Satin Princess(84)

I'm so embarrassed I can barely look at Lev. My cheeks are flaming hot.

“Sorry to interrupt, Anton. But we’re all set.”

“Actually, there’s been a change of plan, Lev,” Anton says, jumping straight to it.

“Oh?”

“Yulian will accompany me to the meeting with Yaromir,” he says. “You’re going with Jessa to see Chris.”

Lev frowns. “Now?”

“Yes. She’ll need security and I don’t trust anyone else. Take the men, too, but I want you with her at all times.”

If he’s disappointed, he hides it well. “If that’s what you want, then of course.”

“Thank you.”

“But… just you and Yulian?” Lev says. “Do you want me to add one more guy to round out your party?”

Anton shakes his head. “Not necessary. Yulian and I can handle this.”

“I mean, Lev doesn’t have to come with me," I say. "I can just go—"

“You are not fucking going by yourself,” Anton growls at me.

I hold up my hands. “I just don’t want to mess up your plans.”

“They’re not messed up,” he tells me. “This meeting is going to go off without a hitch. Trust me.”

I glance at Lev. “You don’t mind, Lev?”

“Of course not. I'll do what I’m ordered to.”

“That doesn’t exactly reassure me.”

Anton looks at me with a frown. “You need to stop caring so much about what other people think and feel.”

“That’s never gonna happen.”

“Jesus,” Anton mutters as he turns towards the door. “And Lev, if—"

“I know,” he says before Anton can even finish his sentence. “If anything happens to her, I’m a dead man.”

Anton smiles. “Exactly. Jessa… you’ve got an hour with Chris. And then you come right back home. Got it?”

Home. It leaves me with a warm feeling in my gut. Enough to drown out the annoyance at his bossy tone.

“Yes, sir,” I say, throwing him a mock salute.

He shoots me a glare and disappears. When he’s gone, Lev turns to me with a barely visible smirk. “I’m surprised he agreed to this at all.”

“I know this must seem stupid to you both, but I can’t put off talking to Chris any longer," I say.

“I don’t think any of this is stupid. I do think it can wait. But I’m not best friends with the man.”

I give him a shaky smile. “Thanks, Lev. Shall we get going then?”

He nods and leads me out to the driveway. We walk out just in time to see Anton’s vehicle drive through the gates. It’s a massive black jeep with tinted windows and huge tires. The car that Lev picks is much more understated, but it’s practical and sturdy.

Once Lev signals for the security team to follow behind us and we head off, I turn to him. “You knew Marina, right?”

He nods. “Unfortunately.”

“So safe to say there was no love lost between the two of you?”

“My loyalty has always been to Anton. Marina was chaos in the order he built.”

“What was she like when you knew her?”

“Stubborn, impetuous, vindictive. She had an ego on her that made his look like peanuts. She was beautiful and she knew it. She was also much smarter than anyone gave her credit for.” He sighs, like just the thought of her is exhausting. “I think she wanted everyone to know what she could do. She tried to be the don. But there can only be one don.”

“Anton told me that their fathers basically arranged the marriage between them," I say.

“That’s exactly what happened.”

“Did you think it was a good idea?”

“At the time?” he asks thoughtfully. “I was thinking only of the political aspect of it. It seemed like a decent move. A way to tie two powerful Bratvas together. But of course, my knowledge of Marina was limited. I saw only a beautiful woman who’d been groomed for this life. I thought they’d make a good match.”

“Groomed for this life,” I murmur. No one would ever accuse me of that. “Do you think that’s necessary? Being groomed from birth, I mean.”

“I think it can help,” he says, not unkindly. “I think it definitely helps you understand the rules and know what to expect, what not to expect. But it’s not necessary, strictly speaking.”

I nod. “Anton told me that if our child had no interest in being part of the Bratva, he wouldn’t put pressure on him.”

“He told you that?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s true," Lev says with conviction. "Anton wouldn’t lie about something like that. In any case, he knows what it’s like to be forced into things. He wouldn’t do that to his own child.”

“What was he forced into?”

“Marriage, for one,” Lev says. “I don’t think getting married has ever been something he wanted to do. He married Marina for the Bratva, and we all know how that turned out.”

I stare out my window, lost in thought. “Were they ever happy?” I ask finally.

“I can’t say that I know for sure. The first few months of their marriage were the most stable. But after that, shit hit the fan.”