The Player (The Game Maker #3)(78)

He shot to his feet, exasperated. “I have other secrets. My family has mafiya ties.”

Come again? “You’re saying your family operates outside the law?”

“After Kovalev’s death, Aleks took over the man’s position as a vor, a very powerful man in the mafiya.”

Dr. Nat’s father had been involved in organized crime? Aleks presently was? “What does he run?” Guns, drugs, girls? All of the above?

“Nothing. He is a former enforcer who is paid for protection. Maksim had political connections to the mafiya as well.”

Unbelievable. “And you?”

“I have drawn on Aleks’s power and influence.”

“To help you with those crucial business dealings,” I said. “What were they?”

Dmitri seemed to be taking my measure. “You’ll get no more secrets out of me, not until you start sharing your own.”

How could our investigation of the Sevastyans fail to turn up even a whisper of this? “Wouldn’t there be something online?”

“I’ve kept a tight rein on that information. Over the last year, I’ve used a great deal of money and skill to bury our backgrounds.”

I frowned. “Why did you tell me these things now?”

“Because I want you to understand I’m not perfect. And that I trust you, even with my family’s secrets. Perhaps now you’ll see I can be as accepting as you are, far more so than you seem to think.”

Dmitri and his family operated outside the law. Could he really raise a brow at one or two or thirty grifters?

For the first time in weeks, hope filled me. Dmitri had risked his life to save Maksim, just as Maksim had for him. Then they’d done whatever it had taken to survive. If I explained how desperate I’d been to protect my parents, surely Dmitri could forgive me.

If he loved me . . .

He’d told me his history; he deserved mine. I would confess everything, betting the pot with this man, but only after he comprehended my motivation—for targeting him. “Dmitri, you know I would do anything for my family.”

He sat beside me. “Of course.”

“I believe you’ll like them very much. Do you want to go to Vegas for a few days and see what they’re like? We could fly out on Friday.” Giving them a couple of days to prepare.

Please, please Lady Luck, let him forgive me.

The look in his eyes . . . maybe it would be enough. “Yes, Vika.” His voice was hoarse. “I would like that very much.”





CHAPTER 35

“I don’t want to let you out of my sight,” Dmitri said, his hands covering my shoulders.

I smoothed my palms over his crisp button-down. “I’ll be fine for an hour, big guy.” I still couldn’t believe I was staying in the Caly penthouse for a week. When we’d arrived a short while ago, other employees had bugged at the sight of me wearing a couture slipdress and diamonds, on the arm of a man like Dmitri, with Starsky and Hutch hovering around to “buffer irritations.”

“I would skip work”—Dmitri had already set up his computer and things in the study—“but I have a couple of business calls I need to make.”

He hadn’t gotten in his hour this morning before we’d been due to leave, which was my fault. I’d caught him vacillating over which ties to pack and said, “You never give this much thought to your clothes.”

With his brows drawn, he’d held up his options. “Making a good impression on your family is very important to me, love.”

Yep, I’d jumped him, ties flying.

Now I said, “I need to call in our catering order for later anyway.” I planned to bring my pack to visit in shifts, starting things slow. All of them together would be overwhelming for anyone, but especially for Dmitri. I’d invited just Karin and Benji over tonight, for wine and dinner on the terrace.

I couldn’t wait to see my family, had missed them so much. And I needed to talk to my sister face to face and ask for her advice. . . .

Dmitri pressed a kiss to my head, then drew back to gaze down at me. “I’m looking forward to meeting everyone.”

“I kinda figured.” Ever since I’d broached his meeting them, he’d been keyed up. “Just like I’m looking forward to seeing your family soon.”

“They are on my list to call now.” His answer didn’t sound that promising.

I adjusted the strap of my royal-blue dress. “Am I the source of the rift between you and Maksim?”

He curled his finger under my chin. “Every single person in my family believes you are wonderful for me—and that you are the only one for me. If anything, they’re worried I will bungle things with you.”

Then why wouldn’t he tell me what the fight had been about? “They don’t see me as a gold-digger?”

“Not at all. They know I insisted on that postnup. You can walk away at any time with half of our fortune, and yet”—he grinned—“you keep wearing my ring and waking me up with blow jobs.”

I arched a brow. “Fine, husband. Go forth.” I pushed at his chest. “Work. Provide. I’ll see you in an hour.”

At the study door, he hesitated. “Vika, everything will turn out well. I will make sure of it.”