Page 51 of Keeping My Enemies Closer: Pt. 2

Kasimir~

Once we’d been able to see Aurora and the baby, everyone had been in agreement to give her and Viktor some privacy, and since there’d be plenty of time to spoil the baby later, everyone had gone home, happy that mother and child were in good health.

However, the ride home had been a silent one for me and Zoya, her earlier questions dancing around in my head, and Zoya staring out of the window, her mind just as preoccupied, no doubt.If there was anything that could be said about my future wife, it was that she had a mind of her own, and she wasn’t afraid to question things if she felt the need.

So, now we were in the kitchen because I knew that she had to be feeling hungry and a bit exhausted.Aurora’s labor had taken hours, and the clinics that we had scattered about our territory weren’t exactly equipped with vending machines or kitchens.The locations of our clinics were just as sacred as our home addresses, so even if we’d wanted to install vending machines for those long ass nights that were always around the corner, there was no way to restock them on a regular basis.We didn’t trust easily, and we never would.

“Why didn’t she name the baby Viktor?”Zoya asked from where she was sitting at the kitchen island.“I mean, she named him after her father, so I...I guess I’m just surprised that she didn’t give him a Korolev family name also.”

“Because no matter what, Aurora will always be a Marchetti, and giving her firstborn a Russian name was compromise enough,” I chuckled as I prepared the Chicken Kiev with garlic butter.“If they have more boys, she might add my father’s name in there somewhere, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

After a bit of silence, she asked, “Why is she able to get away with so much?”

That question earned another chuckle from me.“Because love does crazy things to a man.”

“But...but what about your father?”

“What about him?”

“Well, I get why Viktor humors her, but your father is still in charge, isn’t he?”she answered.“Doesn’t he have some say over...over what she’s allowed?”

I stopped prepping the chicken to look back at her.“No one has any say over what Aurora is allowed because death doesn’t frighten her,” I explained.“Granted, things might be different now that she’s a mother, but you can only have power over someone if you’re in charge of their weakness, and Aurora has no weaknesses.At least, none that we’ve ever come across.”

Zoya’s hazel gaze widened a bit.“That’s impossible.Everyone has weaknesses.”

“Not my sister-in-law,” I grinned before turning back towards the counter.“Unlike most people, where the love for their family or whatever could be considered a weakness, Aurora’s love for her family has a bit of a...a viciousness to it.Threaten her husband, and she’ll gut you.Threaten her father or brothers, and she’ll skin you alive.Threaten anyone related to her by blood, and you won’t see the next morning.So, I can only imagine the utter destruction that she’d cause if anyone ever threatened her children.She’d obliterate a person’s entire bloodline in the most medieval way imaginable.”

“Where do you fall into all that?”

“Not sure,” I quipped.“Probably somewhere in between skinning someone alive and breaking every bone in their body until they go insane with the pain.”

“So, I’m the only piece of the puzzle that doesn’t fit,” she muttered tiredly.“Great.”

Turning back towards her, I asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Do I look like someone who can skin a person alive?”she drawled out, making me grin.

“Do you want me to teach you?”I replied.“I can if that’s what you want.”

Her eyes widened again.“N...no,” she choked out, shocked.

“Then what’s the problem,lepestok?”I asked.“Why are you bothered by something that we already know about you?”

“I just...I don’t know,” she sighed.“I guess meeting your mother today has thrown me off balance.”

“My mother is a non-factor,” I reminded her.“Though we love her dearly, she’s simply a beautiful painting on the wall, Zoya.She’s not actually part of the wall.”

“Why not?”

I turned back to preparing dinner.“Because that’s what she chooses.Shewantsto be ignorant of what goes on around her.Trust me, it’s not the insult that you think.”

“I don’t want to be just another painting on the wall, Kasimir,” she stated, her voice hesitant but strong.“I don’t want to be ignorant of what’s going on with my own children.”

“That will be entirely up to you,” I told her.

“Is that why you didn’t introduce me to her when we arrived at the clinic?”she asked,finallygetting to the root of her mood.

“I didn’t think to introduce you to her because she hadn’t been lying about the dinner,” I informed her.“Proper introductions were to be made once you were feeling better, your bruises not so visible.However, Aurora going into labor changed all that.”