Page 35 of Sexting the Silverfox

“I must know where you are and to make sure that you are safe and happy. You were safe and happy in Chicago, so I didn’t see any reason for me to spoil that,” Anton replies, his eyes searching my face. “There’s something different about you.”

“Oh, you mean the daily terror I now carry after the Abramovic Bratva tried to kidnap me?” I shoot back, my brow furrowed with discontent.

“Audrey, I swear, we had no idea they found you,” he sighs deeply. “Had we known, rest assured, they never would’ve gotten close enough to lay a hand on you.”

“Does Papa know I’m here?”

He shakes his head. “I told you. No. Not yet anyway.”

“Not yet?”

“That depends on how you behave going forward,” Anton chuckles again, and it’s the snickering tone that gets to me every damn time. I never know what side of Anton I’m getting. Never. One minute, he’s the calm and protective brother, and then the next, he turns into this heartless sociopath who blackmails and manipulates people—Vitaly and me included—until his bidding is done. “We’re going to have to figure something out, little sister, because the Abramovic Bratva is not to be messed with.”

“Yeah, I know they’re not to be messed with,” I hiss. “They want to destroy our family. If I remember correctly, they’ve always had ambitions of moving and taking over New York.”

“That’s right, and Papa and Grandpapa before him have repeatedly stopped them.”

“If they get to me—”

“They won’t.”

“But if they do, they’ll use me to force Papa and the whole operation out of New York, won’t they?” I ask.

Anton thinks about it for a moment, quietly stirring his tea while I take a long sip of mine. I welcome the jasmine and honey flowing down my throat and filling my stomach. An assortment of macarons and jam biscuits is beautifully arranged on a porcelain plate between us, and I’m so hungry all of a sudden I could eat the whole table. My brother watches me with subtle amusement while I stuff my face and wash it all down with more tea.

“Or they’ll force him to give them a generous cut of his operations,” he finally says. “No, there’s something else that’s different about you. What is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply a little too quickly.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

Yeah, Jason said the same thing.

“Anton, what am I going to do? I can’t go back to New York.”

“I wouldn’t want you back there anyway. Piotr put a price on your head.”

“Wait, what?” I gasp, breaking into a sudden cold sweat.

“Ah, I know what it is. You’re in love,” Anton says, changing the subject quickly enough to throw me off my game. “I have seen that look before. Vitaly used to glow like that when he was shacking up with Serena.”

“Hold on, he’s not with Serena anymore?”

Anton lets another heavy sigh roll from his chest. “No. They called the wedding off not long after you left.”

“Why?”

“Serena wanted a life outside the Bratva. Vitaly is the Bratva. I guess you emboldened her, and since she never had any ties to any of the Russian families, it was easier for her to just return the ring and call the wedding off.”

“What did our father say?”

Anton laughs lightly, eyes twinkling as he remembers what I assume was a funny scene, at least funny to him. “Oh, he was pissed off and then some. I told Serena to move out of the city for a while. Her family had properties in Chappaqua, so she took a job there.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yes. I think she’ll move back to New York at some point. Vitaly keeps better track of her.”

“All right, so Piotr put a price on my head,” I say, determined to better understand the kind of mess I’ve unknowingly gotten myself into. My brother nods once. “Why? It’s not like we announced an engagement or anything.”

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