“So you drove her home, too?” Kaz’s eyes light up as though he’s five years old again and has just been told he’s spending the afternoon in the candy store.
“Stop it.” I grab my empty glass to get a refill.
“You did drive her home.” Kaz chuckles. “What happened to your no fucking the employees rule.”
“I didn’t fuck her.” But I wanted to. There was nothing I wanted more last night than to take her into her bedroom and make her scream for me.
“And the employee part?” He presses.
“We were talking about Vasily, not my sex life.”
“Or lack of one,” Kaz says into his glass as he tips it back for a sip.
“Not all of us want a rotating door in our bedroom.” The man has never spent more than one night with a woman in his life.
Even in high school he had a line of girls trailing behind him. He’s at least honest about his preferences. None of the women who fall into his bed are under the delusion it’s anything other than what they see on the surface.
“Still, you’re always giving Kaz shit about dating the staff.” Alexander joins in the fun to poke my temper.
“If we’re done with the Vasily question, there’s a charity event tomorrow night that one of us needs to attend.” I grab the invitation from my desk and show it to them.
“What’s it for?” Kaz leans forward to read the embossed lettering.
“The children’s hospital is raising money for a new radiology wing or something like that. They need money to get more equipment.” I hand the invite to Kaz, who skims the details and passes it off to Alexander. “It’s good to put a positive public face right now while the fight with Marco is somewhat quiet.”
We’ve made it a goal to keep our family with one foot in the realm of legitimate enterprise and one foot planted in the dark underbelly of the criminal world. Keeping politicians under our thumbs with bribes and holding dirt over their heads only goes so far. Having our hands in every cookie jar makes our empire more stable.
“I’m busy.” Kaz pulls out his phone as a text comes through.
“Oh? What are you doing?”
“I’m taking our sister to visit her mother’s grave. It’s the anniversary.” He frowns.
“I forgot.” I rub the back of my neck. “We should all go.”
“Let me just take her. I want to find out what the hell is going on with school, too. She’s been saying she’s doing shit online, but I never see her with her computer. And I know her classes didn’t all just magically shift to online.”
“Good. I wondered too, but when I bring it up, she changes the subject or just leaves the room.” Alexander frowns. “You think she’s dating someone? I heard Mira asking her about a guy, but Elana saw me in the doorway and never answered.”
“You didn’t demand an answer?” Kaz laughs.
“From our sister?” Alexander’s jaw tightens. “You know her; if she’s not ready to talk, she’s not going to.”
“If she’s seeing someone, we need to know.” I point out. “I know she likes to think she has all the freedom because she’s our half-sister, but she’s in just as much danger now as anyone. She’s still a Volkov.”
“She lets Artem drive her; that’s the best we can do right now. When we brought her to live with us, we promised she wouldn’t be locked away. If you start putting a group of armed guards on her, she’s going to get pissed. Artem can keep her safe. If things get more intense, we’ll talk to her about letting another guard be with her too,” Alexander says.
“Fine.” I check my own calendar, then send a message for Vivienne to come up to my office. “I’ll take the children’s hospital thing tomorrow.”
“Are you going to bring a date?” Kaz gets up from his chair. “You know, maybe someone blonde, has a cute little freckle just above her eye.”
He taps the exact spot on his own forehead where Vivienne’s freckle resides. My insides shake.
“Stop looking at her.” I order my younger brother. And just like all the other times I’ve told him what to do, he laughs.
“Stop looking at her? How can I give her a drink order if I can’t look at her?” He laughs.
Alexander steps between us. “That was Rurik on the phone.”
