Champagne Venom (Orlov Bratva, #1)(125)

My mother opens her mouth to respond, but before she can, another voice joins the fray. “Oh, wow.

I’ll be damned.” Niki steps into the sitting room with us, amusement plastered on her face. “The prodigal son returneth. What a fucking day, huh, Mom? Has hell frozen over? Are pigs flying overhead like 747s?”

I glare at my sister, whose lips twinge with a wry smirk. “Where is my wife?”

“Your wife is sleeping, and she will not be disturbed on my watch,” Mother says icily. “She was exhausted, Misha. She told me that you both found out only a day ago that you are having twins. Right after she almost died from exposure to a bouquet of flowers that was apparently sent by me.”

“I already know you didn’t send them. It was Pet—”

“Don’t so much as utter that man’s name in this house,” she hisses. Then she sighs and composes herself again. “That girl is pregnant with your children, and yet you treat her this way?”

“I bet she didn’t even tell you what happened, did she? Of course not. She spun you a sob story, knowing you’d bend over backwards to help her. The truth is more complicated than—”

“To be frank, I’m not interested in your side of things right now,” she interrupts. “If you want a chance to speak your piece, you can come to family dinner this week. Then maybe I’ll make the time to hear your perspective. Until then… you can get the fuck out of my house.”

With that said, she marches out of the room, head held tall, bristling with a dramatic flair I didn’t even know she possessed.

Nikita watches her go with her hands crossed over her chest. She leans against the doorway, turning back to me with the same infuriating smile. “My goodness. Someone is in trooouble.”

“You’re the one who advised me to be careful,” I snarl. “You warned me that Paige might have an

ulterior motive.”

She shrugs. “That was before I got to know her. She’s sweet.”

“So is poison. But sweet doesn’t get you far when you’re also a fucking liar. She betrayed all of us for Petyr Ivanov. Does that strike you as ‘sweet,’ Niki? Does that come across as trustworthy.”

That gets her attention. “You’re serious.”

“I wouldn’t joke about this.”

Niki watches me for a moment and sighs. “She denies it.”

“I thought she didn’t tell you the whole story?”

“She didn’t. Or, she couldn’t,” my sister explains. “But she kept repeating one thing over and over again through her sobs. She kept saying ‘He accused me, he accused me… and it’s not true. It’s not true.’”

“That’s as much a lie as the rest of it.”

One skeptical eyebrow arches high on Niki’s forehead. “You’re sure? How sure? Willing to bet your life on it?”

“A thousand times over.”

“What about your marriage?”

I close my fist, desperate for something to sink my knuckles into. I want to feel the pain radiate through my arm, vibrate in my shoulder, shake every bone and every cell. I want to release all of this pent-up emotion in a wave of brutal violence.

But right now, I only have myself to break.

So instead, I dig my fingernails in my palm until I draw blood. “You don’t even know the whole story and you’re taking her side over mine.”

Nikita shrugs. “It’s not really about sides, is it? I mean, we’re all family now. You saw to that when you married her.” Her voice softens, melts into something almost tender. “She’s pregnant, Misha. With twins.”

“They may not even be mine,” I snarl, despite the fact that I promised myself I wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone until I knew the truth with certainty.

“Um—what?”

“I’m getting a paternity test done. I’ll know for sure in a few days.”

Nikita blows out a breath and shakes her head. “Well, until you know for sure, she’s still your wife.

And those babies are yours.”

“She’s talented to have hoodwinked all of you so completely.”

She rolls her eyes. “Just because we don’t see things your way doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way to see things, Misha. You may be the don, but you’re not infallible.”

I snort. “Believe me, I know.”

“Do you know that Mom sets your place at the table every single night for dinner? Just in case you decide to drop in unexpectedly. Like you used to do… before.”

I have enough to feel guilty about. I don’t know this trivial shit on top of everything. This isn’t why I came here.

“I’m—”

“Save it, Misha. We’ve heard all the excuses already. How about we try a little honesty for a change?”

I stiffen, but say nothing. Nikita takes that as license to charge ahead.

“Ever since Maksim died, you’ve done your level best to purge yourself of every human emotion and live your life as an island. Which is why, every time you start to feel something for someone, you push them away. That’s what you’re doing to Paige right now.”

I glare at her coldly. “Spent a lot of time psychoanalyzing me, have you, sis? Do you, Mom, and Cyrille sit around and gossip about every fucking thing I’ve done wrong?”