Page 14 of The Bratva's Innocent Pregnant Bride
He announced he was going down with us, solemnly high fiving Alina before we all took off. The trip was over too soon and my students were both naturals, with Alina already wanting to go on the real slopes.
“No way, we both need more practice,” Dan said, effectively keeping me from being the bad guy, which I reluctantly appreciated. Half the battle of getting kids to be good was having them like you.
A couple of hours flew by, and it was a shock for all of us to hear the dinner bell ringing from the lodge. The sun was slipping below the outline of the mountains that surrounded us and the lights that adorned the evergreen trees at the bottom of the hill were merrily twinkling against the darkening sky. We’d been having way too much fun. Alina scowled in the direction of the lodge. A thrillseeker had been awakened in her and it didn’t think it needed something as trivial as food.
We were at the bottom of the hill and I sensed a couple of tantrums brewing, but Dan winked at me, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Are you up for another ride?”
It could have been completely innocent, but fire rushed to my cheeks. It wasn’t innocent, not with that look he was giving me. The kids shouted and began stumping back up to the top of the hill, Alina and Artie dragging the sled behind them. I scowled at Dan.
“What?” he said. “I was talking about going down in the tube again.”
“Sure. And I was trying to get them to get back for dinner.”
“Come on,” he shouted over his shoulder, already halfway up. “I know you know how to have fun.”
What could I do but follow them up, not about to be the buzzkiller babysitter. Somehow we all managed to fit in the giant tube together and went flying down the hill, even gaining a little air. The kids squealed, Dan barked a laugh, and we all tumbled out in a heap when we skidded to a stop on the flat ground.
“Okay, enough for today,” I said in my best drill sergeant voice. We’d stayed out too late and I didn’t want anyone’s mom getting mad at me for not heeding the bell.
I hurried them along, ignoring Dan’s jokes and jibes. Okay, some of them were funny this time, and not at my expense. The kids were howling with laughter, and it was actually pretty damn cute.
Yikes, I couldn’t start liking him again. Not least of all because I was an employee in the household, but because I’d seen his true nature. I wouldn’t be fooled a second time.
Instead of being annoyed, Katie greeted us with a jolly smile, pointing to a sprig of mistletoe above the door. I dodged it neatly, making her laugh and Dan scowl.
“Join us for dinner again, Paisley?” she asked.
Dan stood stubbornly under the mistletoe, as if I’d come running back. “Yes, join us,” he said, waggling his eyebrows.
I faked a huge yawn, telling Katie I was exhausted and would just eat in my room.
“Come on now, you’ve got more stamina than that,” Dan said for my ears only. “Can’t handle another round?”
There it was. His big handsome jerk syndrome was flaring up again. Not bothering to answer him, I fled from the kitchen, feeling his eyes on me the whole time. When I got to the door, Iglanced around and he wasn’t even there anymore. I was already forgotten. For some reason that pissed me off even more.
Chapter 9 - Daniil
I was in a fantastic mood. Did I break through Paisley’s shell a little? Probably not. But she was laughing along with me at least half the time. I could handle her scowls the other half. She might have convinced herself she hated me, but the truth shined from her eyes as plain as the snow falling off the kids when they crashed into the lodge.
I was as giddy as they were, a seemingly impossible feat after hours of trudging up a hill pulling four kids who weighed a lot more than they looked when combined together in a heap. It had to be their nanny who had me feeling like the day was far from wasted. I even learned to snowboard, and was surprisingly good at it, if I did say so myself. Whether it was her teaching skills or I was just a natural, I knew she was impressed.
Katie’s narrowed gaze couldn’t douse my good mood, and not even her warning about the newly hung mistletoe could wipe the grin off my face. “I hope you didn’t have too much fun,” she said, half joking for the kids’ sake, half warning for mine.
“It was so great, Mama, I hardly fell at all, and besides, falling is kind of fun,” Alina said, sidetracking her mother’s suspicion. How could she fault me for spending time with them when that was the whole point of being there?
Pavel started reenacting how fast the sled went by zipping around the kitchen island again and again. Seasoned by her nephew’s antics, Katie only smiled benignly at him before inviting Paisley to join us for dinner again.
The little coward pretended to be too tired and hustled out of the kitchen like I was chasing her. I was disappointed, but I did have my pride, so I extricated myself from the grateful kidsand got a brisk shower, trying not to act like eating with just my family was a consolation prize.
I didn’t know who was in charge of putting out those ridiculous place cards, but I didn’t get to them in time to switch them like I did in order to sit next to Paisley the night before. Now I was seated directly across from Anatoli, which threatened the appetite that had built up from all the outdoor activity.
He returned my scowl, then rolled his eyes, glancing over at Masha who sat a few seats down. Maybe she was the one in charge of the place cards and this was her way of trying to force us to get past our differences. It wasn’t going to work, and I set about ignoring him.
Thankfully, CJ was sitting next to me and I got along great with my sister-in-law. I didn’t think Mat could have found a better wife and he was damn lucky she still didn’t hate his guts after the way he originally treated her. If Paisley thought my little jokes were bad, she should talk to CJ about how she and Mat got together.
“How’s the research going?” I asked her in a low tone after Aleks made a big announcement that we weren’t supposed to talk about anything serious.
CJ knew what I was talking about and leaned closer. “I think I’ve got a name for someone at the top, but we haven’t confirmed anything yet.” When I told her about my list of companies, she brightened. “Oh, that’s great, let’s get together after dinner and I’ll give you what we’ve found.”
