Velvet Devil: A Russian Mafia Romance (45)

“You mean she’s live bait,” Mama corrects.

I ignore that. “Once I’ve got Maxim out of the way, then Camila will go back to her life.”

“I have one question,” Mama says.

“Just one?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Why did you marry her? Using her to lure Maxim in would have been just as effective without signing on the dotted line.”

“It needed to be believable,” I reply coolly.

“And,” Bogdan adds, “he wanted to piss Maxim off.”

Mama sighs, looking out towards the gardens. She does that a lot. Falls into thought mid-conversation. It’s as if she’s being dragged back into the past. But I know for a fact that she’s escaped most of her demons relatively intact. My father being the meanest of the lot, of course.

“Isaak, is this a wise plan?” Mama asks, turning back to me.

“I thought you only had one question.”

“Don’t be smart. I’m only asking if you’ve thought this through.”

I grimace. Looking at her now, I can still see the woman in those wedding portraits that used to hang in the mansion Bogdan and I grew up in. The wrinkles are deeper. Her hair is grayer. Her eyes are far more tired.

But beneath all that is the same fiery woman, fueled by a determination to prove herself worthy.

My father never saw her as such. So somewhere along the road, she’d given up trying to earn his approval. She’d found comfort in her work. In Bogdan and me.

I thought that had been enough for her.

But when I see her now, I wonder if it I was right about that. I wonder if, in growing up, I’d failed to take into account that my mother was more than just… my mother.

If she was a person in her own right.

“You know,” she says when I don’t answer for a while, “it makes me so happy to see you boys like this. This is what Yakov and Vitaly should have been.”

“They got along fine,” I snap.

She sighs. “You were a child when Yakov died. Too young to remember your uncle and certainly too young to remember what his relationship with your father was like.”

“Then tell us.”

“Your father was the more capable leader—”

“Clearly,” Bogdan scoffs.

Mama continues as though no one has interrupted. “But he was overly ambitious. Overly greedy. Overly cruel.”

“He was the Krestnyy Otets,” I say, defending him out of instinct and obligation. “He had to be all those things.”

“You two have only ever known your father as don. But he was not the Krestnyy Otets back then. He was supposed to support Yakov, guide him, advise him… but always, always follow him. That last part, he didn’t do so well. He pushed and challenged and fought when it was not his place to do so.”

“Because Yakov was breaking the Bratva down for parts!” Bogdan exclaims.

Mama nods. “And that was your uncle’s fatal mistake. He saw your father’s ambitions as ugly. He wanted a simpler life. And because of that, he gave his enemies the means to attack him. They were both proud, stubborn men. And they both died for it.”

“Do you ever miss him?” Bogdan asks into the silence.

The question lingers there for a moment in search of an answer.

“Of course I miss him,” Mama replies. “Of course I do.”

Bogdan and I exchange a glance. Sometimes, it’s hard to know where Mama’s thoughts are. It’s harder still to pull her out of them.

I thought she’d have freedom once our father was gone. But apparently she’s trapped by her own past. Her own regrets.

She shakes her head as if to clear unwelcome thoughts and turns her gaze on me again. “Isaak, do you have feelings for the girl?”

If I lie, she’ll know. They both will.

“She… fascinates me,” I admit. “I thought that conversation we had six years ago was a fluke. But we’ve talked since I brought her back here. She still fascinates me.”

“I’ve never heard you say that about any woman before,” Mama points out.

“It doesn’t mean anything. I’m just curious about her. Especially because of how involved she was with Maxim. She was a part of his life for a year and a half.”

“And has she told you anything useful?”

“Nothing yet.”

“What makes you think she has anything worthwhile to give you?” Bogdan asks, sitting on my desk and hiking one leg up.

“I guess I’ll find out. One thing I know for sure: Maxim took a lot of trouble to locate Camila. Then he wooed her aggressively. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Which means he’s not going to just surrender her to me without a fight.”

“You’re anticipating an attack?” Mama asks.

“Most definitely.”

She takes a deep breath. “I haven’t seen Maxim in years. He was a sweet boy, you know.”

“Stop getting sentimental on us now, Mama,” Bogdan groans. “He betrayed us all by killing Papa. He has to pay for that.”

She looks down. I can’t help noticing how small she looks all of a sudden. So fragile.

“I’m going to take a room on the second floor,” she tells both of us.