Chapter 197 Chapter 197 Undersold
I am terrified beyond belief. My father and Illia Sr. are retiring. Cue the eye roll. They’re finally ready to set their guns down and let Illia Jr. and Dimitri take over completely. To celebrate, they’re throwing some massive party at the compound in Naples. My father looked me dead in the eye and said, Bring the boyfriend. It’s time for us to meet him.
So here we are. After a year and a half together, I’m bringing the boyfriend around the family.
We flew in, rented a car, and now we’re only minutes away from the Pavlov estate. Mason flew in on his own and is already there. Once this whole whatever-the-hell-it’s-going-to-be is over, we’re heading to the villa. It’ll be the first time I take Liam there. Constantine has been begging us to spend most of the summers there because he misses his chickens. My sweet boy.
As I pull up to the first gate, Liam’s eyebrows pull together.
“What does your father do?”
“He works with my godfather. Ivan’s dad,” I say carefully, trying not to spell it out loud.
It will never stop sounding ridiculous to me. It doesn’t matter that my father has lived this life for most of his adult years. How exactly do you explain the criminal enterprise you somehow ended up being a part of? Not only because my father went back to that life, but because my godfather—my ex father-in-law—is sitting at the top of it all, and my ex-husband is, for lack of a better word, a gangster.
I can already picture Liam running for the hills.
Mason, on the other hand, fits right in. He’s a ruthless boxer. Even retired, he still trains constantly and somehow looks even better than he did in his prime. I genuinely don’t understand why he’s still single. Women throw themselves at him.
“Mrs. Pavlov!” Taylor calls out with a grin as we roll down the window.
“Taylor, I’ve been divorced from Ivan for a year and a half.”
He flashes me a wicked smile. “Oh, don’t I know it. Illia Sr. was pissed. His voice carried through the whole house.”
“You are such a gossip queen,” I laugh.
“Run tomorrow morning? I’ll catch you up on everything.”
I shake my head at him, smiling despite myself. Then he glances over at Liam and gives me a knowing wink. Yeah, I know that look.
Taylor waves us through the gates. Liam takes my hand while I steer with the other.
“That’s a lot of security.”
I glance around. Men are scattered across the grounds in black tactical gear and bulletproof vests, rifles slung across their chests that look military grade. The kids barely even notice anymore. They grew up around it, so it doesn’t phase them in the slightest.
Liam, however, looks genuinely alarmed.
“Illia Pavlov is Ivan’s father,” I explain quietly.
I turn toward him and watch his beautiful green eyes slowly put the pieces together. His face pales for a second. The Pavlov name is known in Europe and on this side of the globe too. Then his gaze drops to himself.
Gray sweats. White tank underneath. Platinum chains around his neck. Expensive watch. Sneakers you’re apparently never supposed to crease when you walk. He looks every bit the spoiled playboy he pretends to be.
“I should’ve dressed better,” he mutters. “You and the kids look like you stepped out of a fashion campaign, and I look like some damn hooligan fuckboy.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I should’ve warned you. It’s really not a big deal. We did just fly across the globe.”
He laughs nervously.
What I don’t tell my gorgeous boyfriend is that I’m dressed up because I already know what’s waiting for us inside. The wives. The girlfriends. The mothers of the Pavlov men. Those women treat every gathering like a runway show, and unfortunately, I have a standard to uphold.
Right on cue, we pull into the long oval driveway.
Ivan is leaning against the front doors in a perfectly tailored three-piece suit, smoking a cigarette. I swear, I will never get over how devastatingly handsome he is. Even doing something as disgusting as smoking somehow looks elegant on him.
His eyes lift slowly as the car comes around the curve, watching us approach without looking away once. Then, like every other time, he crushes the cigarette out against his own hand before shoving it into his pocket and straightening.
I stop the engine.
Silence immediately fills the car.
Then Constantine bursts the back door open and hops out, helping his sisters climb down beside him. My father appears in the doorway next to Ivan.
Liam quickly circles the car and opens my door for me, holding his hand out. I hesitate for the briefest moment before taking it. His palm is warm, grounding me just enough to move.
The second I step out, every pair of eyes lands on us.
My father’s mouth curves into a slow smile.
“So this is the boyfriend.”
“Yes, sir,” Liam answers politely, offering his hand.
My father stares at it for a second too long before finally shaking it.
“I know who you are.”
Liam smiles carefully. “Hopefully for football and not the tabloids.”
That actually earns him a laugh from Illia Sr., who appears behind my father with a glass of whiskey already in hand.
“Oh, definitely both.”
I close my eyes briefly.
Fantastic.
Ivan finally steps forward, his gaze moving over Liam slowly before landing on me.
The girls immediately run toward Ivan, throwing themselves at his legs. His entire expression softens as he bends to scoop them up, one under each arm.
And there it is.
That stupid ache in my chest.
Because no matter what happened between us, Ivan loves those girls more than anything on this planet.
Constantine stays beside Liam instead.
Ivan’s eyes flick toward them briefly.
Interesting.
Mason suddenly appears from inside the house holding a beer.
“Well,” he says loudly, “this should be awkward as fuck.”
I burst out laughing before I can stop myself.
Even my father smirks.
Liam relaxes slightly beside me, though his hand never leaves my lower back.
“You survived the gates,” Mason tells him. “That’s already impressive.”
“I feel like I’m being evaluated for a position in the mafia.”
“You kind of are,” Dimitri says as he walks down the stairs.
“Oh my God,” I mutter.
Liam laughs nervously while everyone else looks way too amused by his discomfort.
Then Ivan steps closer to me.
Close enough that I catch the familiar scent of leather, smoke, and citrus.
“You look beautiful,” he says quietly.
Liam’s hand tightens against my back instantly.
Ivan notices.
Of course he notices.
Something unreadable flashes across his face before he steps back again.
“Come inside,” Illia Sr. announces.
My father gestures toward the doors dramatically. “Welcome to the madness.”
Liam looks down at me as we start walking.
“You really undersold this entire situation.”
I wince. “I know.”
“No,” he says, laughing softly now. “I mean this sincerely. What the fuck, Elena?”
I laugh so hard I nearly trip walking up the stairs.