Page 42 of Blood Mosaic

She walked over and straightened them.

Pushkin sensed Tatyana’s tension and ran down the hall, probably to hide under a bed.

“What are you doing?” Anna asked. “This house is clean. We have nothing to be embarrassed about.” Her mother lifted her chin. “We may not be rich foreigners, but we are honest people.”

“I know.” Her heart was racing. Why was he here?

A sharp rap cracked against the door, and Tatyana’s pulse jumped.

“Tanya, are you in trouble?” Anna walked over to her, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Tatyana. “Should I call the police?”

“No!” Tatyana hissed. “Besides, he probably owns the police. His plane? We landed at the military base when I came back.”

“You landed in a military plane?” Anna’s eyes went wide. “What are you telling me? Who are these people? I thought this was an honest?—”

“Mama, shhh!” She had to calm down. Oleg was standing outside her door, and the longer she waited to answer it, the more awkward it would be. “I’m answering the door.”

“Good.” Anna crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not afraid of them.” Her sad, irritable mother suddenly had an antagonist and turned into a mother bear.

It had always been this way. When things were smooth in Tatyana’s life, Anna always looked for something to go wrong. But when things actually did go wrong? Her mother came to life. She was in her element during an emergency.

Tatyana walked to the door and pulled it open. “Mr. Soko— Oh.”

It wasn’t Oleg; it was the other man, the one who was always following a few steps behind Oleg. The man who seemed to blend into the background and raised the hair on Tatyana’s arms.

“You.”

“Mika Arakis.” The man walked past her and swept his eyes around the room. “And you are Tatyana Vorona. You had an intruder?” He stopped in front of Anna and looked her up and down. “You’re the mother.”

Anna’s chin went up. “And you’re not the boss. I can tell.”

Mika cocked his head. “I approve.”

“I don’t care. Why are you here?”

“Because someone broke into your house.” A deep voice came from the doorway.

Tatyana turned toward Oleg’s voice, surprised by the warmth that surged through her when she met his gaze.

He nodded deeply. “Tatyana.”

“Mr. Sokolov.”

There was a twitch under his eye. He kept his hands in his pockets as he entered the room until Kiril the driver stepped behind him. Then he held out his arms and Kiril took off his overcoat, draping it over his arm and leaving Oleg in an immaculate charcoal sweater and a pair of black trousers that highlighted his trim hips and powerful thighs.

Oh dammit, why was she looking at her boss’s thighs? That was not okay. Tatyana immediately looked anywhere but at him.

While Mika wandered around the living room, inspecting the windows and lamps, Oleg approached Tatyana’s mother.

“Ms. Vorona, you must excuse our sudden arrival. I am of the old tradition, and I tend to visit without announcing it with phone calls or texts or any of that nonsense.” He reached back and snapped his fingers.

Kiril stepped forward and handed Oleg a pink pastry box marked with the logo of a luxury hotel in the city center.

“Chocolate smetannik.” Oleg held the box out with a charming smile. “I hope you’ll accept it as my apology.”

Tatyana’s eyes went wide. Her mother loved the rich sour cream cake and often made it for holidays. Oleg was being… charming?

This was so dangerous. Her mother automatically distrusted charming men. If Oleg wanted to impress her mother—which was unlikely—he’d go much further being his usual domineering self.

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