Page 16 of Savage Empire
I spot Yordan and Rayna in the middle, sharing a double seater couch. I’m debating on whether or not to migrate closer to them when Leon takes the seat across from Rayna and extends a small white bundle toward her.
“For your eye,” he explains as Cleo drops into the seat next to him, huffing quietly. “It’s just a shitty first-aid ice pack but it’ll help the swelling.”
Rayna hesitates but accepts it, her fingers brushing his as she takes the offering. “Thank you.”
Leon replies something in Bulgarian, and I curse the fact that I don’t understand it. I never thought his ability would come in handy, we don’t have treaties or deals with any Bulgarian syndicates. He only learned the language to speak with his nanny like two decades ago.
The fact that he had a crush so big that he became fluent in an entirely new language has never made sense to me. I’ve never liked anyone that much, let alone a married woman twice my age. But now I wish I learned with him, or made him teach me the bare minimum. I don’t like that he can converse with Rayna without me knowing what they’re saying.
The pair exchange more unfamiliar words, even drawing Yordan into the conversation. It seems like mostly pleasantries based on the way that Rayna remains cautious but Yordan smiles wide and talks easily.
“What’s your name again?” Cleo asks, her tone somewhere between icy cold and sickly sweet.
The fact that she’s even sitting next to Leon instead of joining Melani in the back of the plane to be with her children means I was right to have Rayna change out of Leon’s shirt. Cleo may be romantically uninvolved with her husband, but she also tends to exhibit undeniable jealousy when Leon experiences any female attention.
Rayna holds her gaze, refusing to react to the tense nature of Cleo’s question. “Rayna Todorov.”
“You don’t go by Todorova?” Leon asks lightly, head inclining. “Bulgarian surnames are traditionally gendered, yes?”
Rayna nods slowly, turning her head to face him as she answers. “Todorov is easier with English speakers, adding the ‘a’ has made people disassociate Yordan from me in the past. If I’m speaking to someone in Bulgarian, I use Todorova.”
“Heaven forbid someone thinks we might not be related,” Yordan teases, nudging her with his elbow lightly.
“Yes,” she says firmly. “Heaven. Forbid.”
“Okay, snappy.” Yordan huffs a short laugh. “I’m only kidding. I like sharing the same name, too. I’ll start going by Yordan Todorova, take my turn being the grammatically incorrect one.”
His declaration earns a genuine laugh from Rayna. It’s light and airy, but musical in a way that grabs my attention.
“Our sister doesn’t use the ‘a’ either,” Ivan says suddenly. “She’s dropped it entirely. For the same reason, she prefers it matching ours perfectly. And she’s lived in America her whole life, so it feels normal.”
“Ivan Morozov, right?” Yordan asks, reaching forward to extend his hand. “I’m Yordan.”
Ivan takes it and shakes it once. “You know a lot of names by faces, Yordan. You’d make a good spy.”
The air in the cabin shifts, sensing the deeper meaning to Ivan’s words. He isn’t complimenting Yordan, he’s accusing him. Thankfully, the comment doesn’t scare the teen, it makes him chuckle.
“No, I wouldn’t. I’m the farthest thing from sneaky, discreet, and observant. I once tripped into a champagne tower.”
Rayna hides a smile. “I think you can forgive yourself for that now, Yordan. You were ten, you shouldn’t have been anywhere near a champagne tower anyway.”
Ivan looks between the pair of siblings and seems to drop his suspicion. He’s protective of anyone that comes near Jade,Dmitri, and their babies. It’s one of the things I appreciate most about him.
He doesn’t need to worry about the Todorov siblings. I know a spy when I see one, and neither of these two have nefarious intentions where my family is concerned. Rayna may want to chop my balls off, but that seems to have nothing to do with my last name and everything to do with my personality.
“Are you going to sit, son?”
I stiffen, looking over my shoulder to blink at my father. I can hear Leon continuing to speak with Rayna and Yordan, but force their voices out of my head to address our Capo.
“I could ask you the same.”
He chuckles, dropping down into the seat behind him and gesturing to the chair across from him. “Join me.”
I had planned to.
Sitting anywhere else wouldn’t be logical.
“I don’t like the glimmer in your eye,” I tell him bluntly, sitting down and folding my hands into my lap. “You’re plotting.”
