“How did you find out?”
Gia laughed. “Well, I was having a disagreement with a local lumber supply company about some custom work I was having done. I needed to replace the bannister on the main staircase and wanted the original type of wood used. The company I contracted tried to give me inferior wood and they were such utter bastards about it. See, some people in Russia don’t like foreigners, at all, and they get pissed when they think we’re taking away jobs, and some guys don’t like a woman doing what is traditionally considered a man’s job, in this case, construction.”
“Doesn’t sound much different than the US.”
“True. Well once I received my order from them and saw the shitty workmanship I decided to pay them a visit and those motherfuckers totally blew me off. They treated me like I was an idiot, pretended not to understand what I was saying, and kept telling me to make myself useful and go home and bake cookies. Cookies! I had a new translator with me that day, my usual girl was on vacation, and the poor guy had to carry me out of there before I tried to jump the counter and choke the asshole giving me such a hard time.”
“Seriously?”
“Oh, yeah. I was pissed. The dick that owned the lumber company threatened to have me deported after I said some choice things about his mother.” She grinned. “When I got home Ivan was there with his Uncle and I…uh, kind of flipped out and went on an epic rant. I think I scared them. Anyway, the next afternoon I got a very, very apologetic visit from the owner of the lumber company at the construction site along with a huge discount on my materials. The poor guy was terrified and asked me to please let him know if I needed anything else and to extend his most humble apologies to Petrov and Ivan. I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on so I asked Ivan.”
“What did he say?”
“He hemmed and hawed, but I think he realized that he couldn’t hide it from me anymore. I’d been in Russia for over a month by this point and little things were starting to add up. I know this sounds dumb, but I honestly had no idea that Petrov ran the Dubini Bratva. I mean it’s so far outside my reality that it never occurred to me that Petrov was anything other than a successful businessman, but once I thought about it, everything clicked into place.” She pulled her shawl tighter as a brisk breeze rolled in off the ocean. “I think there’s a lot of stuff I don’t understand, but I do know that Ivan’s more of a legitimate business man than a mobster. At least for now.”
Trying to lighten the mood, Rya smiled at Gia. “Well, if it makes you feel better there is nothing legitimate about Dimitri.”
Gia snickered. “I still can’t be believe that Dimitri has fallen in love.”
“What?”
“Oh, I don’t mean that in a bad way. He’s just never, ever had a serious girlfriend, at least from what I can tell. I thought he was just one of those guys that didn’t do relationships.”
Unease panged through Rya. “Does he have lots of girlfriends?”
Looking uncomfortable, Gia fiddled with her shawl. “You’d have to ask him that.”
“So I take that as a yes.”
“Please don’t be upset. If it makes you feel any better I heard that Dimitri has publically declared that you are his woman.”
“He did?”
“Yep. Ivan said Dimitri’s been working hard these past few months to move heaven and earth to get you to Russia with him. I know I haven’t seen Dimitri at the club since he came back from the States.”
“Was he usually there a lot? It’s okay, Gia. I know he’s seen other women while we’ve been apart.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything, but I don’t think he’s been with anyone. I mean he’s been with Ilyena, but she just broke up with Alex and it was more of a friendship hanging out type thing.”
At the mention of the woman that Dimitri was supposed to have been with at the lodge that night, Rya’s hands clenched into fists, but she took a deep breath and tried to let her anger go. “No, seriously, it’s okay. Things are complicated between us. Do you know about Dimitri’s family?”
“Kind of. Alex, Dimitri’s older brother, is a good friend and cousin of Ivan’s as well, but he’s scary so I haven’t really talked with him much.”
“What? You think Alex is scary? Really?” She had a guilty flash of arousal at the memory of the kinky scene she’d done with the handsome man. “I thought he was nice.”
“You’ve met him?”
“Yeah, back at the lodge. He was really kind to me.”