Page 51 of Reign of Psychos

And tonight was no exception.

Sure, she’d pretended like a night at the opera was boring, but it was pretty fucking obvious she loved it so far.

Lan and I steered her toward the bar, my hand on the small of her back. Dario followed us, keeping a watchful eye on our fellow guests. None of us expected trouble this evening, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

By rights, Kyril should have been here too, but he’d gone to see his father. Milo had cried off as well. Not that I expected him to come with us - he hated crowds. We’d left him at the hotel with his laptop, working on a plan to rescue my mother.

“Scotch for me, gin for him, and a sparkling water for my wife,” Lan told the barman.

“She’s not your fucking wife,” Dario grumbled. “And thanks for not bothering to order me a drink.”

“Not yet,” Lan smirked, leaning in to nuzzle Thea’s neck. She rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop a small smile from escaping. “You’re on bodyguard duty, so no drinks for you.”

“Then you better put a ring on it, asshole,” Dario sniped, slapping Lan’s hand away from Thea’s waist. He ordered himself a limoncello when the barman returned with our order. “Can you even afford a ring? I hear Temu has some good deals on right now.”

Lan growled and tried to punch Dario, causing a group of elderly ladies nearby to clutch their pearls and gasp in shock.

“Stop fighting!” Thea hissed. “You’re embarrassing me.” She moved toward me and I slung an arm around her waist. “Can we ditch these idiots?”

“I’d love to, sweetheart, but the more eyes on you, the better.”

She tucked her head under my chin and sighed loudly. “If they cause a scene, will we get thrown out?” I saw a security guard glaring at Lan as he squared up to Dario and shook my head.

“No. My father is a patron. He donated a shit ton of money last month, so we can do whatever the hell we like, within reason.”

“Good.” She sighed. “Dario could use the distraction of a night out.”

I hummed in agreement. While he acted like he was fine, losing his father had clearly hit him hard. It made me realize how little I cared about my sperm donor. If he dropped dead, I’d probably celebrate.

My father would be here this evening. He rarely missed an opportunity to showboat in a public place, in the presence of many adoring females.

I scanned the crowd while sipping my G&T. Just as people began heading toward the stairs, ready to take their places in the seats and private boxes, I spotted him talking to a tall woman with dark hair. From memory, she worked for a major publishing house, possibly the editor working on the latestvolume of his autobiography. Or theBook of Lies, as I liked to call it, since it was mostly a work of fiction peppered with a few truths even he couldn’t deny.

As I watched him smile and play the role of a benevolent gentleman-about-town, he must have felt the weight of my hatred because he half turned and saw me.

I caught the exact moment when his oily gaze slid over me, satisfaction clear, only for the mask to slip when he spotted Thea tucked into my side, her small hand resting on my chest as she smiled happily.

25

Kyril

The Belgravia mansion echoed like a mausoleum when I walked in past the armed guards at the gate. Horace, our loyal butler, took my coat and directed me to the drawing room, where a fire blazed in the hearth, casting deep shadows around the room. Outside, darkness had already fallen.

The sooner I spoke toOtets, the better. I wanted nothing more than to be tucked up in bed with my kitten, not listening to the old man’s bullshit plans for world domination.

I wandered over to the bar cart and poured a small glass of vodka. Something to dull my irritation.

The others had gone to the opera. I should have been with them, not stuck here. I didn’t even get to see my girl in her new dress, although Landon had taken the time to send me a photo of her in spiky heels, a sparkling gown, and sultry makeup.

She looked like a fallen angel sent down from heaven to tempt me.

My jaw ticked as I paced in front of the fire. She shouldn’t be out without me there to protect her. Lucian Forsyth would be at the opera, which was why they’d gone. That man would doanything to drag Cassian back under his thumb, even if it meant hurting Thea.

Dario better make sure he protected my girl. If anything happened to her, he was toast. They all were.

I tugged at my tie, feeling horribly constricted. Why dad always insisted I wear a suit and tie when I came here was beyond me. The stupid fuck had delusions of class, when in reality, our family were once poor farmers in Siberia. I snorted to myself.

The sound of heels tapping across the marble floor outside the door caught my attention. Ekaterina was the only person who wore heels in this god-awful house. The only female allowed unfettered access to my father’s life.

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