“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, young lady,” mama called out to me, the first one to break the silence.
When I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, instead gulping through a dry throat as my parents and brothers stared at me, she moved to stand at the bottom of the stairs, her expression softening.
“Is something wrong, my little Yasemin?”
“Sorry,” I apologised and ran a hand through my hair before getting off the last step. “I’m just surprised to see you all like this. What are you guys doing here?” I asked, moving over to pull both my brothers into a hug.
“Papa called us,” Alexey told me. “And so, we’re here.”
“Why did papa call you?” I asked curiously, moving over to walk into my papa’s outstretched, loving arms.
“I finished work early, my little Yasemin,” papa said, kissing both of my cheeks before he let me go. “I went into all of your rooms to close the blinds for the day as I always do, but much to my surprise, I find you actually home. Not only are you sleeping in your bed when you’re supposed to be away at college, but you’re in there with a boy.”
Embarrassment washed over me at his words, but with four expectant eyes on me, I knew there was no escaping this. I needed to be honest with my family sooner or later, and since papa had walked in on me sleeping with Massimo – thankfully, the decent kind – it appeared that it would have to be sooner.
“It’s a long story,” I sighed, getting settled on the sofa besides Ruslan who didn’t look all that happy, and I could only assume that was because papa had mentioned that I had been with a boy.
Except, Massimo Mancini was no boy. He was every bit a man, and so much more.
“Why is there a boy in your bed, Yas?” Ruslan grumbled from beside me, a displeased look on his face.
“I’ll get to that,” I sighed, but my mood soon lifted when mama returned with some chips for me to snack on. It was almost like she knew that I was starving. “But let me start from the beginning.”
When no one said anything, merely staring expectantly for me to start, I did.
“Someone broke into my apartment last night,” I began, but was quickly cut off when mama gasped loudly, accompanied by a horrified expression on her face.
“Oh, my little, Yasemin,” she gasped and rushed over to my side, immediately pulling me into her arms for a tight hug. “I can’t believe that happened! How could someone be so cruel to hurt my baby?”
“I didn’t get hurt, mama,” I lied smoothly, not wanting to worry my parents anymore. “They left before they could hurt me. Thankfully, one of the neighbours heard the commotion and called the police. The intruder ran away before they got there, but I’m hopeful that the police will catch them.”
“That sounds rough,” Ruslan murmured quietly, a worried expression on his face as he stared at me. “Are you sure you didn’t get hurt?”
“No,” I shook my head. “Why do you ask?”
“You have bruises around your neck,” Alexey growled out, his jaw clenched angrily as he stared at me, his gaze not really set on me, but my neck.
“What?” I gasped in surprise, raising my hands to feel around my neck. I winced at the sharp sting from the bruises that no doubt painted my neck from where the intruder had tried to strangle me, but the last thing I wanted to do right now was look into a mirror.
To know that he had been close, that he would have successful if Massimo didn’t turn up when he did, sent scared shivers down my spine. If Massimo had been turned up two minutes later than he did, I might be here right now, explaining to my family what had happened to me earlier this morning.
Instead, they might have been having to identify my body in the morgue, grey and lifeless.
A painful shiver ran down my face at the thought, and I must have pulled a face because papa rose to his feet and rushed out of the room.
“I’m getting Yasemin some water,” papa called out as he rushed away, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. When my throat hurt again, I winced.
“Here, drink this,” papa murmured as he pushed a bottle of water into my hands.
“Thank you, papa,” I smiled warmly as I took a tentative sip. The water was cool and flowed down my throat smoothly, easing the ache a little bit.
“I thought you said you didn’t get hurt,” mama sniffled and when I glanced over at her, I could see tears were streaming down her face as she stared at my bruised neck.
“Don’t cry, mama,” I urged her, reaching over to wipe her tears. “I promise it’s not as bad as it looks.”
“What happened to your neck, Yas?” Alexey asked, looking just as angry as the silent but fuming Ruslan that was sat beside me. Those two were a forced to be reckoned with when they were angry and loved to step into the roles of protective older brothers when kids were stupid enough to pick on me when I was at school, but I sincerely doubted they would stand a chance up against an entire mafia family.
“He tried to strangle me but don’t worry, a friend showed up and saved me.”
“Which friend?”
“The guy in my bed,” I admitted, and cleared my throat awkwardly. “But there’s nothing to worry about. I went to the hospital to get it checked up, but they said other than being sore for a few days and some bruising, there’s nothing else wrong with me.”
“We should take you back to the hospital,” papa insisted, quick to rise to his feet. It took a lot of convincing from my part, and also a cold beer from the kitchen, but I finally managed to convince papa that I was completely fine and just needed some rest these next few days.
“How is Luciana?” papa asked, his face a mask of concern though I was glad that the beer had calmed him down a little. “I hope she’s not hurt.”
“Thankfully, Luciana wasn’t home last night. She was out with her boyfriend and their friends.”
“I’m glad she’s not hurt but could someone do this to my little Yasemin?” mama sniffled again, and I could feel that another round of tears was coming.
“I’m all fine now, mama,” I sighed, leaning over to pull her into a hug. “Something bad could have happened to me but it didn’t. And here I am, all safe and sound, and in your arms.”
“You can do college from home from now on,” mama told me as she wiped away her tears. “There’s no ned for you to return to that apartment and risk getting strangled again.”
I was tempted to tell mama that that wasn’t happening. That as soon as the police cleared the place, I would be happy to return to my apartment or at the very least, once this whole debacle with the Romano’s were over, but instead, I decided on picking my battles and this clearly wasn’t one. We could discuss it when we got there, but right now was not the time for it. Not when everyone was already so on edge.
“What about that boy in your bed?” Alexey asked, his lips tugged down in a small frown. “And what is he doing there?”
“He’s my boyfriend.”
“Since when do you have a boyfriend?” Ruslan snorted, looking as if he didn’t believe me.
“Since about a week ago,” I told them, but it came out sounding like a question. “He’s also the one that stopped the intruder from strangling me to death.”
“We must thank him for saving your life!” papa was quick to rush up to his feet once again, but thankfully, Alexey was smart enough to gesture for him to sit down again.
“You can thank him once he wakes up, papa,” Alexey chuckled. “But you’re right. He saved Yasemin’s life. We owe him.”
“There’s no need to thank me,” Massimo murmured in his tired, husky voice as he walked down the stairs and joined us all in the living room. “And no one owes me anything,” he said, but with the way his eyes lingered on me, I knew what he really meant by that.
No one owed Massimo anything. No one but me, that was, and despite being surrounded by my family, I squirmed under his intense gaze.
It wasn’t a secret to either of us how much I looked forward to him coming to collect his payment later.
Thankfully, Massimo was dressed this time. Every time I thought of papa walking in on the both of us asleep in such an intimate position and Massimo half naked, my insides flamed with embarrassment.
“Hello, everyone,” Massimo greeted my family politely, and my heart skipped a beat when he even went to the extent of smiling at them all. He didn’t smile often and the fact that he was trying so hard really touched me. “I wish we could have all met under better circumstances, but it’s nice to meet you all.”
After a quick round of thanks and awkward introductions, mama and Alexey were quick to set us up at the dining table. Apparently while Massimo and I were asleep, the both of them had received a panicked call from papa and they rushed here to get started on making a huge roast chicken for dinner. Because in a Russian household, there was nothing that a good dinner couldn’t solve.
“Thank you once again for saving our little Yasemin, Massimo,” mama smiled brightly as she loaded even more chicken and potatoes on his plate. It was difficult to believe that someone could actually keep up with my brothers, but he was eating it all like a champ.
“You don’t have to thank me, Polina. I’m just glad Yasemin is safe,” Massimo returned her smile with a small one of his own. “The food is amazing, thank you! It’s the best roast chicken I’ve ever had.”
Mama beamed at his compliment, but Alexey cleared his throat.
“You can thank Alexey for the chicken. He made it,” mama clarified with a playful roll of her eyes.
“The chicken is amazing, Alexey,” Massimo nodded respectfully at my brother, but he didn’t quite return it.
I could tell that my brothers weren’t exactly fans of Massimo. My parents on the other hand, well, they appeared to be in love with him already.
“Massimo,” Ruslan called out from where he was sat on the other side of the table, a stern expression on his face despite Massimo being a whole decade older than him. “How did you and my sister meet?”
“At work,” I answered before Massimo could. Not because I didn’t Massimo to be able to hold his own against my brothers, but because I could feel Ruslan picking for a fight. “Massimo came in for a latte, and I made him one.”
“That’s a sweet story,” Alexey grumbled, and the look that he shared with Ruslan told me that neither of them believed it. “So, one latte was all it took to win the affections of my sister?”
“I would argue that it took a whole lot more than just one latte, but essentially, yes,” Massimo chuckled, his words smooth as he answered perfectly. “In the long version of the story, it took me weeks of ordering lattes and pestering Cara at her workplace to finally win her over,” he chuckled again, and I was glad that he glossed over all the details. The last thing I wanted was for my family to know how it had also taken two occasions of fucking at the airport, once in the backroom at Starbucks, and the other time in the bathroom, for us to eventually slap a label on what we were and what we felt for each other.
“Cara?” Ruslan frowned, a sceptical expression on his face.
“That’s just what I call Yasemin,” Massimo explained.
“But her name is Yasemin. Not Cara,” Alexey frowned, displeased.
“I’m Italian,” Massimo chuckled. “When I say Cara, I mean darling.”
“Oh, that’s so beautiful,” mama gushed, and I feared that she would break out into tears once again. Papa merely pulled a face, but he wasn’t bothered the same way my brothers clearly were. “Isn’t that beautiful, Mikhail?”
“Very beautiful, dear,” papa murmured, but he seemed more interested in the last chicken leg that lay on the tray in the middle of the table.
Ruslan and Alexey shared another look, but before either of them could jump at Massimo’s neck once more, his phone went off.
“Excuse me,” Massimo frowned as he stared down at the screen, his face quickly growing serious as his eyebrows knitted together. “I have to take this. I won’t be long.”
“Sure,” I murmured, and I watched as he walked out of the dining room for some privacy. My brothers were quick to jump at me with all sorts of questions despite the way mama warned them both to step down.
“He’s way too old for you, Yas,” Ruslan complained, a displeased expression on his face.
“He’s not too old for me,” I denied.
“What is it that people say?” papa asked, sneakily reaching for that last leg of chicken when he thought no one was paying attention to his wandering hand. “Age is just a number?”
“Yes, that’s right,” mama confirmed with a happy nod. “Your papa is six years older than me. I don’t remember my brothers complaining about that when your papa first asked me out.”
“That was a different time, mama,” Alexey sighed, looking just as displeased as Ruslan. “How old even is he?”
“He’s thirty-five,” I told them with a groan, already aware of the way they would try to misconstrue this. “But before you start on me, like mama and papa said, age is just a number. Both of us are adults and we can see each other if we want to.”
“He’s thirteen years older than you,” Ruslan huffed as he did the math.
“Six years. Thirteen years. What’s the difference?” mama shrugged, not the least bit bothered by the age difference between me and Massimo. “I can tell that Massimo makes your sister very happy, and he clearly takes good care of her. If he didn’t, then I would be scared to think about what could have happened to her today. Now, stop complaining about Massimo because we all know that regardless of who your sister goes out with, you two are never going to be happy.”
Ruslan and Alexey looked ready to argue some more, but Massimo had perfect timing as he chose that moment to return.
“Cara,” he called out to me, a serious expression on his face. “Thank you for having me for dinner, Mr and Mrs Turgenev. It was lovely and the food was great,” Massimo smiled politely at my parents. “But Cara and I really need to get going now.”
“But we haven’t had dessert,” mama frowned in protest.
“What’s going on?” I twisted in my seat to face him, and once glance at Massimo told me that something had happened.
“I’ll tell you later, but we need to get you out of here,” Massimo bowed his head to whisper to my ear. “The longer you stay here, the more danger we’re putting you and your family in.”
“Where do we go?” I asked in a quiet voice, already pushing back my chair to get up.
“Back to the house.”
It appeared that the mafia house was the safest place to be right now, even if that was exactly where the Romano’s expected me to be.
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Layla Knight
05.02.2022
