When I bought this house, the garage was like the ordinary type you’d find on a house this old. I modernized it to what it is now and extended the space to accommodate my cars and my bike.
Although I haven’t been here much over the years, I always feel privileged to have this home. It’s been mine for the last five years. The house was being maintained by Pavel Butyrskaya’s great aunt whom I approached when I wanted to buy it.
Apart from my work on the garage and improving the surveillance, I kept everything pretty much the same and either sold or stored away what I didn’t need. The house was big enough that I didn’t need to hire a separate storage unit.
It may seem odd that I kept their things but I did it because they meant a lot to my mother. She grew up with them here after her mother died. When I came along, they took care of me too.
They were a family of three: Pavel, Vittoria, and their son Elmier who was five years younger than me.
Both Mom and Leif lost contact with them after we left for Russia because they moved the following year and their jobs took them all over the world.
It always saddens me when I think of what might have happened to them. They disappeared around the time I turned nineteen. In our world, when you vanish the way they did, it means you either took yourself off the grid. Or, someone with above board skills killed you and disposed of your body in such a way that no one would be able to find you ever again.
According to how the Butyrskayas left things behind, people assumed the latter, and quite rightly so.
Because of the covert jobs Pavel did for the previous Pakhan, and the consistent traveling, he and his family could have met their end anywhere.
I shouldn’t know this, but Pavel was part of the Knights Secret Force. The division consists of an elite group of enforcer assassins who only go by a number. No names.
In some cases, they don’t even know who their peers are. The concept was borrowed from our Italian mafia allies.
I get out of the car and head into the house.
When I reach the hallway, the sensor lights snap on and my footsteps echo on the marble floor, disrupting the blanket of silence covering the house. Most of the staff have either left for the day or are sleeping. Ehlga won’t be sleeping, though.
Knowing exactly where to find her, I make my way into the kitchen. She’s inside kneading dough for her special bread. She’s wearing a dressing gown and her hair is piled neatly into a bun on top of her head.
“Baking at this hour?” I raise my brows.
“I thought it would be nice to wake up to freshly made bread.”
Since I hardly eat bread, the gesture means she’s taken a motherly shine to Anastasia.
“I’m sureshewill like that.” I let her know I’m aware of what she’s up to.
Ehlga gives me a warm smile and the light in her eyes sparkles. “I thought so.”
Something must have happened today to tone her down because she was completely against the entire idea of Anastasia.
“Was everything okay today?”
“Yes. All Anastasia’s things are here now. I’ll help her go through them tomorrow when we come back fromthe doctor.” She enunciates those words because she hates the grittier part of the plan.
“I can send her with someone else, if you wish.”
“Like Gytha? Not even I can be that cruel.”
Ehlga doesn’t like Gytha and puts every woman who takes an interest in me under the same scrutiny you’d expect from a caring mother.
“What’s wrong with Gytha now?” I incline my head, getting ready for her to bitch at me.
“What was she doing here, Desmier?” She gives me a hard stare. She’s the only person I allow to speak to me this way. “I know you two have this on-and-off relationship, but it’s completely inappropriate to have her here when you’re planning on getting married in a few weeks. I’ll always be here for you whenever and wherever you need me, but some things are wrong.”
“We’re off. We’ve been off for nearly a year and I’m not planning on being on again. It’s just work.”
“Doessheknow that?” She blinks several times.
“Yes.”