Way Off Plan (Firsts and Forever 1)

Lena grinned at us, then said, “So, since my brother is too shell-shocked to make the introductions,” she gestured around the room, “that’s my twin, Darya. And those two are Nat and Irina, also twins. And that’s Ani, the baby of the family.”

“Please,” Ani said, rolling her eyes. Then she added, “It’s nice to meet you, Jamie.”

“Same here,” I murmured as Jess came up to us and handed both Dmitri and me a cup of coffee. She was obviously amused by this scenario, but was trying hard to keep a straight face as she patted my arm sympathetically. Then I said, “So, I’m sorry – what situation, exactly, are you helping with?” I was both startled and under-caffeinated right now, so my brain functions weren’t quite online.

“You know,” Jess said. “You love Dmitri. He loves you. You two want to be together, but his asshole uncle is trying to get Dmitri to marry his cousin.” She shuddered, then turned to Catherine and said, “No offense, but that’s super gross.”

“None taken,” Catherine said cheerfully.

Jess continued, for the benefit of everyone else in the room, “Dmitri thinks he has to go through with this sham marriage, or else his family– ” she waved her hand around the room, “will be in danger from the shithead uncle. So we’re all here to figure out what needs to happen to get the shithead out of the picture, so you and Dmitri can be together.”

Nat or Irina chimed in, “And we’re pissed, Dmitri, because you never bothered to tell us that Uncle Gregor has been strong-arming you.”

Lena said, “It’s because Gregor wants to secure his position in the family, right? That’s why he wants you to marry his daughter.” Dmitri nodded.

The other twin (who wasn’t identical to her sister, but I hadn’t gotten their names straight to begin with) said, “We all knew the marriage to Catherine was a sham, of course, but we figured you two were going along with it willingly in exchange for the house, the cars, the club. We didn’t know there were threats being made to get you to cooperate.”

“I want to hear this from Dmitri,” Ani said, turning to her brother. “Is it true? Is the engagement really because you’re trying to protect us? Because you thought Gregor would go after one of us if you didn’t cooperate with him?”

“Yes,” he said quietly.

“Dmitri, do you think we’d let you sacrifice yourself for us?” Irina/Nat asked. “If we’d had any idea what this engagement was really about, if you’d ever bothered to tell us, we’d have put an end to this shit long ago.”

Lena said, “We’re all grateful that you took care of us when we were kids, D. It was really tough when Mom and Dad died, and you took on a lot at nineteen, quitting Stanford and looking after all of us, and Cat too. But we’re all adults now, sweetie. We don’t need you to keep making sacrifices for us. And we really don’t need you to protect us from Gregor or from any of the other families. We can protect ourselves.”

“How?” Dmitri asked. “You know the kind of people we’re dealing with. You think they’d hesitate to harm you, or Marley, or your kids?”

Lena reached into her leopard-print handbag on the counter and pulled out a .22, gesturing with it as she said, “I’d never let any harm come to my family. I can defend my wife and kids.”

“Christ, Lena, put that away.” Dmitri looked horrified.

She returned the gun to her purse and then daintily combed her hair back with her red fingernails. “I know that’s not really a solution, but it should show you we do think about our own safety. We’ve all grown up with the constant threat of kidnapping, and power plays or retaliation from the other families. So if Gregor poses a risk, then we’ll do something about it. We’ll hire security. I’ll do that for all of us today, just so Dmitri has less to worry about. I know the best body guard firm in the city.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a solution,” Dmitri said. “Almost any body guard for hire could potentially be bought off. They wouldn’t necessarily protect you.”

“Well, Christ, Dmitri, we have to do something,” Lena grumbled. The sisters launched into a debate about the pros and cons of hiring security, and I took the opportunity to turn to Dmitri, putting my arm around his shoulders. “Hey,” I said softly, and kissed his cheek.

He slid his arm around my waist and whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?” I asked, running my hand around the back of his neck and resting my forehead against his.

“Everything. All of this. Endangering you. Bombarding you with all of my sisters at once. Just, God, everything.” He set his coffee mug aside and took my face between his hands.