Page 41 of The Bratva's Innocent Pregnant Bride
“Where are you going?” Alina asked, eyeing him.
“Is it a secret?” Artie sat up straighter. “Are you going to get that Lego set I was telling you about?”
Dan tapped them each on their noses. “Not everything is about you munchkins,” he said, winking at me.
Oh great. Just minutes after I made a stink about not needing any jewelry. He couldn’t be sneaking away to buy me something extravagant, thinking he could buy my affection, right? The joke was on him because I was nothing like the sort of woman he must be used to if that was the route he decided to take. The thought of the other women he’d been with made my hot chocolate taste less delicious and I pushed it aside.
Not everything was about me, either. Whatever he was doing, and I didn’t care at all, it most certainly wasn’t buying me a piece of jewelry. That left me with an odd, empty feeling. I didn’t need a present, damn it, and if he got me anything at all, it was probably out of pity since I’d be the only one on Christmas morning without anything to open.
Ugh, that was worse.
After the snack break, we met back up with Dan in the perfume shop as he promised, and Mila and Nat joined us soon after, pushing their darling babies in matching strollers. Though Mila was actually Nat’s aunt, they were almost the same age and their babies were born in close succession since they’d been eager for them to be as close as they had been growing up.
No matter how Alina and Artie tried to get him to admit what his secret errand was about, Dan kept his lips sealed, onlylooking at me in such a way that I began to wonder if he really did buy me something. The whole roller coaster of emotions hit me again, worrying I’d be embarrassed if it was too expensive and his family suspected something, or that it was just out of pity.
By the time we got back to the lodge, I was sick to death of thoughts of presents and if I could find a way of getting out of helping to decorate the tree later on, I was going to take it. I was all out of holiday cheer for that day.
Until there was a package waiting for me on the desk in the entry hall. One of the housekeepers said it had been delivered for me shortly after we left. I tore off the brown paper to see a gift, beautifully wrapped in silver paper with sparkling red ribbon. Well of course Marlowe wouldn’t forget about me, especially since I’d jumped in to take this job at the last minute.
I hugged the box to me, resisting the urge to shake it and accidentally figure out what it was. I guess I really was feeling a bit lonely and left out, surrounded by that big loving family who were clearing out the local shops for gifts for each other. Now I had a present to add to the pile. Someone cared about me, too.
“Pathetic, much?” I muttered, but was still smiling as I added it with the others.
The guys were dragging the massive tree in to set up in the middle of the huge hall, and I sat down to watch as it was hoisted to nearly touch the ceiling, which was two stories high. I texted Marlowe, thanking her for thinking of me and promising to get her something as soon as I was back in LA.
Which might be never, but there was no way I could tell her any of my troubles with Axon and the FBI. While the tree was getting set up, I kept the kids out of the way, organizing animpromptu game of hide and seek until we heard the call that it was decoration time.
We’d only been out of the way for less than an hour, but some miracle worker had managed to drape the giant tree in twinkling multicolored lights. It was so dazzling that the children and I skidded to a halt, just staring for a long moment.
“We won!” Alina cried, high fiving her cousins.
The entire afternoon a mock war had been waged between kids and adults over whether the tree should be festooned with colorful or white lights. The adults smiled benignly at their joyous victory. Of course they won. I glanced around for Dan who’d been firmly on the colorful side, much to his little cousins’ happiness. He was nowhere to be found, and instead of relief, I had a flash of disappointment.
The kids began digging in the bags that were left near the doors, trying to find their ornaments, and I pulled out my phone to take a picture of the mayhem. It would make a cute before and after that I could show to Katie and the other moms when the tree was fully decorated. That was when I saw that Marlowe had answered my message about her sweet gift.
I didn’t send your present. I was waiting for you to get back! Want to have a combo late Christmas and early New Year’s at my place?
Wait, what? That couldn’t be right. A chill went down my spine as I read it through once more. If Marlowe didn’t send the present, who did? She was the only person who knew where I was. At least, she was the only person who should have known where I was. And the housekeeper said it arrived as soon as we left so Dan couldn’t have sent it back.
Did the people at Axon find me? No, that was ridiculous. I was being paranoid, wasn’t I?
I turned to the table, piled high with cheerfully wrapped boxes, the overflow stacked against the curving staircase. My throat closed up and time seemed to slow down as I hurried across the room to see if there was a card or note attached to my gift that I hadn’t noticed. Anything to assure me that nothing was wrong.
Too late. A sound as loud as a gunshot rang out as the whole pile of presents exploded.
Chapter 27 - Daniil
I was feeling more like Ebenezer Scrooge than Santa again after the long afternoon of shopping. There were already plenty of people setting up the tree, and Paisley went off somewhere to keep the kids occupied, so I headed up to my room. It was far past time to catch up on the work I’d been putting off. The time spent trapped in the cabin couldn’t be helped, but I was back now, and Christmas or not, the Collective certainly weren’t taking any time off in Los Angeles.
I compiled all the lists that my own people had gathered, along with what Mat and CJ had found out. There were almost a hundred company names that might be connected to our newest enemy. And that was just in California. The Collective was also known to be causing my family trouble back in Moscow and their name had been cropping up in Italy as well.
They needed to be eradicated, no matter what time of year it was.
I sorted the names alphabetically and began working down the list, cross referencing them with names of known Collective operatives. I soon came across a name that jumped out at me, seeming oddly familiar. I couldn’t remember ever dealing with Axon Financial before, but I knew I’d heard it recently and just couldn’t place where or when. So much had been going on it might have been before we came to Aspen. In fact, it had to have been since everyone was avoiding work at all costs while we were on vacation.
I highlighted the name, placing it in a separate file to give more scrutiny to later, and continued down the list, unable to get rid of the nagging feeling that the corporation was important.
My phone dinged and it was a message from Rurik, saying the tree was up and the lights were on. The kids were clamoring to decorate and we were all supposed to watch a movie together after. If I didn’t show up, I’d look like an ass and my reputation as the favorite among the children would be at stake.
