Page 12 of Cruel Bet

“Is she now?” he says neutrally, though there’s a glimmer of humor in his eyes.

“Yes, why I’d go as far as to say hers are better than yours, Niki,” Dimitri replies, a hint of challenge in his tone.

For a moment I’m shocked that Dimitri has dared to speak to him so casually, to tease him, but then Nikolai breaks into an uncharacteristic smile, one that reveals he has dimples in his cheeks.

“Oh, challenge accepted, old man!”

To my utter amazement, he comes over and starts gathering ingredients. I assume I must be standing gawping at him in disbelief since he glances up at me and lets out a small chuckle.

“You’ll find I’m full of surprises,kukolka,” he says with a wicked grin that makes my cheeks flush at the insinuation.

While he works, he makes easy conversation with Dimitri. Their relationship is much like that of a father and son and it makes me long for the kind of father I never had. It’s clear that they care for one another, and that Nikolai has knownDimitri his whole life. Dimitri regales me with stories of Nikolai as a mischievous young boy. If I didn’t know better, they’d seem like any other normal family.

“I knew Nikolai would make an excellent Pakhan when he was still a small boy,” Dimitri says. “When we first moved to America, Nikolai was still young. He was in a foreign country with no friends. There was another boy from Japan who moved here around the same time. Unlike Nikolai, this boy was small, and the older bullies who ran the school thought of this as a weakness. One day, the bullies ganged up on the boy. They were much bigger and there were five of them against one. Even though the small boy put up a good fight, he couldn’t win. The boys saw Nikolai watching and encouraged him to join in the beating, he could be part of their gang if he did. Do you know what he did?”

“No,” I say genuinely intrigued.

“He ran over and fought those bullies, and with his help, the two boys easily defeated the others. Nikolai recognized even then, that sometimes weakness can masquerade as strength and vice versa. He knew the small boy had something the other boys didn’t have, would never have, bravery and fortitude. Bullies are weak, small people who prey on those they deem easy to defeat. They have no honor.”

“What happened to the boy, did they become friends?” I ask.

“They did indeed. It turned out that the boy’s father was a powerful man. Their friendship helped ally our two families. When his father was killed, Endo and his twin were adopted into the Kuzmin family,” Dimitri says.

“Wait, Endo is the boy in the story?” I ask, surprised that I didn’t figure it out, and also that Endo has a twin.

They both nod at me and Nikolai looks a little uncomfortable. Though why the story would make him uncomfortable I don’t know. It sounds like he did a brave and kind thing, earning him a loyal friend in the process. I want to ask about Endo’s twin, where he is, but the two are already discussing something else and I don’t know how to bring it back up.

Slowly, I build up enough confidence around Nikolai to relax and join in the lighthearted banter. He’s so different like this, it’s jarring to think of him as the same man who murdered six men in cold blood only yesterday. We fall so deep into conversation that we don’t even notice Dimitri quietly slip away. When Nikolai’s batch is ready, we each pick up and bite into the other’s.

“Not bad, not bad at all,” Nikolai says approvingly of mine.

“Bleurgh, horrible,” I say with a mischievous grin.

Nikolai smiles right back at me. “Liar, mine are the best and you know it.”

“Oh because you’re the best at everything?” I reply sassily.

“Yes. I am,” he says simply with the confidence of someone who believes it.

“Oh, well, in that case, I guess there’s only one way to solve this,” I reply, with a wicked glint in my eyes.

“And what might that be?” he asks seductively.

His eyes smolder and he steps closer to me. Immediately my body responds, eager to let him show me how good he is and for us to solve things his way. But my playful side is out in full swing, and I can’t help myself, I want to see how the mighty Nikolai Kuzmin will react.

“Food fight,” I yell, tossing a handful of flour at him.

There was more in my hand than I realized, and it explodes right in his face, covering him in flour. For a moment, he doesn’t move. I assume I’ve managed to surprise him, and I wonder if I’ve crossed a line. But then he lets out a chuckle.

“Oh, you’re going to regret that,” he growls playfully before racing toward me.

I let out a squeal of delight and run away from him, but he closes the gap between us with ease, grabbing me around the waist and swinging me off the floor with the grace of a dancer. He places me on the countertop so we’re eye to eye. The feel of his strong body between my legs has me tingling with desire. I place my hands on his strong chest, feeling the warmth of it, I don’t know if I should listen to my head and push him away or my heart and pull him closer.

One morning of fun doesn’t change things. Does it? He’s still the monster I thought he was. Isn’t he? Despite this, if he kissed me now. I know I’d be helpless to resist. I close my eyes in surrender to the inevitable.

“Sorry to interrupt, boss. There’s, erm, something you should know about.”

Chapter 8

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