Prior to his accident, Pumpkin had been working with Yelizaveta to improve her English. In the past ten months since her husband’s death, Yelizaveta had really come out of her shell and Pumpkin loved watching her shine. It was like watching a rare flower bloom.
Pumpkin just wished the club could kill Billy Merrick again. The man had planted a bomb outside the clubhouse last January. If it hadn’t been for Bones forgetting his phone in his cage and spotting the device, who knows what might have happened. And even though the bomb turned out to be a dud due to Merrick’s incompetence, it still shook Pumpkin knowing that the man’s intent had been to blow up the building where Pumpkin’s son slept.
All because the man was pissed off that Yelizaveta had dared to take a job of her own. Some of the brothers thought there was a possibility Merrick had believed there was something sexual going on between Pumpkin and Yelizaveta. Not only did he speak her language, but Pumpkin had offered her a ride home a few times and it had beenhiscage the bomb had been discovered by. Whether that drove the man’s motives or not, it was a lie. Pumpkin had never looked at Yelizaveta as anything more than a friend, and he knew she felt the same. For her, their friendship had sparked due to finally finding someone who spoke her native language. Despite that Merrick forbade her from speaking Russian at home, the fucking prick had never helped her improve her English.
Yelizaveta smiled widely at seeing Pumpkin. He felt no guilt knowing the club had executed and faked her husband’s death whenever he saw that smile. The man’s idiocy, and potential jealousy, had ultimately freed his wife from a loveless marriage. Their son, Carter, seemed to be thriving too. The few times Pumpkin had seen Carter, he’d seemed more relaxed. Or as relaxed as a teenager with autism could be.
“You look like you’re on the verge of passing out,” she said in Russian. She had a laundry basket on her hip.
One of the perks of living in the clubhouse apartments was having a housekeeper. When the Honeys were the club’s housekeeping and cooking staff, things were somewhat done. Pumpkin could attest to the fact that the Honeys would time their appearances in the brothers’ apartments based on when they knew they’d be in…and thennowork was getting done.
Not only had Yelizaveta been married at the time she’d been hired but Steel had threatened to cut the balls off any brother who touched her. That threat also extended to Frankie. Turns out, when you remove sex from the job description, one housekeeper could do the job six had been being paid for.
“I am not,” he snipped back without ire.
Yelizaveta shook her head, clearly not believing him. “Then you can help me fold the sheets.”
Pumpkin suppressed a groan. The couch and his nap seemed to be getting further away from him.
When he nodded, Yelizaveta snapped her fingers. “Sit!” she ordered. “You’re too big for me to help if you fall over.”
Chuckling, Pumpkin did as he was told. A year ago, she would haveneverspoken to him like that. Pride welled up inside him as his ass hit the second stair. His long legs were stretched out straight in front of him.
Yelizaveta handed him the end of one bedsheet. “I miss having you and SJ in the clubhouse.”
“You’re always welcome at my home,” he told her, not for the first time. Together they folded the sheet in half.
“I hear you’ve been seeing someone.” Finished with that sheet, Yelizaveta placed it on Pumpkin’s lap and got out another one.
Pumpkin raised an eyebrow. “Where did you hear that?”
“I listen.” She gave him a wicked smile that took ten years off her face. Having an asshole for a husband had a way of aging a woman. “Speech is difficult, but my ears are wide open around this place.”
Hm. Pumpkin wondered if the brothers spoke around Yelizaveta, thinking she couldn’t understand them when she could. “Those ears are going to get you into trouble.”
“Are you saying youaren’tseeing someone?” she challenged.
“Not at all.” By this afternoon, the club would know about Dosia anyway. Plus, it wasn’t like Yelizaveta was going to post it on social media and ruin the surprise.
As they worked on the rest of the sheets, Pumpkin told her all about Dosia and JJ. Yelizaveta hadn’t known how Pumpkin had gotten his road name, so he also filled her in on that. She laughed so hard that tears streamed down her cheeks.
After they finished the laundry, Yelizaveta placed everything back in the basket and then sat on the stairs next to him. Though she was on the third step, she was still shorter than him.
“I wondered why your room was always so full of pumpkins. I thought you loved them.”
Pumpkin snorted. “Hardly. I just can’t seem to escape them.”
“I love autumn in the US. Back home, we were far enough north that we had a small summer season and thensnow. But here,” she took in a deep breath. “It’s so beautiful.”
Born and raised in Cleveland, Pumpkin could understand the desire for four full seasons. “What’s your favorite part about autumn? As much as the pumpkin décor annoys me, I do love to watch the leaves change color this time of year.”
Yelizaveta nodded. “I do too, but my favorite is short sleeves!” She lifted her arms as if in demonstration. “I can finally wear them.”
Pumpkin frowned. He supposed growing up in northern Russia, Yelizaveta would have a different definition of ‘cold weather’. It wasn’t like she was in shorts, flip flops, and a tank. But the way she said ‘finally’, it raised some red flags for him.
He thought back to last year when Yelizaveta had started working for them. He didn’t exactly pay attention to women’s clothing, but he also couldn’t specifically recall a time when he remembered her wearing short sleeves like she was now. This past summer, he’d been in the hospital and then rehab, and she’d only visited a few times.
“What do you mean?” he asked her.
