Russian Bastard | A Mafia Novel ✧

Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

Zeke

She was even more beautiful in person. The picture that his father showed them two weeks ago did not do her justice, he thought as he continued to run his fingers over the piano, playing the notes to the music. He had practically memorized the chords and keys to Beethoven's Bagatelles that he wasn't even paying attention to his fingers to play anymore, so his thoughts were free to wander.

His eyes roamed the room and once again, he saw the suspicious figures he had seen earlier. There were some men that he wasn't familiar with on the premises, men with passive and indifferent expressions. Five in total, he counted, scattered across the room. It was unlike those who were truly there for the event, either smiling and chatting excitedly or with calculated expressions of those who were thinking of whose connections would benefit them the most.

As his eyes continued to observe the audience, he caught sight of Tatiana.

His thoughts drifted once again to her beautiful face. Her eyes were a lighter green in person and they reflected almost a sense of innocence which was very misleading with how she was dressed. His thoughts went back to a moment outside on the grounds, when they were conducting normal security procedures. Every time someone bowed at her she seemed to stiffen.

He was trying to piece together why she would act in such a way when Bianca burst into the ballroom through one of the archways leading from the hallways, looking distressed.

When he played the last note to Beethoven's Bagatelles, he stood up, smiling and thanking the crowd as they applauded him. He glanced back at where Bianca was walking, deciding to go to her and ask her what was wrong when his brother suddenly showed up, grabbing her and turning her to face him.

Zeke looked on, confused, but kept a smile on his face since the eyes of the partygoers were still on him. He stepped down from the dais as the band went back on stage to continue playing. He began approaching Bianca and his brother only to stand rigid—in the middle of the room—when Francesco suddenly grabbed her face and embraced her in a passionate kiss.

He gasped slightly in shock, standing immobile before leaping into motion—powering through the people that separated him from the two and nudging guests aside. When he reached them, he pulled them apart, anger evident on his face.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he swore at them incredulously, looking between the two.

With his lips swollen, Francesco started to speak only for Zeke to stop him and pulled them both away and into the next-door hallway, hoping that no one noticed the two's passionate embrace.

He dragged them further into the corridor before shutting the double doors of the archway that connected the two rooms. He slowly breathed, trying to calm down before facing the two.

"What was that?" Zeke tried to ask Francesco calmly in barely disguised anger. "How stupid are you, Cesco?"

Francesco's face reddened in anger. "Do not insult me, mladshiy bratishka."

Zeke scoffed. "What do you think would've happened if that kiss lasted longer than those two seconds and people began to notice?" he demanded. "Father would've found out," he said with agitation. "And that's not even the worst of it, your mother would've found out." Father could be reasoned with but Gina was a whole other story. She was vicious and had this idea of a perfect family in her head. She wasn't beyond eliminating obstacles that were in her way of her perfect family.