Page 55 of Love to Defy You
I steeple my hands in front of me. If I mention increasing her allowance, perhaps my mother will be willing to negotiate. “I’ll talk to her. We’ll figure something out.”
Ana blows out a breath. “Thank you. But I don’t want to talk about that anymore.” She claps her hands together. “I know! We should go skiing this afternoon. Take our minds off it.”
Willow grows tense beside me. “I don’t really ski.”
“What do you mean?” Ana asks with genuine bewilderment. “Everybody skis.”
Willow shrugs. “I never learned how.”
“You never learned how to ski?” Ana clutches her chest as though this is a personal affront. “Then we must remedy that immediately. Go change into your ski clothes and we’ll go right now.”
“Ana,” I scold, “we’ve had a long drive. Let us settle in first. We’ll go skiing another day.”
She folds her arms and huffs. “Fine.”
Babysitting my princess of a little sister was not on my vacation agenda. I was hoping to relax for a few days before the other guests arrived.
“Ana, why don’t you give Willow a tour of the chalet?” I suggest.
Her mood shifts instantly, and she rises off the sofa. “Oh, yes, let’s.” She grabs Willow’s hand and whisks her down one of the halls.
Mikhail waits until they’re out of earshot. “Will you be able to intervene?”
“I think so.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “My mother is a piece of work.”
He glances over his shoulder and down the hallway where the girls just disappeared. “She’s too young to get married.”
“Tell me about it.” I lean forward and rest my elbows on my knees. “Speaking of the marriage market, do you want to tell me about Madame Collette’s?”
He whips his head back around with a deer-in-headlights look. “It’s just a myth.”
“Oh really? Then why are you listed as the CEO?”
“W-what?” he sputters. “That’s... that’s ridiculous.”
“You’ve always been a terrible liar,” I say. “You should work on your poker face if you’re planning to run the mafia one day.”
Mikhail’s shoulders slump along with his face. “You’re an asshole.”
“I know.”
“Did you look into me?”
I pin him with a pointed look. “I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t keep secrets from me.”
He closes his eyes and rests his head on the cushions. “I’m only the CEO in name. My father knows I don’t have time for that shit while I’m in school. But when I graduate, he expects me to step into the role full time. Get my feet wet with the shadier aspects of the family business before taking over.”
“Makes sense.” I throw my arm over the back of the couch. “I didn’t know the Russian Bratva had internships.”
“Shut up.” Mikhail plucks a decorative pillow off the sofa and throws it at me. “Once I figure out how, I’m going to clean things up. I’m not going to be like my father.”
I understand that sentiment more than anyone. It might be the most honest thing he’s said to me all semester.
“I believe you,” I say. And I mean it.
Chapter 13
Willow
