Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal Book 2) Read online

  Kaz’s fingers danced a little higher on her thigh, making a quick line to work between them. “I could, but—”

  Loud voices, a slamming door, and the sounds of shoes hitting hardwood stopped Kaz’s fingers in their trek. Kaz lifted his head slightly, turning just enough to see the entryway of the kitchen. Nervousness settled deep in Violet.

  He hadn't said people were coming over.

  She wasn’t even properly dressed.

  Still, his hand tightened to her leg as if he didn’t plan to let her leave, either.

  “Kaz?”

  The new voice stunned Violet for a second—it was female.

  The second voice, gruffer and deeper, didn’t sound pleased at all. “Maya, goddamn, woman. You don’t need to be shouting in someone’s house, no? It’s not even noon yet. Ostanovit with that shit, huh?”

  “Shut up, Kolya.”

  Violet’s brow raised a little higher as a petite, dark-haired woman barreled into the kitchen with a grin firmly planted on her face. Her gaze quickly took in Violet, but just as fast, it moved to Kaz. She was almost pixie-like in appearance and small-framed like a dancer, maybe. The short, spiked style of her hair certainly added to her whole fairy aura.

  “You are here,” Maya said. “And that asshole didn't tell me.”

  “That asshole is right here, Maya.”

  The man who strolled in behind Maya, a scowl etched onto his strong features, looked like he wanted to be just about anywhere but there at that moment. He stood a good foot and a half taller than the girl did and looked to be at least two-hundred pounds, if not more, of solid muscle. His size, mixed in with the dismissive attitude he sported, screamed ‘back off.’ Violet wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, but the man’s—Kolya, the girl had said—dark eyes barely passed Violet a glance.

  In fact, he only looked at Kaz.

  “I tried,” he offered, saying nothing else. “She’s nosy as shit.”

  Maya’s hand swung out and smacked Kolya hard in the stomach. “Shut up, you.”

  Kolya barely reacted. “Sorry, Kaz.”

  Kaz shrugged. “All’s good.”

  For him, maybe.

  Violet still didn’t know who these people were. She put her hand over Kaz’s on her thigh and squeezed, trying to convey her questions without outright asking. She didn’t want to be rude to people she figured were probably his friends.

  Even if the man across the room still didn’t look all that approachable or friendly.

  She really wished she had put on some goddamn pants.

  Kaz pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and helped her down from the stool. Standing, Violet was grateful the dress shirt fell to her mid-thigh and kept her decent enough. Kaz stood, too, taking his coffee with him.

  “Couldn’t wait a couple of days, Maya?” Kaz asked.

  Maya rocked on her heels. “Why should I? You didn’t even bother to tell me you were coming to the city.”

  Kaz nodded in Violet’s direction. “Maybe I had a reason for that, no?”

  “I didn’t know that, either!” Maya’s bright blue eyes swung back to Violet’s quiet form; she looked her over and grinned a little wider. “Hi. Maya”—she pointed at herself then at Kolya—“and Mr. Asshole here is Kolya. Don’t mind him; he didn’t get his hugs this morning.”

  For a brief second, Kolya’s schooled, cold features cracked as surprise flitted over his face, and he glanced down at the woman. “Maya—”

  “What’s your name?” she asked, ignoring him completely.

  Kolya sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Maya, no.”

  Kaz chuckled. “Be nice, yeah? She’s not hurting anyone.”

  “Maya, sure, but—”

  “I was talking about Violet,” Kaz interrupted smoothly, his smile gone as he passed Kolya an indecipherable look.

  Even Maya quieted at that, and the girl seemed like a ball of energy that didn’t know how to be silent or still. Violet figured out that much in just the short time she’d spent in her presence. People like that were hard not to like.

  Kolya’s features blanked again, his gaze hard as he looked at Violet and then at Kaz. “She cares—likes you. I don’t want those sorts of problems. You know how she is.”

  “She is right here,” Maya snapped.

  Kaz’s hand came up to cup the back of Violet’s neck gently, but he looked at Kolya as he spoke. “Somewhere else, yes? Upstairs, outside. Whatever. Not here.”

  Kolya frowned. “Fine. Maya—”

  “Stays,” Kaz said. “No harm.”

  Then Kaz gave Violet a smile and another quick kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Drink your coffee, get dressed, hmm? I’ll be back.”

  Still not quite sure what had happened or what was wrong, Violet watched Kaz stroll out of the kitchen with Kolya following close on his heels. But not before he tugged playfully on a short strand of Maya’s hair as he left.

  The action alone was affectionate enough for Violet to know the two were in a relationship.

  As soon as the two men were gone, Maya turned back on Violet.

  “So … Violet, yes?” she asked.

  Violet shrugged. “Yep.”

  “New York?”

  “Born and raised.”

  “I heard you come from the Italians,” the girl said.

  Violet blinked, unsure. “Why has everyone I’ve met so far brought that up?”

  Maya laughed. “Because it’s important. Are you going to order food?”

  “We were in the process of it. Why?”

  “I’m starving.”

  Just like that, Maya dropped the whole ‘Italian’ thing, and strolled across the kitchen to pick up the food menus Violet had set down earlier.

  The girl passed Violet another look. “So you and Kaz, huh?”

  “Uh … yeah.”

  “Glad he finally figured out something about his life.”

  Kaz hadn’t given much thought to the rooftop greenhouse garden that was listed with the property when he had Rus make the transaction for him. What the fuck would he do with it? But as he walked behind Kolya out onto it, he found a use.

  The moment the door shut behind them, Kaz stopped, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You good, Kolya?”

  “What the fuck do you care?”

  Kaz’s eye twitched as he tried to remind himself that this was his friend, and it wasn’t a good idea to shoot one’s friends. But over the years, he didn’t think he had ever met someone as perpetually upset as Kolya was. It was as if the man only knew how to be angry, at all things all the time. It still amazed him how Maya was able to put up with his shit.

  “Whatever the problem is, Violet had no part of it. So either show her a little more respect, or I’ll give you a reason to.”

  Kolya didn’t respond to warnings as any rational person would; rather he reacted as though it were a challenge. One second, he was still angry, and the next, he was offering a manic smile, looking at Kaz with a brow arched.

  “That so? And how exactly are you trying to teach that lesson, pizda?”

  Kaz used to react when Kolya called him a pussy. He’d let his anger take over until they were both exhausted and bleeding, but that was back when Kaz was a hothead. Now, he hardly reacted at all.

  “You really want to do this now?”

  “Then what’s your preference? Before or after those goddamn Italians try to come crawling through here to find her?” Kolya took a step forward, his eyes narrowed on Kaz. “I don’t care, Kaz. Whatever fucking happens to her, not my problem, but because you care, Maya will care. You know more than anyone how fragile she can be, and when she takes this shit on, I’ll have to fix it.”

  “Then your problem is with me,” Kaz said after a moment. “Don’t give her shit because you decided to indulge your wife. If you really didn’t want her here, she wouldn’t be.”

  Kolya opened his mouth to speak, but the door opened behind them. Konstantin popped his head out, already smiling at the sight of them. />
  “Bad time?”

  “Fuck off.”

  “Good to see you too, brother.”

  No one could truly explain the relationship between the two Boykov brothers. With Kolya as the oldest at the same age as Kaz and Konstantin as the youngest, they were always in some battle of wills whenever Kaz crossed their paths. It almost seemed like Konstantin enjoyed pushing his brother as far as he could before Kolya would snap back, usually with a fist to somewhere on his brother’s body. It was impossible to miss the certain competitive nature between the brothers. Though weren’t most siblings like that?

  Kaz didn’t fully understand why Konstantin was being groomed to take over his father’s position with him being the youngest brother, but then again, many things about other Bratvas were kept quiet.

  Kaz’s own brother, Ruslan, and his preference for men was a good example of that. Vasily kept all of that hush-hush.

  But obviously, given Kolya had been married for two years to Maya, he didn’t have that same issue. Maybe he just hadn’t wanted to be the boss—Kaz didn’t know, and he didn’t ask.

  “I see the girls are getting along just fine down in the kitchen,” Konstantin said, grinning in that way of his.

  Kaz reminded himself again that it was not nice to shoot friends. “You’d better not have made one of your fucking comments to Violet.”

  Konstantin’s eyes flew wide in false innocence. “I would never.”

  Bullshit.

  This man thrived on chaos.

  “I’m warning you,” Kaz said. “Unless you’re looking for a fist to the throat.”

  “They didn’t even see me.”

  That did nothing to make Kaz feel better. “You have to go through the kitchen to get to the stairs, so how the fuck are you up here if they didn’t see you.”

  “I went through a window, but that’s not what’s important right now.”

  Kaz put his fingers to his temples, looking back and forth between the both of them, trying to make sure he heard clearly. “What’s happening right now? Are you two fucking with me?”

  “Waste of my time,” Kolya mumbled, glancing at the silver watch adorning his wrist. “So what is it, Kaz? Besides the fucking obvious explanation down in the kitchen, why are you here? If you were trying to hide out, you’d fuck off to some other country and be done with it. But you came here, which means you’re into some shit. So if I have to step in it, at least let me know what kind it is.”

  “Vasily,” Kaz said. It was all he needed to say for Kolya to understand.

  “Right. That I can get on board with it.”

  Not with keeping a girl safe from her crazy-ass family, but let the man hear about taking down his enemy and he was all for it.

  Fucking Kolya.

  “We never did get around to explaining how you wanted to go about that, Kaz,” Konstantin jumped in.

  Kolya fell silent once the question was asked, he too looking at Kaz for an explanation.

  The answer wasn’t one that would be easy to hear or even one that would be relatively easy to execute. No, every night for four months, Kaz had gone over strategies, working through multiple scenarios at a time because he knew his father better than most, so he had a good idea as to how he would react.

  All it took was a spider.

  Violet listened to Maya chatter on the phone as she placed a brunch order that was far too large for just four people. She felt someone watching her from behind, though she hadn’t heard anyone come in the house, and spun on her heel to see who it was.

  A blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman with delicate features leaned in the kitchen entryway, an apple raised to her painted red lips as she took a bite. She didn’t say a word, just chewed on her bite and looked Violet over like she was deciding what to say.

  At least Violet had taken a minute to run upstairs and pull a pair of jeans on. She still hadn’t taken Kaz’s shirt off, though.

  Finally, the girl swallowed her bite and said, “Zdrastvooyte.”

  Violet blinked, not having the slightest clue what the girl said. “Uh …”

  Maya reached out her hand, waved back and forth between Violet and the new girl, and then waved again, mouthing, “Hello.”

  Ah.

  Violet turned back to the newcomer. “Hello.”

  “I guess you don’t speak Russian, huh?” the girl asked.

  Obviously not.

  “English and Italian,” Violet said. “No Russian, sorry.”

  Maya hung up the phone, finished with her order. “Oh, I’m sure she knows a few phrases—no Russian I know doesn’t go a day without spilling a cuss or two. Especially when he’s fuck—”

  “That’s enough of that,” the girl interrupted. “I don’t want or need to know what my brother does or does not do and says with his wife, thanks.”

  “I wasn't talking about Kolya,” Maya replied sweetly. “I was talking about—”

  “I’m Violet.” Violet jumped in, wanting to get the two off the topic they were heading for. She didn’t know these two women especially well, and she didn’t know what history they might or might not have with Kaz. She wasn’t all that interested in finding out, either. “And I didn’t hear you come in.”

  The girl shrugged. “Konstantin likes to fuck with people—you need better window locks.”

  Again, Violet just stared at the girl, unsure of what to say.

  She’d mention that window thing to Kaz, though.

  Maya sighed. “You have zero people skills, Vik.”

  “She’s not running away, no?”

  Where would Violet go, exactly?

  “Violet, this is Viktoria Boykov,” Maya said, waving to the girl still standing in the kitchen entryway. “And preevyet would have been just fine. No need to be so formal.”

  “For someone I don’t know—not likely.”

  Maya rolled her eyes and waved a hand like she was dismissing Viktoria. “Don’t mind her attitude; it’s not noon yet, which means she shouldn’t be out of bed.”

  Viktoria smiled serenely. “Yet here I am.”

  “And why is that?” Maya asked.

  “Kon came over saying someone was in town—figured I should come and say hello.”

  “Why?” Violet asked before she could stop herself or think better of it.

  Maybe it was the fact she didn’t get particularly nice vibes from Viktoria, or it could just be that she didn’t know the woman all that well. Still, the girl was a sort of beautiful that had an almost cold quality to it. Right from the platinum of her hair to the iciness of her blue gaze. So Violet was left wondering how this woman knew Kaz at all, and why she felt like she had to come over as soon as he was in town just to say hello.

  Viktoria turned her sights on Violet. “Why, what?”

  Violet’s upbringing made it difficult for her to be put in any sort of situation with confrontation. She had been taught to sit down, be pretty, and stay quiet. There was no need for her to go causing trouble when there were enough people who would do that for her.

  “Why come over?”

  Viktoria shrugged. “Old friends—it’s the right thing to do. And Kaz is always causing … some sort of ruckus. I enjoy the entertainment.”

  Maya pursed her lips, eyeing her sister-in-law from the side. “Cut it out, Vik.”

  Violet didn’t like the sound of that, either.

  Viktoria acted like she hadn’t heard Maya at all. “And it seems, this time, he’s really gotten himself mixed up in something fun. My brother—Kon—he talks. Maybe too much.”

  Stiffening, Violet asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  The girl smiled in that cool, unbothered way of hers. “Welcome to Chicago, Violet Gallucci. I certainly hope you’re worth the trouble you’re about to cause.”

  Kaz didn’t know what to expect when he came down from the roof with Konstantin and Kolya trailing, but it definitely wasn’t the girls sitting around the island. Maya was at the front door, collecting the delivery bags from the man
standing on the other side.

  Like any good guard dog, Kolya broke away from them to help his wife—if help meant scowl at the man who was merely trying to get her to sign the receipt.

  When he reached Violet’s side, he scanned her face even as he dropped his hand to the small of her back. While she might not have looked upset, he knew Violet had a way of hiding what she was thinking from him. She did offer a smile, no matter how fleeting, before her attention returned to their guests.

  Kaz also didn’t miss Viktoria glaring at him from out of the corner of his eye.

  Most people mistook her surly disposition for being a bitch, but Kaz was one of the few who knew her well enough to know it was all a part of the wall she put up to keep people away—not to mention all the shit that happened sixteen months ago between her and her then boyfriend.

  One of the few times no one tried to call Kolya off someone.

  Beneath his touch, he could feel Violet stiffen, and when his eyes snapped back to her, she was looking back and forth between the pair of them, a thinly veiled accusation in her expression.

  Bending slightly so he was at her ear, Kaz said, “It was never like that.”

  “Not even once?” she asked in return.

  “You don’t stick your dick in a boss’ daughter,” Kaz said then added, “at least not a Russian one.”

  Rolling her eyes, she shoved him, looking back at Maya, who was grabbing plates from a cabinet. Konstantin took the seat next to his sister, but it wasn’t as innocent as he tried to portray, not when he hadn’t lost his smile.

  “So … is someone going to address the Italian elephant in the room, or nah?” he asked, glancing at each of them in turn.

  When Kaz leveled a look at him, he ignored it.

  But Violet sat up a little straighter, staring over at him. “Go ahead. Address me.”

  Konstantin wasn’t taken aback by the challenge in her tone—it merely spurred him on.

  “How did the two of you meet? I highly doubt you cross paths often.”

  “It was my birthday,” Violet said, glancing down at the plate Maya set on the table in front of her. “My friends and I went to his brother’s club by mistake.”