.
Dima shoots me a look. “Well for starters they actually talked to one another. And. . .” He sighs. “For what it’s worth they always agreed on one thing. The children come first.”
Elijah opens his mouth.
Dima cuts him off. “Including you, dickhead. You think she never wanted to fuck with you, considering all the crap you threw her way? Nah, you’re lucky she didn’t slap the shit out of you.”
“She shouldn’t be slapping the shit out of anyone.” Roma frowns.
But she did slap someone. My wife.
“It’ll just be a moment, sweetheart.” I kiss the back of Russ’s hand.
The skin between her brows knits together. It’s been that way since I arrived. And she keeps chewing her bottom lip, confused by my appearance.
I raced from Dad’s house back to our penthouse. Having just missed her I threw on some proper clothes, made sure Elijah didn’t mar my face anywhere, and hurried to the restaurant.
Sadness clings to Russet, but her face lit up in surprise. I let myself hope she wanted me to be there.
