Page 14 of Unwilling Bratva Bride

“I have some news. Good news, actually.” Adley looked between her mother, who stared at me, and the hallway at my back. “This is Mr. Ustinov. I think we should get them, though.”

Her mother nodded, eyeing me hard before she looked back at Adley. “All right, hun. Go ahead. I’ll wait with our guest.”

Adley passed me quickly as she went down the hallway, which offered three doors. She went to the farthest end first, opening the door and calling for Molly and Ryan to come to the living room.

As I looked back at her mother, I was surprised to see the woman had walked much closer to me. Her glare rakes across my body like she is studying for weaknesses. I liked her.

“Mrs. McCormack, I assume. Pleasure to me you.”

She narrowed her stare, folding her arms over her chest. “Russian, huh? Are you going to hint at what this is all about?”

I smiled, holding up my hands briefly like I was surrendering to her. “Adley can explain, but I’ll say it’s about a job. No funny business.”

That was, of course, a lie, but I watched as her mother relaxed just a hair.

“All right then,” she nodded, still eyeing me, “and it’s Eleanor.”

“Pleased to meet you, Eleanor. As Adley said, I’m Mr. Ustinov. But you can call me Ivan.”

Eleanor nodded again, the gesture working as her default as she studied me. “Ivan.”

“Okay, now what’s this all about.”

The voice that came from behind me was low and deep, a touch of his Irish accent peeking through. This would be Mr. McCormack, then.

As I turned around to face the hall, I saw the older man walk up behind Adley, with her younger siblings following after. They were clearly twins with similar facial features, almost identical, even though they were fraternal twins.

The girl, Molly, was a bit shorter than her brother. While they did look related because of that bone structure, that’s where their similarities ended. Molly had dark hair that hung in thick waves to her shoulders and deep brown eyes to match. She had a comparable complexion to Adley, fair and freckled, but her undertones were cool where Adley’s were warm.

Ryan, the boy twin, was the exact same—dark hair and eyes, fair skin with a smattering of freckles, and a soft pink undertone to his skin. He was taller than Molly but still shorter than the elder McCormack, who, even hunched, had an inch or so on him.

“Adley, who’s this?” Mr. McCormack asked, and he stepped past me to his wife.

The man wrapped his arm around her protectively, and while Eleanor smoothed herself against his side, she still stood tall, her gaze not leaving me. They were quite the pair, and I could see where Adley got her attitude from.

“Dad, this is Mr. Ivan Ustinov.” Adley crossed in front of me to stand halfway between her parents and me, the twins sneaking behind her to stand on their folks’ other side. “Ivan, this is my dad, Conall McCormack.”

I nodded, offering a hand that Conall shook with surprising strength, considering I’d just heard he’d been lyingdown. I could sense the pride behind that shake, and it was clear he wasn’t about to let himself look weak. I liked him, too.

“Mr. Ustinov.” He looked back at his daughter. “Adley, out with it.”

She chewed on her lip, her head ducking just for a moment before she looked up again with determination set on her features.

“I found a job.”

Her family collectively eyed her, shock registering in all of them.

“Mr. Ustinov has a large estate and was looking for a live-in housekeeper. I saw the ad online and thought I’d give it a shot. I didn’t want to get everyone’s hopes up if I didn’t get the job, but I did. And he’s being very generous, too.”

The McCormacks looked to me, and even for this hardened mafioso, it was a bit like being a bug under a microscope.

“Nonsense, Adley. I’m paying what it’s worth to hire you. I can’t do everything at the estate myself and need someone to look after things while I’m away on business. I know how much of a task that is, and since I’m able to pay top dollar, why wouldn’t I?”

“Whatishe paying you?” Eleanor asked, not looking at Adely but continuing to lock her gaze on me.

“Mother,” Adley replied, clearly taken aback by the question.

“It’s fine, Adley. You already told me about the financial burden you were looking to help with. I’m sure they’d like to know how this will benefit them.”

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