Chapter Sixteen

Prague, Czech Republic

 

As they arrived at the Medlov Chateau amid the blue skies and warm sun, Anatoly finally felt the ease of life. Home. He looked out of the window and sighed, anxious to smell the fresh air and the smell of the house that brought him certain peace.

As the doors opened to the truck, Anatoly stepped out and felt his feet crunch the rocks below. He looked up at the sun and smiled. Finally in a place where he was accepted just as he was, he reveled in his existence. This is where the Medlov’s resided, away from everyone in the country side of Prague.

The doors to the chateau flung open, and Anya came running in her pink lace dress, baby doll in hand. Her eyes were focused on the men whom she had dearly missed. Daddy. Brother. Screaming their names and grinning from ear to ear, she headed down the steps with her arms wide open.

Instinctively, she ran to her father first. He grabbed her up in his embrace, kissing her rosy cheeks with grateful enthusiasm. He whispered words into her ear, brushing her long, black hair with his large hands, while her brother waited for his turn to cuddle the angel whom he affectionately referred to as the princess.

Dmitry could feel the pull from his son, the desire to hold her. Handing her off to Anatoly, he headed up the stairs to see the other woman in his life, Royal, who stood at the door with her hands cupping her growing bump.

But Anatoly stood still, hugging his Anya with all his might. She smelled of candy and roses, her own unique fragrance of purity and promise. Bright blue eyes flashed at him, nonjudgmental and delighted by his presence.

“I missed you so much, Anatoly,” she said with a tinkle in her voice. “What took you so long to come home?”

“I was busy,” Anatoly explained. “But I missed you too.” He walked with her in his arms as Vasily followed with his luggage.

“Did you bring me presents?” she asked, holding on to him tightly.

“Don’t I always,” Anatoly answered as he climbed the steps.

“You brought the stranger,” Anya said, looking behind her brother.

Gabriel looked on with a smile. Still intrigued by the complex relationship between the girl and the men, he suddenly wanted dearly to be a part of their priceless transaction.

“We did,” Anatoly said, arriving at the door. He didn’t bother to look back and be irritated again by Gabriel’s presence. He found it revolting that the man had been invited into their home. It should have been omen enough with the extermination of Victoria that strangers should never be allowed into the most intimate place of their lives.

“How are you?” Gabriel asked, lifting his finger to touch her out-stretched hand.

“I’m well. And you?” Anya asked politely.

“I’m doing great,” he answered.

Royal unwrapped her arms from her husband long enough to greet her stepson with an endearing kiss on the cheek. With a curious and untrusting smile, she also greeted Gabriel.

“We meet again,” Royal said, extending her hand.

“Welcome to our home.”

“Thank you for having me,” Gabriel said, taking her hand gratefully. He wasn’t sure how in the least she would receive him this time, considering the last time that they met, she made it painfully clear that he was a threat.

Royal made Gabriel dreadfully nervous. It wasn’t anything that he had read in the file. It was her knowing glare, and the knowledge that they both shared of who his father was. In truth, he carried guilt for what had been done to her. Raped. Beaten. Nearly murdered. It had all been done at the hand of his father, yet she welcomed him in her home as a guest. Truly a noble woman, he thought to himself as he entered their luxurious home.

Anatoly had to get some room in between him and Gabriel. After setting Anya down, he excused himself up to his room to prepare for dinner. The one thing that he could count on at home was dinner by six. Certain that a hot shower and quick drink would at least ground him for the evening, he jetted up the long, red-carpeted steps and headed straight for his bedroom.

Royal and Dmitry watched him disappear quietly and gave each other a glance. Then in their normal gentle manner they turned their attention to Gabriel.

“Gabriel will be here with us for a few days to a week,” Dmitry explained to his wife as they all walked. “There is a great deal to discuss.”

“Well, I hope that you make yourself at home,” Royal said, looking back to make sure that the staff carried off the luggage. “Dinner will be at six. I’ve arranged for Briggy to show you to your quarters and make sure that you have everything that you need. And there is more than enough transportation just in case you’d like to visit the city.”

“I can’t thank you enough,” Gabriel said, walking beside Dmitry.

Just then, Briggy, the maid for the family quarters on the second floor, emerged from one of the closed doors. She looked up at Gabriel and smiled.

“Briggy, we were just talking about you,” Royal said, touching her shoulder as she walked up. “This is Gabriel, Dmitry’s nephew.”

“Very nice to meet you, sir,” she said with a nod.

“Why don’t you show him up to his room,” Dmitry said, picking up on the instant vibe. He turned to Gabriel. “I’ll call for you later, and all three of us can have a chat, eh. For now, there are a couple of people that I need to reacquaint myself with.” He put his large hand on his wife’s arm and bent to kiss the top of her head.

“Yes, sir,” Gabriel said, following Briggy as she led him away.

***

Gabriel tried to stay focused. He walked slowly behind her, watching her hips sway in her dark denim jeans. Whoever decided the maid should dress casually deserved a raise.

Briggy was beautiful. It felt like a stab in his heart when he first saw her. A burst of adrenaline pumped through his body, stinging the very tips of his fingers. Her smile muted any clever words that might have saved him.

With the turn of a key in the lock to the guest bedroom, she pushed the door open and stepped aside for him to enter. He went inside, hoping that she would follow. If she would just stay, just a moment, maybe he could pull himself together enough to say something that might convey his mounting attraction.

“I’ll be responsible for your needs while you are here,” she said, stepping inside the room. She left the door open. He followed.

“Your bathroom is through that door.” She pointed to the left. “Your closet area through that door.” She pointed to the right. “I’ll bring you breakfast in the morning. And if you need anything, you can ring me. My number is by the phone.”

Gabriel turned and looked at the room. Nice. Although lately, he was growing used to the lavish lifestyle of the Medlov clan. Normally, he would have taken time to observe more. His eyes, however, quickly found their way back to her. He hated himself for still not saying anything, but he knew that she could read his face. He was enamored.

“So, you’re Anatoly’s cousin,” she said nodding.

“Yes. Our fathers were brothers.”

“I know.” She blinked, her long lashes fluttered like wings. Blushing, she grabbed the door handle to leave. “If you need anything at all, call that number,” she said, bowing out of the room.

“Anything?” he asked in one last ditch effort to keep her there.

She stopped for a moment. “Anything,” she answered. Her eyes locked on his as she closed the door.

***

With all the trouble that his son had found himself in lately, Dmitry only grew more grateful for the relationship he had with his wife. Young men were nothing if they were not fickle. He had been young once, and he sympathized with his Anatoly for what he was surely going through. The woman whom he had bedded, albeit against his wishes, was just murdered. The woman whom he had chosen as a lover once was now being courted by his first cousin upstairs. And then there was Renee. He wasn’t sure where she fit into the puzzle, but he was certain that she was a part of it – a very large part based on his most recent behavior. However, he’d wait for the boy to come to him to broach the subject. Even though Anatoly was his son, he was still a man. He still needed time to come to grips with things himself.

“Did you have an exhausting trip?” Royal asked as she helped him pull off his shirt.

He sat on the end of the bed with her standing in between his legs and yawned. “It was eventful,” he answered, helping her with his clothes.

“What happened?” she asked.

Dmitry smirked. “You do better not to ask.” He trailed his long finger down the side of her arm. “How’s the baby?”

“Great,” she said, touching her stomach. “Growing fast. I feel like a big ole goose.”

“Hen,” he corrected. “Not goose.”

“Well that just makes me feel so much better,” she said playfully.

“What of Gabriel. Do you trust him yet?”

“I trust no man, my love. You know that. Do I think he’s up to something?” He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know yet. I’ve got everyone in the northern hemisphere checking on his background. But one thing is for sure. He does look like his family.”

“Like you and Ivan?” Royal shook her head. “I can see it, but it’s the height that makes him look more like a Medlov, not his face.”

“He looks like a Hutton also.” Dmitry’s voice was low.

“Who are the Hutton’s? Do you know his family?”

“Very well. I knew his mother, his grandmother, his uncle. It’s a shame that they’ve all past away. They were activists – the whole lot of them. And they were English royalty.”

Royal was flabbergasted. “Are you serious?”

Dmitry nodded. “He’s from what some people would call good stock. His grandmother was Lady Catherine Hutto and his mother Lady Emma Hutton.”

“How do you know this, Dmitry?” she asked bemused.

Dmitry looked at her, calculating her exact response. “Because his grandmother was my first wife.”

Royal stopped in her tracks. Dmitry had confided in her many years ago that he had been married once on paper to a woman for the purpose of defecting from the USSR and to acquire a considerable amount of money, but he had never spoken any more of it. She had accepted that fact like many others as a part of his sordid past. From that day until this, she had never really thought of it again.

Now, like so many other parts of his life that had done the same, his past had come full circle to his present. And like so many other parts of his past, she worried about what the ramifications would be for everyone around him.

“You had better start explaining,” she said with her hands on her hips. “And start from the beginning, Dmitry. Don’t leave anything out that might affect this family.”

Dmitry pulled her onto his lap. He knew that he should have waited to tell his nosy little wife until after he had bedded her. But he owed his Royal an explanation. In fact, he owed them all at least that. It was the reason that he had brought the boy here. Gabriel was as much a part of this family as his own son or daughter.

“From the beginning is a long story, Royal,” Dmitry said, touching her face lovingly.

“I’ve got time,” she said, staring into his eyes.

***

At six on the dot, the family moved from their rooms on the second floor and went downstairs to the main hall for dinner. Gabriel had never seen such a grand layout before. The long dinner table was dressed in fine silver, covered in Russian foods, manned by two servants and served a party of the most feared criminal elements in modern organized crime.

Such a fact confused Gabriel immensely. These people were supposed to be blood-sucking monsters, yet their behavior was no different from others. In fact, they were more family oriented than his own family or any families that he knew. They respected each other on a level that he only envied.

When Gabriel was escorted into the dining room, Anatoly was already sitting at the table with Anya, talking. He looked up from his conversation to see the giant make his way into the room.

“Am I early?” Gabriel asked, sitting down in the chair across from Anatoly.

“No. It’s not like Royal and Papa to be late.” Anatoly looked at his watch. “But they’re probably still doing whatever it is that they do.”

“Making love,” Anya answered.

Anatoly loo at his sister. “What?”

“I heard them making funny noises once, and I asked Mommy what they were doing. And she said that they were making love.”

“What do you think that means?” Anatoly asked with a smile.

“They are kissing and hugging. That is what momma does when she loves someone. She hugs them.”

Anatoly smirked. “That’s right. They are hugging.”

“Who is hugging?” Royal asked, walking into the room with Dmitry behind her. Dmitry pulled her chair at one end of the table out for her.

“Your daughter was just saying that the reason you were late for dinner is because you were making love,” Anatoly answered, raising his brow at his father.

“Out of the mouth of babes,” Dmitry said, pushing Royal up to the table. “Sweetheart, we do not discuss what goes on in an adult’s bedchambers. It’s rude.”

“Sorry, daddy,” Anya said, ducking her head.

“And we were not making love,” Royal answered her daughter, seeing that she was now sad. “We were talking.” She looked up at her husband as he made his way down to the other side of the table.

Shortly after, Briggy and Davyd came into the dining room and sat down as well. It had become a custom of the family to have both of them dine with the rest of the family considering their status in the house and in their lives. Plus, Dmitry liked having a table full of people.

“Before we get started, I have a gift for you,” Gabriel said, standing up. He pulled a small file that was rolled up in this back pocket out and walked it down to Royal. She looked up at him as he did, curious to see what the man was giving her. She was accustomed to diamonds, pearls, chocolates, etc. but not files.

“I hope that it’s okay. I didn’t know when a better time would be than during dinner. I’m sure that it’s been discussed that I have a gift for finding people and for identities,” Gabriel said, smirking at Dmitry. “So, after learning more about you, I took it upon myself to find this. It took some digging, but I’m getting better and better at breaking codes.”

Now Royal was very curious. The bent up folder, lay curled in front of her. She smoothed it out and opened it to find a birth certificate, a photo and phone number.”

Tears formed in the sides of her eyes.

Dmitry watched unsure if he should have Davyd break the boy’s neck or place a crown on it. He shifted in his seat and motioned towards Briggy to go down to the other side of the table and collect it for him.

“Well, what is it?” Anatoly asked irritated.

“Royal’s birth mother’s contact information,” Gabriel answered, looking to his uncle for approval. “I shouldn’t be the only one to enjoy the family reunion,” he shrugged.

Royal wiped her eyes and picked the picture up in her shaking hands. The diamond on her ring finger sparkled across the room against the candle in front of her.

“It’s her. It’s my mother.” She looked up at her husband in disbelief.

“I didn’t know mommy had a mother, daddy,” Anya said, looking to her father for some understanding of what was taking place.

Dmitry knew then that it was best to go to his wife himself. He stood up and made his way down to Royal quietly. She sat at the head of the table, covered in tears. He kneeled down beside her, looking at the picture himself.

“Are you alright,” he asked, wiping her face. “Do I need to take you back up to our room?”

“No.” She turned to him with a smile. “Honey, this is wonderful. Look.” She passed him the picture. “I look like her.”

“She’s...she’s still alive. She lives in Dallas,” Gabriel said, looking down at the table. “She never married or had children. She’s a nurse.”

“Do you realize what you have done?” Royal asked, looking down the table at him.

Gabriel shook his head. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I just thought...”

“You didn’t offend me.” She shook her head. “You...” She cried. “I have wondered for my entire life if even one person from my family was still alive.” She wiped her face. “You’ve given me a gift, Gabriel.”

Standing up from the table, she walked down to him. He stood unsure of himself but was moved by her warmness. She reached out, and he bent to her. Her warm hands grabbed his face and his kissed him on both cheeks and hugged him. He could feel her trembling body, the warmth that it gave off. She felt like a mother. Hesitantly, he hugged her back. She smelled of jasmine and peace. Closing his eyes, he held her.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Davyd said finally. “Looks like the boy is some good to us.”

Everyone laughed.

Briggy sat in the chair beside Davyd wiping tears and smiling as well.

However, Anatoly watched with a grimmer look. He didn’t bother to smile or to share any kind words. Instead he saw red. If Gabriel thought that he would win the family over by wooing his stepmother, he had another thing coming. And if he hurt Royal, considering who he was to her, he would kill him himself with his bare hands.

Royal released Gabriel and took his hand. “I want you to come and sit down by me.” She smiled. “Telle all about yourself.”

Dmitry stood by her chair, pleased. Whatever had moved the boy to do such a good deed made him have more respect for him. It was an incredible gift, and if even only for tonight, he would indulge his entire family in good cheer. However, tomorrow, he would pay more men to do more investigating. There was something about the boy that was off. Perhaps, it was just the mere fact that Gabriel was Ivan’s son, and such a spawn should naturally be more evil.

He caught a glimpse of Anatoly, holding on to Anya, restricting her from joining her cousin down at the other side of the table. He knew what his son was thinking. He was still untrusting of the entire thing. Dmitry nodded cleverly at him, quietly encouraging him to relax.

“Tonight, we will enjoy a great dinner and afterwards, I’m going to play for everyone.”

Joyfully, Royal looked up and clapped her hands together. Dmitry hardly ever played the violin anymore, except for special occasions, and she couldn’t think of a more special one than this.