I thought a moment and then snapped my fingers. “We can talk about your dad!”
He paused again, and then nodded, fixing his jacket in swift motions. “That’ll work.”
I chuckled and pulled him out of the bedroom, stating, “Speaking of your dad, did he make it on time for tonight?” His dad had helped with the search for me, but he was supposed to be back here tonight…staying for who knew how the hell long.
Daniil nodded, still a little stiff, and speaking of the devil, his dad walked into Daniil’s private living room with Grigori behind him. They hugged and patted and kissed cheeks, but Grigori’s eyebrows were pinched. His dad patted Daniil’s cheek again, asking, “What’s wrong? You look upset.”
My mom snorted and tried to cover it up with a cough when Dad gave her a look. Daniil looked mildly uncomfortable, and Grigori’s eyes narrowed as he surveyed his dad and then me. His lips started twitching, and he pulled his granddad away from his son, taking him over to the bar, asking Daniil, “Papa, how about a drink?”
“Make it a double,” Daniil muttered.
Grigori chuckled and nodded pouring vodka for his dad and granddad. “Eva’s not downstairs yet.” He glanced at me. “Do you think you can go see what’s taking her so long? People are already arriving, and she’s probably just taking too long getting dressed.” He shook his head. “If I go bother her, she’ll punch me with the way she’s been acting about more brothers on the way.”
I chuckled, nodding. Yeah, Eva had been in a tizzy lately, asking me repeatedly what I thought the babies were. “Sure. I’ll be back in a second.” Plus, it would take Daniil a moment to calm down since his gaze was stuck on my chest. I leaned over whispering, “Think of your dad.”
His nose crinkled, but I felt his gaze follow me all the way out the door, his eyes glued to my ass. It didn’t help me much, so I focused on my role. I needed to get Eva. And if she wasn’t ready yet, Daniil wouldn’t be thrilled. He wanted the whole family together as a united front.
I passed Grigori and Ember’s door. Then Roman’s, and then Kirill and Chloe’s room. Then Artur’s. Eva’s was at the very end, near a hidden staircase and large window. I knocked lightly, but her room was set up much like Daniil’s. Except it was a bit more feminine, done in crèmes and lavender. I opened the door when no one answered and made my way through the living room area.
And stopped dead when I heard a masculine moan from her bedroom.
Uh-oh.
“Oh, God, I’ve missed this,” I heard Eva whimper from said bedroom.
Oh, shit.
And as much as I knew I shouldn’t, curiosity got the better of me. I was still the reporter at heart. Nothing would change that. I crept forward and peeked around the door, getting an eye full.
Oh, holy motherfucker.
They were in profile and naked on her bed. Eva was on her hands and knees…with Stash just as naked behind her. He slowly pumped into her, his ass and legs muscles clenching with the motion, his hands gripping her hips as he stared down at what he was doing. Eva moaned and arched, lifting her ass higher in the air, her shoulders hitting the bed.
Sounding fucking pissed, Stash hissed, “Did you miss this when you were fucking Merc?”
Merc? She’d had sex with Merc?
He drove into her harder. “Did he fuck you from behind, baby?” Oh, my. This was a side of him, I had never seen before. He reached down, grabbing a handful of her hair, and yanked her up, making her body arch, her head against his shoulder. “Tell me, did he make you feel this good?”
Eva groaned when he drove into her even harder, but she sounded just as pissed when she asked, “What about those two fucking blondes you screwed?”
Stash growled low, letting go of her hair, running his hands around her waist, up her ribcage to her bouncing breasts, gripping them as he started thrusting in harder and faster. “Don’t give me that shit. You asked for the damn break.”
Eva reached down and back, grabbing his hips and holding on. “I only asked for it until you could figure out how to get around Papa’s security here.” Lock the damn door, then. “And you know Artur was catching on.”
“It took me forever to figure out his fucking system without anyone’s help.” Stash groaned, his head falling back. “No more.” He gasped. “No more fucking break.”
Eva tilted her hips, pressing back against him, and she growled, “No more fucking blondes. Or brunettes. Or whatever the fuck else.”
“Exclusion, baby?” Stash dipped his head, licking across her shoulder. “That’s not like you.”
Eva started panting heavily, and she whispered, “Stash…” It sounded like a plea.
Stash’s breathing was starting to get just as heavy as hers, but he was silent as he slowed his pace, staring down at her body over her shoulder. He hesitated, and then said, “You’re serious.” A statement. “You really want exclusion? I’ve never done that before.”
“Try,” Eva panted, whimpering.
I saw the change in him. He went from considering to…one of his hands slid from her breasts, down to her bare crotch, and he gripped her, his muscles bulging as he growled, “That means no one else’s cock goes here but mine. That means your fucking pussy is mine until we’re through.” He kept his hand below, but his other hand left her breasts and went back to her hair, yanking her head and making her arch again. “Do you understand, Eva? No one else.”
She cried out, nodding, and his fingers began moving through her folds below, and his pace picked up, but she still growled, “If I see anyone near your cock, I’ll kill them.”
Stash grunted. “At least, we understand each other.” He groaned, and she started whimpering and grinding against him…
I slipped out of her room just as quietly as I had entered it, hearing their escalating sounds of pleasure. I knew my eyes were huge. Hell, I was even panting a little. That had been a whole different insight to them I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know. But, God, they had looked kind of perfect together. Most definitely not new lovers by what they said, or by their actions. This had been going on for some time. A long damn time, I was betting.
Well…fuck. I had to go back into Daniil’s and my room. And face Eva’s brother, dad, and granddad after I had just seen Stash fucking and dominating her. I understood now why they were keeping it secret. Eva was the only female of the family. A family of protective, loving, and scary as hell men. I wondered how many men—now, I knew Merc included—she had hidden from them in the past. Hell, if she wasn’t serious about them, I think I would probably hide them all. So, now wasn’t the time to give their little secret away.
I cleared my throat and squared my shoulders. Time to put on a damn good performance. I hoped I was up for it. Walking into the room, I saw that Artur, Roman, Kirill, Chloe, and Ember had all joined the group in his private living room. Fucking perfect.
“Well,” Grigori drawled, sipping on his vodka, leaning back against the wall, pulling at the collar of his tux. “Is she finished?”
Oh, good Lord.
Clearing my throat, I answered honestly, “It looked like she was almost done.” I prayed that Stash wasn’t drawing their reunion out.
Ember’s eyes started to go all freaky, so I quickly turned and went to grab some water at the bar, effectively putting my back to her. But she still asked, “Is something wrong, Elizabeth?”
“Nope,” I stated as calmly as I could. The pitch of my tone was a little high, so I amended quickly, “I’m just nervous about tonight.”
I felt Daniil behind me, and I took a sip of my water, clearing my dry throat. He tilted my chin back gently as everyone started talking again, and stared into my eyes, all the way to my damn soul. Why, oh, why I ever thought I could lie to him, I had no clue. His jaw was set, and he started to stalk out of the room.
Oh, fuck!
I grunted—doing the only thing I knew how to do to stop him—and grabbed my belly.
Pathetic, really. But I dropped my head and grimaced.
/>
Everyone in the room stopped. Daniil included.
He came back in a rush, moving me to a chair and placing his hands on my stomach, looking all kinds of nervous as everyone around us starting yelling about what to do. Christ. I hadn’t meant to make that big of a scene. Daniil glanced up at me, and back to my stomach before his eyes slammed back up to mine. And, yeah, I couldn’t lie so well, which I had already learned, but he got the hint that I didn’t want him leaving.
“Don’t do that again,” he hissed harshly, but quietly, before standing and lifting his arms. “She’s fine. She’s fine. Everyone calm down. It was just one of the babies kicking.”
“There are three in there. It’s bound to hurt,” mom stated, rushing to my side. “You should really be off your feet. I’m going to call Dr. Wisser tomorrow.”
Daniil actually grinned at that.
Whatever, jerk. Justice, and all that for tricking him.
He still didn’t leave my side, and thank God, five minutes later Eva came into the room dressed impeccably in a red velvet gown. Her chestnut hair was perfectly brushed, her make-up fully intact, and her dress thankfully zipped. However, to the trained eye, her red lips were fuller, and her eyes were still silently dilated, and she was a little breathless even though she hid it behind a small glass of vodka she quickly proffered.
Daniil caught all of it, too. Dammit.
His arm tightened around me, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he went over to his desk as everyone spoke and quickly typed into his computer, staring at his monitor no one else could see from here. And I knew what he was doing. He didn’t need to ask because he figured he could find out from the comings and goings of his surveillance system. But…oh, oh, shit…he looked furious as he typed in something else, his narrowed eyes scanning the screen.
Silently, and slowly, he turned off the computer. And his gaze met mine.
Stash must have done a stellar job with the system. That gaze right there told me he had figured out it had been tapped into. And he didn’t like it. Nope, not one bit.
“Time to go down,” Artur stated, checking his watch. “Everyone should be here by now.”
Oh, thank you, Lord. Saved by the bell.
I scurried out of the room quickly, trying to avoid that determined look in Daniil’s eyes.
“You sure you’re okay?” Ember asked quietly.
I took the opportunity given and wrapped my arm through hers. “Just stay next to me and I will be.”
Her eyes widened, but she nodded. “Alrighty.”
The entire family descended the stairs, and I felt like a girl coming out with everyone below in their finest tuxes and dresses milling around, only to stop and stare up at us. Swiftly, all of their eyes landed on me. And my belly. I took a deep breath, and muttered, “I’m huge. Like a whale.”
Ember chuckled. “And you’re only going to get bigger.”
I snorted. “Thanks.”
She shrugged, her arm solid underneath mine, keeping me steady. “You’re welcome. I’m always the bearer of good tidings.”
I chuckled at that because she so wasn’t. “Talk to Dr. Wisser yet?” She and Grigori had planned to speak with him about their options since Ember had difficulty becoming pregnant.
She nodded. “I start Clomid treatments next week. It’s how I got pregnant with Nikki and Beth, so I’m hopeful, but the doctor seemed to have a reservation because of my,” she cleared her throat, “advanced age.”
I chuckled even harder. Ember wasn’t even thirty-five yet. “I’m sure he’ll get you two all set.” I grinned. “At least, you two get to have sex.”
Ember chuckled at that, both of us landing at the bottom of the stairs. “Yep. And you’re abstinent for a few months.” She patted my arm. “Good luck with that.”
“Wicked redheaded bitch,” I muttered behind a fake smile, as people came up to greet us.
“Crazy preggo bitch,” she answered in kind, plastering a smile on her face just as fake as mine.
Daniil stopped behind me, resting a hand possessively, and a little tightly, on the back of my neck. Yep. He wasn’t pleased. Oh, well. There wasn’t much I could currently do about that. Now, I wanted to figure out who had killed all of my bodyguards and then kidnapped me.
Fun times.
Two hours later, my cheeks hurt from smiling so much as I met so many damn Russians my head was swimming. The house was packed, but I had yet to meet anyone who I thought might have gassed everyone in a church. Not that I wouldn’t put it past most of these people since they were like… No, they were, the grand total of the Russian mob, which I was sure was giving the US a full freak out. I was pretty sure I heard the word FBI and CIA a few times in reference to the reporters that surrounded the property. I guess we had a few more guests keeping tabs than our normal around here.
Daniil had only left my side twice, and that was when he had gotten drinks for us, and now was the third time. Grigori was standing guard by my side, and I had been keeping tabs on Merc this whole while. He was here with my family, standing next to Katie, who was leaning against Artur—whoa, more surprises—and signing with my mom. I really wanted to talk with him because I noticed the glance he gave Eva at one point…who was studiously ignoring Stash, where he stood clear across the room, speaking with Zane and Brent. It was like a game of Clue—who done it. Or, rather, who done whom?
“I’ll be back in just a second,” I told Grigori, already moving away from him. “Bathroom calls.” Hell, he should believe that. I peed all the damn time now.
He nodded, sipping his drink, but I felt his eyes on me as I moved toward Merc. I was short, so everyone hid me after a certain point. I yanked Merc’s hand, jerking my head toward the hallway. His eyebrows rose, and my mom sputtered for a minute, but I shushed her and pulled Merc behind me. I wound our way through endless hallways and tons of people, and finally opened the door to the music room.
I pulled him inside and glanced up and around, finding the cameras and placing my back to them. I could hear people talking outside the door I had shut, so I hurried and started signing, “You slept with Eva.”
His eyebrows rose, and he signed back, “And?”
I scowled, signing, “You said you never sleep with hearing people.”
He sighed, nodding, but slowly, he grinned. It was a little naughty, and he shrugged, signing, “It was only a few times. She wanted nothing serious. I wanted nothing serious. It was just sex.”
I waited for a second and signed, “You don’t want anything more from her?”
He shook his head. “It was just sex.” He grinned again, and signed, “Good sex.”
I chuckled then. “Oh, I’ll never let you live that down.”
His grin widened. “I may try it again if she wants it.”
My chuckle died off. “Merc…I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
He cocked his head. “Why?”
I bit my lip and stared at my belly.
He lifted my chin lightly with his fingers, making me look into his eyes. His dark eyes scanned mine, and he signed, “She’s already with someone?”
I nodded, and started signing in a hurry, “It won’t bother you?”
He shook his head, signing, “I told you we were only having sex for the pleasure of it. Nothing more.”
I grinned. “Can you keep a secret?”
He nodded, his smirk mischievous.
“It’s not like you could tell anyone here,” I signed, laughing, and his shoulders shook. “All right. I walked in on her tonight.” I made the gestures grand. “Fucking! She didn’t see me, but she and…” I leaned forward, “she and Stash were going at it.” I fanned myself. “It was pretty damn hot. And I think it’s been going on for some time.” I paused. “Daniil is going to want to know, but,” I paused, “he’s her dad. And dads can be scary, as it is. Daniil’s the scariest dad out there. I think her and Stash might have a chance if no one bothers them. What should I do?”
Merc stood there thumping his l
eg with his thumb and finally shook his head, signing, “Don’t lie to him. That’s never the option.”
I sighed, knowing he would say that. I hugged him, and pushed him toward the door, signing, “You always know what’s right.”
He grinned, walking backward toward the door. “You know, I don’t always do what’s right. Now that I’ve had sex with a hearing person,” his grinned widened, “if you weren’t taken, I always thought…” He stopped abruptly, his smile dropping as he stared over my shoulder.
I stilled and ever so slowly turned to the side.
Daniil and Grigori stood in the room right outside a damn hidden door. Grigori’s face was blank, but Daniil’s eyebrows rose, and he stared at Merc, saying and signing at the same time in a lazy motion, “Oh, please. Do continue what you were going to say.”
I turned toward Merc, and signed, “Get the fuck out.”
Mercs jaw hardened, and he looked past me, signing, “I was only joking around. We’ve been friends since we were small. She knew I was kidding.”
“Wonderful,” Daniil stated, walking forward slowly, talking, and signing. “Now, do as she said and get the fuck out.”
“Daniil,” I hissed. “He was only kidding.” Hell, everyone here knew that.
Daniil’s calm broke, and he yelled and signed at the same time, “Whether he was joking or not, it doesn’t mean that I want to fucking see it. Have you already forgotten how my wife had behaved?”
I blinked, realizing I had scared him. Glancing at Merc, I signed, “You need to go.”
He nodded, signing, “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect. That won’t happen again.”
“Just go,” Daniil yelled.
Merc nodded again, and left quickly, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Daniil took in a deep breath and glanced at Grigori, who was still standing there quietly. “Did you catch all of that?”
Mutely, Grigori nodded.
“Then go keep an eye on,” he hissed, “Stash.” He paused. “But don’t make it obvious. I want to find out how the fucker got past my security system.”
Obsidian Music (Lion Security Book 3) Page 12
