The fact she seemed to have some of the most dangerous people in the world charmed as if they were long-lost friends was a feat in itself.
For a split second, I wondered what it would be like to have a woman with Nyx’s skills by my side. She’d know how to handle everyone around her. No one would ever mistake her for a wallflower or a delicate prize to show off.
No, I couldn’t let my thoughts go in that direction. A Mykos would bring nothing but chaos to my existence. A calm woman who knew her place in my life was the right choice. None of this hellion shit.
At that moment, I heard a thick Russian-accented voice bellow, “Nyx, please tell me it’s not true. You told me that you had no time for relationships, and now I hear you’re engaged.”
A pang of irritation hit, and I searched the room for Nyx. I found her by a group of men and women who congregated near a high-top table. Among the group were a few members of various syndicate families throughout Asia.
The one who’d just spoken looked near sixty and sported a wedding band. I realized he was Petre Ivanov, the head of an oil manufacturing conglomerate based out of Moscow. Though everyone knew it was true, no one would ever openly state he also led one of the largest and well-funded Bratva organizations in Russia.
Yes, Tyler Mykos would definitely lose his shit if he ever learned his baby sister engaged in small talk with a man with a reputation for drinking the blood of his enemies.
Literally.
I’d done some fucked-up shit, but I drew the line at ingesting my enemies.
And the fact Nyx seemed to have him wrapped around her little finger truly was a sight to see.
And what the hell was wrong with me that I was actually turned on by this?
This woman was making me lose my mind.
“Well, I was holding out hope for you, but since you’re taken, I settled for someone else.” Nyx lifted her lashes and met my scowl with a smirk.
“Malaya moya, come walk with me for a moment. I want to ask you something in private,” the old man spoke in what I assumed was his version of a whisper but loud enough for everyone around him to understand to get lost.
As if on cue, people shifted, but with finesse, Nyx tucked her arm into his and then guided him away from the group. He, in turn, maneuvered her in my direction.
The old man wanted me to hear his conversation. My guess stood firmly in the “warn me away from Nyx” camp, like everyone else today.
“Did something happen that worries you tonight, Petre?”
“No. It is you I’m concerned about. I hear things.”
“What did you hear?”
“I’ve been around a long time,Zaychik. I know how families like ours work. If this marriage isn’t something you want, give me one word, and I will stop it. Drakos does not scare me.”
Nyx’s back went ramrod straight, and I had no doubt she wanted to glance over her shoulder in my direction.
“His presence here should give you all the answers you need.”
“Then he accepts who you are and what you do?”
“As well as any man in his circumstance can.”
“Then I trust you will come to me if things change in your situation. While Jackson plays matchmaker, know that I’ve picked a side. In fact, my family chose their side when my uncle Victor took Julia from the original Drakos.”
Well, fuck.
This cleared up who helped the first Mykos heiress and her lover hide from everyone. As a member of the Bratva, he could have disappeared, and no one would have been the wiser. There was no way the Mykoses couldn’t have known about the connection.
Could they have helped her escape the marriage and made it seem as if she ran?
Nyx coughed and set a hand on Ivanov’s forearm. “Say that again.”
“Come now. You have to know things from the past aren’t always as they are presented.”