My penthouse looks like a home for the first time since I moved in. Gaia was giggling, dancing around bare feet, occasionally throwing sly jabs at me. It filled my chest with joy to see her happy at the same time I felt heartburn. Gaia is used to luxury. Her house is bigger than my father's biggest mansion he has in the Hamptons. Her house has a vast beautiful garden, and the pots here are filled with plastic decors.
It didn't get past my attention that she was spending an ample amount of time near the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlook downtown Manhattan. She'll be sad to know the glasses are tinted. I would love to see her this carefree all the time. But my father can access the penthouse, as my pakhan I'm not allowed to keep him out of my private life, my louse. He wouldn't take it lightly if Gaia tried her luck with him and talked back.
My phone notifies the arrival of my brother through the private elevator. Gaia bolted to the elevator at a heart-stopping fast pace. Her upper body form was all wrong. If she continues, she could lose her-
A loud painful oomph from Gaia confirmed my suspicion. She has lost her foot and collided with Ruslan.
"See, brother. You think I exaggerate when I tell you the girls throw themselves at me." I hear his smug voice boom across the living area. He emerged in the kitchen, holding a sullen-faced Gaia by her forearm as I continued to chop cilantro to make an Italian-style pasta for her.
Gaia's shoulder sagged as she slid onto the kitchen stool like a baby.
"You warned me you would fight back." I grumble in a low voice, only for Gaia's ears as she opens her mouth to speak while Ruslan raids the fridge and emerges with ginger ale for us.
"You are the other Mikhailov with good hair." She seethes to Ruslan, eyeing his hair with envy, my own eyes following his locks that stop just above his ears.
Ruslan curled his fingers around his mouth and hollered with an unnecessary force.
"So he talks about me huh..." he enunciates, clapping my shoulder hard after every single word.
"Yeah... he told me you are a fucking narcissist. I didn't believe him, so he called you over. He had obviously downplayed." Gaia bites back, gripping the tab on the soda can.
Her eyes close in a retort as the can open with a pop, Ruslan glances at me briefly at the protectiveness in her tone. We have done much worse to get a reaction from each other. No one has ever come to our rescue. Ruslan flips his hair, causing Gaia's scowl to turn deeper.
"Have you tried the nanomax treatment?" Ruslan asked.
"The last time I went for a treatment, I lost a good chunk of hair. And later realized those chemicals don't suit me. I wanted to try..." Gaia continues, her anger quickly vanishing. Ruslan kept going on with his hair lecture, and some ideas about making hair masks from ingredients easily be found in a kitchen. Guess I'll be going some grocery shopping after dealing with the debtors.
It was crazy to see him interacting with a girl without any intention to fuck. He was feeling guilty as I was for hiding the truth from Gaia. He began with his school days when he played rugby and how he managed to take care of his hair while travelling. Gaia was thoroughly invested in his exaggerated tale, as he was the only source of entertainment for her. I left the room a number of times to check with my men as they were dealing on the outskirts of New York. We still had less control over there. When we were having lunch, I was notified that the shit had hit the fan. Ruslan could have gone in my place on my behalf. But he needed this, moreover, Gaia needed human contact.
When Gaia was in the bathroom, I spoke to Ruslan. "I have to go. If anything happens-"
"Don't fucking say it!" He glowers.
"Don't become an emotional fool, Ruslan. You are sovetnik, you fucking follow my orders. Keep her busy till I come back. If Dad comes, hide her in the panic room." I ordered him.
Gaia emerged from the bathroom and left a quick kiss on my cheek. She looked ecstatic to find me leaving. Ruslan may look like a lover boy, but he is nobody's fool.
The elevator doors slid closed at a cinematic high speed. Like a vamp in the daytime shows my mother used to binge, an evil grin spread across my face as I pivot toward my prey, munching on a granola bar with no care in the world.
"He is gone. Time to have some fun." I exclaimed, clapping my palms together.
Ruslan gulped dramatically, closing the lapels of his leather jacket hiding his chest. Motherfucker!
"Fuck off, Mikhailov's spawn, I want a Xbox." I huff, perching my hands on my hips, levelling him with a mean glare.
"He doesn't have one." he shouts back, stuffing his mouth with the pasta now. My stomach rolls at the sight. He just bit into a granola bar.
"He really didn't have a proper childhood." I say, rounding the dry bar to come opposite of him.
He chuckles, his lips parting as he was going to say something.. tell me the first story about Kazimir's childhood that registered his mind. But his lips snapped shut. The famous Mikhailov wall slowly closed down on his expression. I wanted to slam my fist on the table in frustration. I had him. He was going to say something.
"Even Valerius likes to play Xbox. And he is a grumpy old man." I casually throw, rolling my eyes, chuckling unnecessarily so he would feel that I was just generally speaking earlier. It backfired on me because his face became more closed off. Almost regretful.
He strode towards the sink, threw the bowls in, and walked towards the balcony. My eyes bugged out upon seeing the bright sun after so fucking long. My ego bruised to follow him like a kicked puppy. He doesn't want me around. But fuck this narcissistic bastard. I want answers and feel the warmth of the sun.
I sauntered outside and spun under the sunlight. I was pale as a ghost and always hated being in the sun. The warmth danced across my skin. Ruslan's warning brought me back to take a sit in the lounge chair, under the Roman parasol. He steadied me when I bumped into the table, as my vision had darkened from being in the sun.
His eyes met with mine. They were softer than Kazimir's, packed with long lashes a man should never have. He pointed to the peach tea I had knocked over. He wiped them off with a clean towel and headed inside to get another without speaking a single word to me. He is hands down better looking than Kazimir. One of the most handsome men I have ever seen in person. For a beat, I even entertain the idea of flirting with him, try to put a wedge between the brothers. But his good looks didn't do shit to me. Neither I am a sexy seductress.
I sighed in defeat as my gaze travelled over the entire city. My thoughts ran free. A building taller than this one has to be approx 3 miles away. Trailer park or a skyscraper, every building has a creeper with binoculars... If I put my thumb into my palm and tuck it under my fingers...
"No one is going to help, Gaia." Ruslan's deep voice boomed, startling me to the core as I jumped from my skin. He rushed to me, mumbling an apology.
"That building belongs to the Knight corporation... They are hard workers, not some creeps with binoculars." He added, looking over at the building.
"Your brother really thought this through. Didn't he?" I groan sarcastically when I say the same thing to Kazimir, His face contorts with remorse. He was planning to take me last year. So It has to be a year's worth of planning before.
"He wasn't planning, Gaia. He was waiting..." Sighing, his gaze turned toward the city again, my brows pinched in confusion. I had thought he wouldn't speak any further, but he surprised me again.
"He did have a rough childhood... Where I studied in boarding school in bliss... Aware that my father was a criminal. The reason why nobody fucked with me, I liked that status. I loved it when some people shook in fear, without having to exchange a word with them. Kazimir was sent to Vladivostok when he was 6." My head snapped towards him in shock. I have heard of the city, the ports there are used for illegal dealings. What would a 6-year-old do there?
"Your family was in hiding?" I ask.
"You didn't hear me, Gaia..." His eyes met mine, red, angered.
The peach tea I had sipped on tasted like ashes in my mouth. "He was sent alone!" I shout. Ruslan averted his gaze and nodded, sipping on his peach tea that smelt like it had something stronger than sugar syrup.
I closed my eyes and pictured a young kid with frizzy hair, alone in Russia. Away from the luxuries. What it would have done to his mental growth...
I inhaled the peach body lotion like a druggie. Carina was not sure about her creation. She works with flowers, but I pushed her out of her comfort zone and made her do something different this time. She had to put on an all-nighter, so Valerius called in sick on both their behalf, and I was sent to school alone as a punishment for putting dark circles around her eyes. I sniff it again, so my mind would wrap around the mist, not the curious gazes that are slowly getting under my skin. It's the first time I have ever shown up in school alone.
Candice and Jessica glower at me. Their swollen heads took a week and tons of makeup to look normal. Gabriel was benched for the season for failing a drug test. My skin crawls every time I see him. He is always the first one to avert his gaze.
During lunch, I was contemplating the idea of eating in the bathroom. It is clean and smells like heaven, but the sound of flush made me puke out my gum because my imagination is really dirty.
"Hey, beautiful." Blake kissed the top of my head. My belly flipped with joy.
He was the first and the only one to come and apologize for what the others did to me. He was with the principal when all of that happened. he had apologized thoroughly, yet I was reluctant to give him another chance. It has been two months and Blake is still around, sneaking me candies and flowers every chance he gets.
"Have lunch with me." I smile at him.
"W-what??" His brows reach his hairline in shock.
"A-re making fun of my stutter?" I gasp, pressing my palm over my chest.
"No. NO. Fuck no." He chuckled and grabbed my hand. I had pictured us sitting under the tree, but he took me to his car. I hadn't even swallowed my pudding before he had me on his lap, kissing me.
Then he flung me on the backseat of his Mercedes and hitched my skirt up. My mouth opened to protest, but he kissed me, making me forget I didn't want his hands there in the lustful haze blurring my thoughts. His fingers loop around my panties, sliding them down. I push against his chest to stop him.
He pulled back and dropped to his knees. A flash spread across my vision, making my eyelids snap shut. I knew what happened before the laughter boomed around like a dejavu. The entire team was here again. Laughing at me. My eyes remained on Blake, his beautiful face turned so ugly as he laughed.
"Fuck, Ronnie. She does have a vagina. I owe you 100 bucks now." His deep laughter rumbled. I look around to find everyone fishing out money from their pockets.
"You. Are. A. Fucking. Idiot. Gaia." He stuttered every single word, his spit flying out of his mouth as he exaggerated my stuttering.
"I was the one who took Gabriel's place on the team. I was with the coach to keep him from coming to the locker room, you fucking bitch. When you pounced on Blake, we wondered what were you packing down there to have such strength." He chuckled, crossing his arms around his belly to soothe his ache from all the laughter.
"Gaia..." My shoulder was violently shaken by strong hands. I pull a punch but met with nothing but thin air. Ruslan's worried eyes were looking at me.
"Fuck. I thought I would have to call Kazimir. Where the fuck did you go? You sleep like fucking dead." He sighed, running his hand over his hair. I chuckled when he carefully finger-combed them back.
"Tell me a secret, Ruslan." His perfect eyebrow jumped, disappearing behind his- fuck, Kazimir wasn't exaggerating, every curl falling over his forehead was perfection.
"Tell me your hair care routine." I added. He took a beat to respond, then he threw his head back and laughed. The sound sounded exactly like Kazimir's.
He did tell me his entire routine and promised to bring some bottles of shampoo with him next time.
"It's total bull. Your genes give you the best skin, not serum from doctor Rumpelstiltskin." I drawl.
"Dr. Goldskein and Kazimir have the same genes. His hair..." He trailed off, probably afraid I would start to dislike his brother. That ship has sailed, Ruslan.
"Mom has naturally good hair. I have inherited this from her. But the rest was my doing because I pamper these motherfuckers.." he spoke proudly, twirling his curls.
The topic stirred towards my family again. More about my father. Are the brothers really afraid of my father? What would my father do. Since he is safe, sound, and out of jail now. The only thing he will care about is worrying about his own safety.
I hope Carina and Valerius are handling him well. Because he will be trying to gain power. He had lots of free time to conspire.
Namaste. It will be really helpful to me if you share the story link on your Conversation Board or social media. And thank you for reading. Please don't forget to VOTE ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐for the chapter and leave your COMMENTS below.
I would love it if you checked out my other stories, 'Aurora's Aura' 'Billion Dollar Wedding' 'Violet Hues' 'Becoming Romeo' & ''Mafia & Miss Honey'. The story link is on my profile