Текст книги "Lev"

Автор книги: Belle Aurora

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Chapter Thirty-Three

Lev

“Mina,” I whispered into the dark.

With her back to my front, she fit me perfectly. No one had fascinated me like this little creature.

My Mina. My mouse.

She said she loved me. She seemed sincere. I wanted to believe her.

I did believe her.

Her light grunt told me that she was falling asleep fast. My arms around her waist tightened a little. I never wanted to let go. “I don’t know what love is,” I started quietly. “But if I could love anyone…” I pressed a gentle kiss behind her ear, pulling her close. “I would love you. Very much.”

I didn’t know how to be what Mina needed, but I vowed to try my hardest to be a man she would be proud of. The thought of disappointing her made me anxious.

She had faith in me. She believed in me.

Disappointing Mina was not an option.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Mina

My eyes fluttered open and I was greeted by Lev’s handsome face. I smiled, stretching. “Don’t you ever sleep?”

His lip twitched. “On occasion.” He smiled softly and it gave me chills. I would never be desensitized to Lev’s gorgeous smile. “You’re beautiful.” Then he frowned at his compliment. “I’m sure you get told that a lot.”

I laid my hand against his rough cheek. “Not the way you say it.” I ran my thumb over his lips. “Never the way you say it.”

He reached up to hold my hand, biting the pad of my thumb. “You’re important to me, Mina.”

I blinked. This was a little deep for first thing. “And you’re important to me, sweetie.”

“I want to go with you to meet your brother.”

Everything stopped.

I had been trying for a solid week to get Lev to speak to me about my brother. Every time I brought it up, I was shut down before the conversation even began. I was desperate to meet my brother, but I needed Lev to be okay with it too. I gave him time and space away from the subject. And it looked like my patience had paid off. “Really?”

“Really.” He stroked my shoulder, trailing down my arm. “We’ll organize a dinner with Laredo. It’s not like Sasha will miss us for one night, not with the way the club’s going.”

It was harsh but true. “Okay. I’ll call today.” I grinned.

“No.” He shook his head. “I’ll call today. I don’t want you speaking to Laredo without me.” At my defiant look, he added a placating, “It’s not because of you, mouse. He can be rather manipulative.”

Did I even care? Um, no. Now was not the time to be indignant.

I was going to meet my brother.

I grinned. “Set it up.”

I lay my head back in the passenger seat of the Camaro, listening to the radio as Lev drove. I tried not to hyperventilate, but it was hard to breathe regardless. I was on the way to meet my brother for the very first time.

I had so many questions—about my mother, about my father. I was in Laredo’s debt. I was pretty sure that was a situation not many people wanted to find themselves in.

We drove for a long while before Lev pulled up to a house big enough to rival the Leokov complex. With giant wrought iron gates, intricately designed to look as if black vines and golden leaves covered them, I sat up straighter as my heart skipped a beat.

Whelp…no backing out now.

Nas helped me dress for the momentous occasion. We settled for something understated, with high-waisted black pants and a loose white shirt tucked in. I wanted to wear heels, but Nas objected. She said it was no use wearing heels when your face would be planted firmly on the ground.

The bitch.

I found my black ballet slippers and slid them on while Nas straightened my hair before putting on my makeup. My long lashes held four coats of mascara, and with my lips glossed, I deemed that was enough. I didn’t want to look like I was going to a club. I wanted to look like I was making my way to a casual family dinner.

I managed to talk Lev into wearing his jeans—Hooray!—with a white shirt under his black V-neck cashmere sweater. He rolled his sleeves up his forearms and I was ready to call the night off, almost preferring to undress him slowly and devour his body with my glossed mouth. But my brain reminded me there would be time for sexy fun later.

Lev pressed a button and his window descended. He leaned outside and pressed the button on the small speaker box. A loud buzz sounded before a man spoke through the speaker, “Yes?”

“Mina Harris and Lev Leokov.”

The speaker buzzed again. “Of course, sir. Come right in.”

The gates rattled before they parted in the middle and slowly opened wide, allowing us entry. I swallowed hard. “How rich is Laredo?”

Lev clicked his tongue before shooting me a look. “Richer than me.”

Well, that was just great. Now I’d never get comfortable here.

It took us five minutes to arrive at the house. I wondered if we’d ever get there. It looked as if Laredo owned the entire block. I felt faint. The house was enormous. It made me wonder how one person could live in something so large. My brow furrowed. “Does Laredo live alone?”

Lev tilted his head to the side. “I’m not sure. When we were children, he always had people staying with him. When one went, another came. But he doesn’t have a significant other, no.”

Lev helped me out the car, and as we walked, the front door opened and out came a smiling Laredo. He was followed by five other men. And four of those five men smiled at me. The other did not smile, and he had scars all across the right half of his face.

I immediately knew who that man was. That man had to be Alessio, Laredo’s son. The man who lost his wife to Sasha’s bed then was made to bear the scars for life, all for loving a woman.

With his near-black hair and soft green eyes, his cheekbones high and a full mouth, it didn’t take much to see that Alessio had been an attractive man. Perhaps, even stunning. But all that had changed.

My heart hurt for him. I didn’t take it personally that he didn’t want to smile in greeting. Why would he? I was part of the enemy’s side. One thing was evident. He scared the bejeezus out of me.

The closer we got, the bigger Laredo’s smile got. We walked up the stairs and Laredo held his hand out to Lev. He hesitated only a moment before he took it, shaking it. “Laredo.”

“Lev,” he sighed. “I had doubts. I figured this meeting would never happen.” He looked down at me, releasing Lev’s hand and taking mine in both of his. “I’m glad you changed your mind, Mina dearest.”

I smiled gently. “I,” then I peered at Lev, “we just needed time for all this to sink in. Thank you for having us.”

His smile fell as he held my hands tightly. “You look so much like her. It still gives me chills.” He held my eyes a short while before he took my hand and placed it in the crook of his elbow. “Come, meet my boys.” He lowered his voice. “They insisted on being here tonight.”

His boys?

More like his smoking hot men.

They were all as tall as each other. The solid walls of their bodies had me mentally laughing. No, they were definitely not boys. Those smiling men made my stomach dip in a bad, bad way. I was half glad Lev didn’t read cues too well or he might’ve seen my sudden blush.

The first man, blond-haired and dressed in a light grey suit, his shirt open at the collar, I’d already met, but Laredo introduced us anyways. “I believe you’ve met Philippe Neige.”

Philippe took my free hand, planting a swift kiss to my knuckles. His French accent was delightful. “‘Allo, Mina. Nice to see you again.”

The next man had light brown hair and hazel eyes, and a smile that stunned. It was bright and wide, and when he spoke, his rough tone had me swallowing hard. “Howzit, liefie?” If his accent wasn’t enough to shock the words right out of me, the fact that I hadn’t understood a word of what he said sure would have. He wore dark jeans, a white V-neck tee, and a black blazer. He grinned harder. “That was my native tongue, Afrikaans. I just said ‘how are you doing, lovely?’”

“Oh,” I uttered, flushing. “I’m doing just fine, thank you.”

He shook my hand like a man would another man. “Nicolas Van Eden.”

“Nice to meet you, Nicolas.” He seemed fun.

“The pleasure is all mine, bokkie.” He leaned forward and told me, “That means doe. And with eyes like yours, I think I’ll be calling you bokkie, little one.”

It took everything I had not to burst into laughter. He was funny without meaning to be, and super sweet. I very much liked Nicolas Van Eden.

The third man shoved his friend out of the way. “My turn.” He had short dark hair and green smiling eyes, and he took my hand, shaking it lightly. “Mina, we’ve heard so much about you.” He looked gorgeous in his tailored black suit. He only had a slight accent, but it was hard to miss. “Roman Vlasic, at your service.”

“Hello,” I said kindly as I shook his hand.

The fourth man stood patiently, awaiting our arrival. He had skin an olive skin tone, dark hair long enough to curl behind his ears, and green eyes framed with dark lashes. The gunmetal grey suit he wore fit him nicely. He looked as though he’d made an effort to look nice. His smile was secretive. Laredo led me to him, and he held out both hands to take both of mine. “Mina,” was all he said. And he said this softly, almost sweetly.

This man, I felt, could have been my brother.

Laredo made introductions. “Davi Lobo. Mina Harris.”

Davi lifted both my hands and held them to his mouth, pressing the softest of kisses to them. He released my hands, smiled down at me, and motioned to the person standing behind me.

Lev took my hand, entwining our fingers.

Oh, that’s right.

My boyfriend was here, and although this gaggle of men had my mind abuzz, Lev’s touch soothed the tension right out of me in the way only he could.

Alessio stood in the doorway, his eyes searching me in a way that felt intrusive. I don’t think he meant it. I don’t even think he knew he was doing it. Laredo looked to his son and made introductions from afar. “Alessio Scarfo. My son.”

“Hi,” I breathed, trying my hardest not to hide behind Lev.

Alessio jerked his chin at me with indifference.

I turned back to look at Davi, who winked at me. I smiled in return. Oh yeah. I had a strong feeling about Davi. He was the one I felt most familiar with. It was kind of strange.

Laredo clapped his hands together. “Come. Dinner will be served in half an hour. We have some time to talk and get to know each other.”

We followed Laredo into the foyer and two staff members waited for us to approach. The second we were close enough, they opened the double door simultaneously and held them open with straight, emotionless faces. Laredo swept his arm out to allow Lev and me entry first. Lev helped me sit to the left of the head of the table, where Laredo sat, and took a place next to me.

Davi sat across from me and I grinned like a schoolgirl. I was this close to my brother. All I needed was for Laredo to confirm my suspicion. I wanted to ask right this second, but told myself to be patient. All would be revealed in due time.

For twenty-four years, I didn’t know I had a brother. What was another hour’s wait compared to quarter of a lifetime?

The rest of the men seated themselves around the table and Lev spoke first, addressing Alessio, who took a seat at the end of the table, away from the rest of us. “Are we going to have a problem?”

Alessio grinned cruelly at my man, his face distorting as his scars pulled and stretched with the movement. “I don’t know, Leokov. Are we?”

Lev’s brows narrowed. “Don’t do that. Don’t hold me accountable for something my brother did.”

Laredo raised a hand. “Now, boys. This is not the time nor the place.”

Lev shook his head. “No. You’re right. I’m here for Mina. We’re going to be civil. But we need to get this out of the way before your son decides to attack the wrong brother.”

Alessio leaned forward and growled, “Civil?” He stood and hissed. “Look at my fucking face. That look civil to you?” His hard eyes landed on me. “Your woman can’t even look at me. She’s fucking scared of me.”

My eyes turned down to look at the table, my face paling. So he’d noticed that, huh? Crap.

Laredo stood slowly. “Sit down, Alessio.”

Alessio snarled, “I’m not done yet, old man.”

Laredo spoke quietly but firmly, “Yes, you are.” His eyes gazed at me sympathetically before turning on his son. “Your face doesn’t frighten Mina. It’s your temper that upsets her.” Then he finished tiredly with, “Sit down, Alessio. You’re scaring your sister.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Mina

What what now?

Alessio was my brother?

Holy crap on a cracker.

I did not see that one coming.

My body jerked in my chair, causing my knees to hit the table and my cutlery to clink loudly. Lev’s hand covered mine in quiet support, kindly ignoring the way it shook. My mouth went dry. I forced myself to breathe deep.

No one spoke.

I didn’t look at Alessio when I asked quietly, “You said you weren’t my father.” I was confused.

Laredo let out a soft sigh. “Alessio is not my biological son. He was my brother’s boy. Making me your…”

My brow bunched. “Uncle.”

He smiled. “My dear niece. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you happened across my path. I thank you for giving me this night. I loved your mother very much.”

Oh, my God. My head started to pound. I reached up to rub my temples. “Maybe we should start at the beginning.”

Laredo chuckled. “Clara used to do the same thing when she got a headache.”

My fingers stilled. I opened my eyes to look over at him. “Yes. She did.”

“Don’t look so surprised, Mina. I knew everything about her.”

I doubted that. I knew my mother better than anyone, thank you very much. Alessio kept quiet. I was grateful. I needed time to adjust.

“Okay,” I uttered. “Your brother is my dad. Alessio’s dad. Where is he?”

“Dead,” Alessio sneered. “Trust me, you’re lucky you never met him. He liked to kick my ass whenever the fuck it suited him. Fuck knows what he would’ve done to you.”

To my surprise, Laredo agreed. “Yes. Enzo was not a kind man. So when I pursued your mother, it was only natural that he made it a competition.” He shrugged. “Clara danced like a dream. She was an angel. After my wife passed on, I thought I would never feel love again until she came along.”

But I was stuck on something he’d said. “My mother was a server, a waitress. Not a dancer.”

Laredo seemed taken aback, as if he didn’t know how to tell me something important. “Mina,” he started. “Clara worked at my first club, Sweet Blood. She was a dancer, my dear. One of the best.” At my blinking stare, he added, “Did you never wonder how a waitress could afford the home you had? Did you never notice that she only worked nights?”

Shit. He was right. Our house has bigger than average and I never went without. We never had money problems. Our bills were paid on time. I had the best of everything. Every night, she put me to sleep and went to work. She would come home just before I woke to get ready for school, smelling of stale beer and…

“Oh, my God,” I breathed. “My mom was a stripper.”

Lev turned to me and stated, “There’s nothing wrong with that. People need to work, Mina.”

“I’m not judging her,” I lied. “I’m just wondering how I never saw it.”

Laredo smiled. “She was your mom. She was your world. You were a child. How could you have known?”

Nicolas Van Eden spoke then, “My mum was a street lady. She sold her body to all the men in our neighborhood. Some of my boykie friends even had a go at her.” He shrugged and smiled widely, “Still love my mum, God rest her soul.”

God, he was adorable.

Roman Vlasic added to the conversation, “My mother was a doctor.” His eyes dimmed. “She was a terrible person. Cold and bitter.” He eyed me good. “Just because my mother had a respectable position, it didn’t make her a good person, lutkica.”

Davi Lobo spoke rapid-fire in a language I couldn’t understand. Laredo listened intently, nodding before turning to me. “Davi understands a little English, but only speaks Portuguese.” Well, that would explain why he was looking at me so fixedly. He probably didn’t have a fracking clue what I was saying. “He said that sometimes people do things that are beneath them to provide for the ones they love.”

A soft smile graced my lips and I held Lev’s hand tight, running my thumb over his fingers. I spoke gently to Davi. “Yes. I suppose sometimes they do.”

Philippe sipped at his crystal glass of water. “I didn’t have a mother.” He smiled sadly. “Count yourself lucky to have had one, no less a mother who loved you so.”

They were right. My mother was wonderful. I suppose it just hurt knowing that perhaps I hadn’t known her as well as I thought. But all the important things…I knew those. Memories of her took me back to my youth.

I don’t know why, but I felt I needed to share. “My mother, Clara, was a sweet woman. She smiled all the time, and laughed almost as much. She was like a ray of sunshine, pretty as can be, and she always had time for me.” I smiled to myself. It was nice to talk about her. “She sang to me before bed. We always had dessert. She helped me with my homework.” I turned to Lev. “She was smart.”

He squeezed my hand, smiling softly at me, and I went on. “Whenever I was in a bad mood, she would take me down to the store and tell me to fill the shopping cart with anything I wanted. We’d eat ourselves into a food coma.” I chuckled. “She always had the corniest jokes just to make me smile. She was on the PTA. Made my Halloween costumes from scratch. Took me to the beach on the coldest days just to sit on the sand and take in the air. She was a great mom.” My heart panged with guilt. I turned to face Alessio. “And I’m sorry you missed out on that.”

Alessio’s expression remained hard, but when he turned to avert his eyes from mine, I could see he was affected.

Why didn’t Alessio live with us? Why was he left to a father that didn’t want him? I didn’t understand.

I faced Laredo. “Why were we separated?”

Laredo ran his tongue over his teeth. “Because it hurt Clara, and my brother liked to punish her.” He frowned, almost lost in thought. “My brother was married. He didn’t have children with his wife. Clara was nothing more than a plaything. I tried to make her see reason so many times, but,” he sighed, “she loved Enzo.”

Oh, Jesus.

My heart sank. She was the other woman? Who the hell was this person?

“Enzo was good to her for a while. Treated her well. She loved the attention, of course.” He raised his brow as he made his point. “He was the better looking brother.”

I see.

“Clara fell pregnant only a month after sleeping with Enzo. The entire club knew who the father was. Clara asked him to leave his wife. He refused. She told him she would leave him. Just disappear. Told him her baby needed a father.” Oh, God. She sounded a little like Irina. My stomach dropped. I was so embarrassed. “He told her that after she had the baby he would leave his wife. But I knew he way lying.” He shrugged. “It was no surprise to me that after she had Alessio that he stayed with his wife. Clara was heartbroken. She planned to leave town. Enzo caught her packing her things. He went ballistic.”

Laredo glanced at Alessio before turning back to me. “He beat the shit out of her. Said that if she tried to leave him again, he’d kill the boy. I had no doubt that he would. She wasn’t stupid enough to try again. At least she was allowed to see her son.”

“He beat her?” My voice shook. “She was the sweetest person in the whole world, and he beat her?”

Laredo leveled me with a stare. “Enzo used whatever means to keep her by his side. When Clara realized she’d picked the wrong guy, she turned her affections on me.” He smiled. “I was good to her. I loved her. I wanted to father her children. It wasn’t fair that Enzo had that. He didn’t deserve any piece of her. She found that out a little too late. But I took care of her as much as she let me.”

My view of my mother was dimming fast. “Yeah, she sounded like a real peach.”

“We grew careless,” Laredo ignored my snide comment and went on. “It didn’t take long for Enzo to grow suspicious. He walked in on us one night and I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I fought my brother tooth and nail. I fought so hard that I broke his bones as well as mine. But Clara…she’d had enough of us. She took off, leaving Alessio behind.”

Poor Alessio.

My throat thickened at the harsh fact.

How could she?

“My brother tried to take Alessio’s life a week later. He attempted to drown him in the bathtub. But he couldn’t see it through.” He turned to look at Alessio. “He didn’t want to love the boy, but he did. A month later, Enzo was found in his home office stone-cold dead. He’d died of an accidental drug overdose that I presume was not so accidental. Enzo’s wife didn’t want Alessio. She knew he was the product of an affair, so I adopted him. He should have been my son in the first place. I love him very much. I tried to find Clara, but she hid well, funnily enough, right under our noses. I didn’t even know she passed away until two years ago.” He eyed me. “I didn’t know she had a daughter.”

Hope beamed from somewhere deep inside of me. “How can you be so sure you’re not my father? You said you were intimate…”

But he was already shaking his head. “No. I’m sorry, Mina. I’m not your father. We never took our affair that far. It’s just not possible that you’re mine.” He huffed out a breath. “But I would’ve killed to be your dad, sweet girl. Know that.”

Tears prickled my eyes as I nodded solemnly.

Alessio had heard enough. He sneered at me from across the table. “While you were out picking flowers with your ma, I was hiding bruises from my friends.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my eyes shining.

“What are you sorry for? You had a good childhood. I was forgotten. That’s life.” As I looked down at the table, he spoke into the silence. “What? You don’t want a brother any more?” My heart broke. He huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. Not good enough for you, am I? Just like ya mom.”

Lev gripped my hand so tight it hurt. “Shut your mouth.”

He said this at the same time Laredo called out, “Don’t speak out of anger, my son. You best be quiet, Alessio.”

“No,” Alessio went on. “How about we tell her about the time my father kicked me so hard in the chest that I stopped breathing? Or about the time when he came home from the club, pulled down his pants, and pissed all over me while I slept.”

Tears were trailing my cheeks now. My chest ached with every beat of my heart. I fought desperately not to sob out loud.

Lev growled, “I’m warning you, Alessio.”

“While she had sunshine and lollipops,” Alessio began to shout, “I had cigarette burns across my fucking arms.”

The men around me had started to object angrily at Alessio’s outburst. All I could do was blink through my tears and speak quietly. “I didn’t know.”

Alessio stood. “How could you know? Living your perfect fucking life in your perfect fucking house with your goddamn whore of a mother.” He pointed at me hard. “You got the life I shoulda had.” He clapped slowly, humiliatingly. “Congratulations, Mina.” His lip curled as he whispered, “You got it all.”

By this point, Lev had enough. He threw his chair back so quickly that it flew to the ground. He was quick, but I anticipated the attack before it began. Alessio laughed viciously, his arms wide, welcoming the impending attack. The men stood, Nicolas and Roman rushing to pull at Alessio while Davi and Philippe moved to see what Lev would do.

My arms wrapped around his waist and I gripped him tight, digging my feet in as he dragged me. “I’d like to leave now, sweetie.” Something in the quiet way I spoke must have warned Lev against this fight, because, his chest heaving, teeth gnashing in fury, he slowed to a stop, turning to wrap his arm protectively around me.

Lev turned to my brother and whispered in deathly calm, “You’re going to regret your words.” He panted. “I’m going to make sure of it.”

Alessio hooted loudly. “Oooh. I’m so scared.”

There was no way to sugarcoat it. My brother was a jerk. A cruel, nasty jerk. I didn’t want to know him. I wanted to pretend this night never happened.

Turning to Laredo, I kept my eyes on the ground as I stated, “This was a bad idea. I’m sorry for the trouble.”

He sounded miserable. “Mina, please don’t go.”

“Enjoy your dinner,” I replied as Lev walked me to the double doors. Before we made our exit, Lev paused mid-step and turned to face Alessio one last time. What he said made me cry all over again.

“Mina might have had a decent childhood, but she’s been dealt her share of hardship. She’s been without a home for seven years. She spent that time on the streets, sleeping in alleyways, eating trash to stay alive. Where were you sleeping two months ago, Alessio?” He spoke quietly, “I found Mina sleeping next to a puddle of piss, so emaciated that she was on the brink of death having not eaten in days.”

“Mina,” Laredo muttered, shaking his head with sadness. “Sweetheart.”

Lev eyed my brother, who lifted his chin in defiance. “Don’t assume to know her. You don’t know anything about her, you sack of shit.”

I cried into Lev’s sleeve, tired of people seeing my tears. Lev rubbed my arm as we let ourselves out. As he opened the front door to let us out, I heard Nicolas Van Eden speak, his accent thick and harsh.

“That girl is your sister. She was sweet. And you…you are a fucking asshole, boykie.”

To which Alessio responded a hushed, “Shut the fuck up, Eden.”