Chapter 32

Max had the doctor come over and draw blood from Kyle and Sarah to make sure Sarah was not lying. After the blood was drawn, the men left Kyle and Sarah alone to talk.

Kyle didn’t know where to start, so they sat quietly for a few minutes.

“I didn’t realize that we were sisters until after the shopping trip, and I’m sorry about that. By the way, Mike was so angry at me for that.”

“We don’t know if we are sisters yet,” Kyle corrected her.

“I wouldn’t lie about that. Viktor is my father, and he is your father.”

“He could have lied about being my father, Sarah.”

“I don’t think he is since he is so hell-bent on getting you. If you get to meet him, be careful. He doesn’t have regrets, and he doesn’t care who gets hurt.”

“Thank you for the warning, but Max and Dimitri have it under control. We also need to know how to contact Viktor.”

Sarah let out a sigh. “I have a burner phone that I use. It’s not a direct line to him. It goes to Anton, who then delivers the messages.”

“Can we have the phone?”

“It’s at the house. I know where it is. I can ask Mike to get it.”

***

“Hey, Ky.” Ryan came in through the front door, greeting her.

“Hey. I haven’t seen you around lately.”

“Your boyfriends have been keeping me busy, and the rest of my time has been with Varina.”

“Does that mean you guys are serious?”

Ryan shrugged his shoulders.

“I can only tell you how I feel. I like her... a lot, and I miss her when I’m not around her.”

Kyle gave her brother a huge smile. “You love her. I’m so happy for you, Ry. Have you told Max and Dimitri yet?”

“No. Varina said she wanted to tell them.”

“I’ll make sure they won’t kill you.” Kyle was joking. She knew Max and Dimitri would be okay with it as long as he took care of Varina.

“~Myshka~!”

“I’ll talk to you later, Ry. That is Dimitri yelling for me.”

Kyle went upstairs, to where she heard Dimitri calling for her. She headed for the office, hoping that was where he went.

When Kyle entered the office she saw Dimitri and Anatoli, but Max wasn’t anywhere in the room.

“Have a seat, ~malyshka~.”

Kyle smiled at the nickname Anatoli gave her. He gave it to her a while back but didn’t use it often. She knew it meant that he was fond of her.

Kyle took a seat next to Anatoli, and when she got situated, Dimitri started talking.

“Max and I think the next step is to get you with Viktor. We have Sarah, so he may be more willing to meet with you directly.”

“And what am I supposed to do?”

“We want you to get to know him and try to understand what he’s trying to accomplish.”

“So, I’ll be there for a while?”

“Yes,” was all Dimitri said.

Kyle didn’t like it. She didn’t want to leave, especially since she didn’t know what would happen once she was with Viktor.

“I want a more laid-out plan before we do anything,” Kyle told them.

“Of course, ~myshka~. We weren’t going to throw you in without planning anything.”

“I’m a little nervous about this, Dimitri. I don’t want to be there for a while. What if I get stuck there?”

“We’ll have a way to track you, and we won’t let you be held captive there if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Okay, I’ll do it, but I have to be comfortable with the plan before going through with it, and I want Sarah to come with me.”

“Absolutely not. We can’t trust her.” The request made Dimitri mad.

“If we are truly related and she wants Mike back, she will work for us. She doesn’t like Viktor. She even gave me a warning about what he is like.”

“We’ll discuss this later with Max. Until then, the answer is no.”

She hated that Dimitri wasn’t listening to her or trusting her. Kyle got up and went to leave.

“Where are you going?” Dimitri asked her.

“I’m done here. You are not going to listen, so I’m done,” Kyle walked out of the office, leaving Dimitri mad.

“She makes me so angry sometimes,” Dimitri told Anatoli.

“It’s a trait you like. If she didn’t have it, you wouldn’t find her fascinating.”

“It still drives me crazy.”

“Have you figured out what you want to do with her?”

“I want to be with her, and I know it’s going to get complicated with her father and with Max, but I’m willing to put in the effort.”

“We keep assuming Viktor is her father, but what if he is lying?” Anatoli asked.

“We thought about that too. Testing Sarah will give us a reason to believe him or not.”

“You’ll need to keep an eye on her once she gets to Viktor. Family can be a powerful weapon. I don’t think Kylah would turn on us, but they could force her to do things.”

Dimitri was worried that it would all fall apart, that they would lose Kyle, and he wasn’t sure he could handle that. He wasn’t sure Max could handle losing her.

***

“He’s only trying to protect you because he loves you.”

“He completely dismissed me.”

“He’s a control freak, and it’s how he deals with things, Kyle. You need to show him that you’re ready, that you can handle it.”

“How do I do that?”

“Be more assertive. Right now, they probably see you as an innocent woman that they have to protect.”

“It’s annoying.”

“To be fair, from what I was told, you were as pure as people come when you first got here.”

Kyle was getting annoyed that Varina was taking their side.

“So . . .” Kyle huffed out.

“It means you were not made for this life; you’re too sensitive.”

“You’re my friend, but you don’t know what it’s like. Everyone has sheltered you from all the bad. I think it’s time to get your feet wet. Have the boys include you in their business deals.”

Kyle knew Varina was right. She needed to show Max and Dimitri she could handle being in this life.