All In

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After our shower, I go into my room and get ready for the day. Alexei was told to go to The House, and while he wanted to refuse so we could stay home all day, Volkov demanded it was urgent. So, instead of a wonderful day of fulfilling my request, I go to my room to get dressed to spend the day with Dina and Irina.

I dress casually, but when I meet Alexei out in the kitchen, he's dressed in his usual dress pants and button up shirt. I sit at the island as he makes me my coffee, then his own. On the counter is a newspaper, one that appears every morning, but from where is the question.

"Do you have a maid?"

Alexei takes a sip of his coffee. "Well, I'm not the one cleaning the house and stocking the fridge."

"No shit, Sherlock." I scoff.

"Dina hired her to come specifically before we wake up so we don't have to see her or be in her way."

Alexei reads the paper, and I scroll through my new Instagram while we both finish our coffee. I give no mind to Alexei as he walks around the kitchen, but when I feel his presence behind me, I lean back into him.

His head over my shoulder, he whispers into my ear: "Aleksandra Sokolov has a nice ring to it", referring to my new Instagram handle.

"Give it a few weeks, first." I giggle.

Alexei places a kiss on my cheek. "I'll start a countdown."

I turn in my chair, and he meets me at the side. "Why are you so eager?"

He stares down at me with a smirk on his face. I notice him take a look at my new necklace, then look back up at me.

"I just know what I want." Alexei leans down and places a soft kiss on my lips. "We have to get going."

Alexei holds out his hand for me, and we leave the apartment side by side. His grasp is different, like he wants to make sure I don't leave his side.

He holds my hand all the way until he opens my car door for me. But when as he starts to drive out of the garage, he grips my thigh, and I place my hand on top of his.

"Dina told me you came here about ten years ago. How did you find Volkov?"

Alexei looks at me for a moment, then turns back to the road. "My mother knew him before he moved to the states and started the family."

"Did he know your father?"

"Everyone in Russia knew my father, as I know you've seen on the news." He talks stoically, but that's nothing new.

"Does Volkov have any real children, like biological?"

"Irina was not able to birth any children".

"So she ended up with you instead. Poor woman." I joke. Alexei turns to me with a scowl, but when he sees my smile, the scowl disappears.

"You said your mother brought you here when you were two, and you father died?" I nod. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Mom never remarried or found anyone else after my father died, so it's just me."

It doesn't take long to get to The House. Alexei opens my door for me, grabs my hand, and we walk into the house.

Alexei and I walk through the house together, and he leads me to the back patio. Dina and Irina sit at a metal table sipping coffee and laughing over something on Irina's phone.

"Good morning, Love Birds", Dina looks up at us over her sunglasses. "How was your night?"

I hear Alexei grumble from beside me. He pulls me in and places a kiss into my hair. "I'll be inside."

As Alexei goes inside, I sit down at the third chair at the table. "Last night was amazing."

"Good, good", Dina smiles brightly. It's then that she looks down at my necklace, gasps quietly, then looks at Irina. "He gave it to her".

Irina looks at my necklace and smiles from ear to ear. "Welcome to the family, My Darling."

I play with the necklace in between my fingers. "I heard it was your mother's."

"It was her mother's. The day Alexei left Russia, Mama gave it to him. Told him to give it to the woman who knew he would marry. That from the day he gave it to his woman, in Mama's mind, she would have a new daughter, no matter where he was in the world."

"It's beautiful, but I've only been here not even two weeks", I laugh.

"Mikhail and I were married exactly five weeks after our first date, and the rest is history", Irina tells me. "These men know that they want."

"Wouldn't these men want women who know about this life?"

"No", they disagree in unison.

"These men usually want women as far away from this world as possible. Most women in this world are arrogant, egotistical, entitled, and only want to one up the next."

The three of us continue on talking for awhile. The cooks bring us various pastries and bring out multiple rounds of cappuccinos and water for us. Irina and Dina tell me about everything they can think of to immerse me into my new world, and to get my mind off Carson.

"What day is it?" Irina breaks the silence, and at the same time, the two look at each other. "Oh no."

"I'm missing something." I giggle.

"Saturday is the first", Dina suggests.

"Please fill me in."

"Back when Alexei came to live with us, it was easy for Mikhail to realize he was going to be second in command, when at fourteen. The rest of the boys weren't happy, and so the dumb teenage boys that they were, they bet that every year, they would all play a poker game. He who won it all would take over the position", Irina sips her water and clears her throat. "Fortunately for your man, he has never failed to lose."

"Irina", Dina still looks stunned. "It's his twenty seventh year."

Irina thinks, nodding to herself. She turns to me to continue to fill me in once more. "The second part of the bet was that when Alexei finally turned twenty seven, if he could win that year, the spot is his for good."

"If he could win thirteen times, it's his."

"This seems intense", I giggle again. "But he hasn't mentioned anything of it."

"He is always so nonchalant about it. The man is so unphased by the game each year. I think that's why he always wins. The other guys get in their own heads and panic."

"But", Dina starts to smile again. "That means us girls get to dress up and carry around martinis all night, watching our guys play while we look hot."

"Sounds good to me."