Page 36 of Ruthless Mafia Daddy

Here comes the long-awaited history lesson. “It was built in the early 1900s by my great-grandfather,” I replied, taking in the expression on her face. “Yes. He was the first Don of the Ivanov family.” I added, sensing the question pooling in her eyes.

“Woah. That’s a long time ago. Did every member of your family have to live here? How many rooms are there?” She fired question after question at me, drawing a soft chuckle from me. She looked so cute with her brows tightly knit together.

“Only the first sons and future Don have ownership claims and are expected to remain in the house. The rest were free to do whatever they wanted and live wherever they wanted.” I supplied, wondering what my life would’ve looked like if I wasn’t the firstborn son and was free to do whatever I wanted.

I honestly couldn’t picture it. This was all I’ve known my whole life, and I can’t imagine a life away from it.

“That’s a great way to maintain the family legacy,” she mused, her eyes bouncing from one picture to the other.

“Come on, love, you’ll have all the time to acquaint yourself with dead men if that’s what you want.” I smiled, pulling her the rest of the way up.

“Woah,” Arielle exclaimed, untangling her arms from mine and taking in the master bedroom. “My whole house could fit in here, and there’d still be room for a mini kitchen.”

She pushed open the double doors leading to the balcony, causing the wind to sweep in, her blonde hair flying all over the place like streams of sunlight as she stood there, staring at the wide expanse of land. I tore my attention from her, my gaze sweeping through the entire bedroom. It felt odd to be occupyingthe same bedroom my grandfather died in. And despite the fact that I had everything in it changed, it still felt like it belonged to him.

“You have a pond?” Arielle shirked from the balcony. “Is that a fish? Can I go fishing?”

She was bouncing on her feet like a child when I joined her on the balcony and that fluffy feeling I was yet to place engulfed my chest.

She turned to me with a look of disbelief “Why did you move to New York? If I had a home like this, I’d never leave.”

“Maybe that’s why I had to come find you in New York. To bring you here so you can stay and never leave.” I replied, placing feather kisses on her shoulders. “I’m glad you like the house.”

“Like it? Don’t be silly, Mikhail. I fucking love it. You have a beautiful home.” She said, her voice falling slightly at the end of her statement.

Beautiful is hardly the word I would use to describe the house. Granted, it had its share of greenery and well-carved-out features, but that was all there was to it. It was an empty museum unless you count all the souls who were still trapped in the hallway. A memory I had successfully tucked away for the longest time came rushing back. Flashes of eight-year-old me running to my grandfather because I felt a presence in the hallway and him making me walk through all the hallways in the dark that night.

He repeated the process every night till he was satisfied. During this time, Maya would sometimes slip me a candle for when I got to the very dark corners and was too scared to continue.In his defense, an Ivanov should be feared by both humans and otherworldly beings, not the other way round. The sound of the clock striking two p.m. brought me back to the present. I had more pressing issues, like the current state of my family business, to deal with than the preferred upbringing methods my grandfather employed.

“Why don’t you get settled in, and I’ll join you early tomorrow morning. Enzo and I need to make a quick run to the port. It’s a four-hour flight from here, and I won’t be able to make it home on time.”

The attack at the port has barely left my mind since the news got to me last night. We left New York at four a.m, to get here as soon as possible.

“We barely got here, and you’re already abandoning me,” she pouted, her voice dripping with accusations.

I placed a kiss on her head “I won’t be too long, I’ll be home before sundown, I promise. You can explore the house while I’m out.”

“What about my fishing?”

“We will talk about your activities when I get back, and I’ll update Canaan. He’ll be your guard for the duration of our stay.”

“Alright. Stay safe.” She smiled.

Casting one last glance at the bed, I made my way out of the room. It was going to be a long day, and I’d prefer to get a head start.

*******

“Fuck me,” Enzo muttered the moment we stepped down from the chopper.

My fingers curled into a fist, and I could feel my nails digging into my palms as I took in the sight in front of me.

About ten of the storage containers were completely blown up. A few looked like they had suffered from the vibrations from the explosion, and only a very small fraction appeared untouched.

“Good afternoon, Don.” Alexei, a distant cousin I kept in charge of the port, greeted, handing me the file that was clutched to his fist

I eyed his outstretched arm, and he quickly tucked it in. Enzo took the files from him.

“What happened?” I demanded. A file containing statistics on damaged goods and the cost of repairs was the least of my problems. I had more than enough money to acquire an extra port if I saw it fit.

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