Page 78 of Mountain Mens' Curvy Obsession

One by one, they return, albeit with missing pieces here and there. But Chance and Booker stay close, patiently helping me through the process, while Nico is outside patrolling the perimeter. The safer I feel, the easier it is for me to do this.

“How about this?” Booker asks, showing me a photo from when I was almost eighteen.

“Oh, yes, I remember it. You were on leave.”

“Every leave we had, we spent with you and Aleks,” Chance says. “And our family. But we made a point of coming to see you as often as we could.”

“To scare off my prom dates,” I giggle.

“To make sure you were okay,” he replies. “I think we worried a lot. There was something going on, something neither you nor Aleks wanted to talk about. It makes a lot more sense now that we know about the engagement.”

I can hear them arguing. My father and Aleks. So many times I came downstairs and heard them yelling in our father’s study.

“‘You can’t go through with this,’ Aleks would tell Dad. ‘He’s going to hurt her. I’ve seen what he’s capable of,’” I recall Aleks saying once. “‘I know she won’t be safe with him. Leo is a monster.’”

“But your father made a promise,” Booker replies.

“And my father’s word was his bond. I know it almost killed him to break it,” I say. “Leo lied all the time, though. He’d say one thing and then do the complete opposite. He did give Papa some fuel to justify breaking off the engagement. And thirty percent of the Asimov businesses was more than fair compensation. But Leo thrives on control, on always getting what he wants. Oh…” I pause, distinctly remembering something else.

“What is it?” Chance asks, worriedly looking at me.

“Zoya came by once. It was all very hush-hush, done in the middle of the night,” I say, closing my eyes for this vivid recollection. “I can almost see her walking through the front door. Ivan is with her. And three other men, just as big and as deadly. I hadn’t seen her in awhile. But for Zoya to come to my parents’ house, it had to be important.”

I hear my father and his mother squaring off in the foyer. I’m listening quietly at the top of the stairs. Zoya’s men stand guard, while my father’s men patrol outside. She looks regal from up here. She’s wearing a dark grey dress and a black tunic top and her silver hair is combed into an elegant bun. The pearl necklace around her slim neck shimmers softly.

“You’re a fool, Paul,” Zoya tells my father. “You never should’ve agreed to this engagement in the first place. You should’ve told the Sokolovs no from the get-go.”

“Leo was still young. I had no idea he’d turn out to be such a psychopath,” my father says, trying to defend his decision.

But Zoya won’t let him off the hook that easy. “Maximilian was already notorious for killing all the family pets. What made you think the elder son was any better?”

“What can I do now?” My father sounds defeated. “No matter the path I take, someone still gets hurt. At least, if I give him part of our territory, he’ll leave Anya alone.”

“Paul, your father sacrificed so much for every piece of those territories. Every inch you give to the Sokolovs will cause us to lose our standing within the family. Breaking your promise will cause the others to lose confidence in us. There’s only so much our old blood can protect us from, in this day and age.”

“Should I just go ahead with the wedding then?” Dad scoffs.

I exhale sharply, praying that never happens.

“What do you see?” Chance asks me.

“They’re talking. Zoya and my dad. Arguing. There was a lot of arguing in the days leading up to the end of the engagement,” I tell him. “Zoya didn’t want me marrying Leo. She told Dad I could just leave Leo standing at the altar. Dad would pretend he had no idea what happened, and then he and Leo would both be equally angry and embarrassed. She offered to take me away, to hide me, and then help me start over away from New York.”

“Let me guess. Your father didn’t agree,” Booker scoffs.

“A man of honor,” I say and sigh deeply.

And it cost him his life. My grandmother walked out with a stern warning for our family. She told my father to be careful. Leo Sokolov does not take kindly to broken promises. He proved it at the Dalton Festival.

But now, I’m back in Zoya’s mansion.

We’re hiding in her bedroom.

“Keep your head down and stay away from the windows,” she hisses as she rushes over to the dresser and takes a go bag out from the bottom cabinet. “Take this. You’ve got money in there, IDs, and some clothes.”

“What is this?” I ask, suddenly even more terrified.

Zoya kneels before me, though I know it’s hard for her to sit like that at her age. “Anya, you need to listen to me very carefully. In the side pocket of the bag—”

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