Chapter 23

Kyle couldn’t stop thinking about last night with Dimitri. She felt something change; she felt they had connected on a deeper level last night, and she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Someone is in a good mood,” Varina teased.

Kyle shrugged her shoulders. “I’m just happy.”

“Glad to hear that,” Max said as he walked by and kissed Kyle’s head.

“If it’s all right with Max and Dimitri, I thought we could have a girl’s day. We could get our nails done and do some shopping,” Varina said, looking at both Max and Kyle.

“If Kyle wants to go, she can go, but she knows our rule about having a bodyguard with her when she leaves the house,” Max stated.

“I’ll go. I don’t get out much, and it would be nice to have some girl time.” Kyle was excited. Varina could become a good friend to her, and Kyle needed a friend.

***

“What kind of clothes do you want to look at?” Varina asked her.

“I like more conservative clothes, but I know Max and Dimitri will want some sexier clothing. So both?”

Varina laughed. “We can do that. Can I ask you a question about your brother?”

“Sure.” Kyle was smiling; she knew there was something between them.

“Is your brother seeing other women?”

“I don’t think so. He doesn’t bring women home though, so it’s hard to tell, but what I can say is that he’s interested in you.”

Varina smiled. “That’s all I needed to know.”

Kyle and Varina spent the next few hours talking and shopping, and this time, the shopping trip was much more enjoyable.

“Are you almost done?” Kyle asked Varina. “I’m hungry, and I’m done shopping.”

“Just let me try these on, and then we can check out.”

Kyle was waiting outside the dressing room when she noticed a man standing across the clothes section, staring at her.

She ignored the man, acting as if she didn’t notice him, and pretended that Varina called her into the changing room.

“Varina, let me in,” Kyle said while knocking on the changing room door.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s a guy out there watching us. You need to hurry so we can check out. I’ll text Ellis to meet us at the register.”

Kyle and Varina calmly made their way to the checkout, and Kyle let out a sigh when she saw Ellis waiting.

She told Ellis where the guy was standing, and when they headed out of the store, Ellis had Kyle and Varina walk ahead of him.

As they approached the car, a person was leaning against the door, and Ellis went to draw his gun.

“I’m not here to do anything; I am just delivering this envelope to her,” he pointed toward Kyle.

“Leave the envelope on the roof of the car and walk away before I shoot,” Ellis warned him.

“Okay, but just know, this is only the beginning. These people won’t stop until they get what they want,” the unknown man said.

“What do they want?” Kyle asked the strangers.

“What belongs to them,” was the only information he gave before he put the envelope down and left.

***

Kyle went straight to Max and Dimitri when she got home. The brothers had already been briefed via phone call from Ellis and were expecting her.

“You didn’t open it,” Dimitri said when she handed it to him.

“No. I thought it was important that we look at it together.” She looked at Max, and for the first time since meeting them, she saw a bit of worry reflected on Max’s face.

“I think you should open it. I think the contents are going to be personal,” Dimitri said as he handed it back to her.

Kyle took the envelope and sat down. She opened it and took a second before pulling out the documents.

The contents of the envelope included a picture of a man holding a baby. She knew the baby was her, but she didn’t know the man who was holding her.

There was also a birth certificate that had her first and middle name, but instead of the last name “Jackson,” it had the last name “Ivanov.” The man listed as her father was Viktor Ivanov.

Max saw the color of Kyle’s face go pale.

“What’s wrong, little bee?”

“The man I thought was my father isn’t my father.”

Max took the papers from her and looked at the birth certificate. As soon as he saw the name, he knew what this was about.

“If your father really is Viktor Ivanov, we need to be prepared,” Max said.

“Who is he?”

Dimitri grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “He’s a very dangerous man, ~myshka~.”