Deadly Nightshade

Chapter 9: The Morozov's

"Stay alert, the Morozov's are coming our way." Niccolo warned us.

Enzo tenses at the sight of the Morozov's, he gets closer to me from behind when he sees them approaching us.

"Lorenzo Cattani! What a wonderful event you have prepared." one of them says as he reach us, and extends his arm towards my dad for a handshake, he looks older than the other men that accompany him, so I assume he must be the leader of the Morozov's.

"Aleksandr Morozov, thank you for accepting the invitation." my dad takes his hand and shakes it politely.

The man that is beside Mr. Aleksandr eyes me up and down, taking in every feature of my body, but I don't show any sign of intimidation, if anything I just raise my eyebrow in wonder. Enzo, however, gives him a deadly glare.

"It is an honor to be invited to a Cattani Gala," Aleksandr says, but everyone can clearly see that his words are not genuine. "I would like to introduce you to my eldest son Andrei Morozov," he adds gesturing towards the man that was previously staring at me, "And my youngest son Alexei Morozov." he gestures towards the man on his right side, Alexei smiles politely to all of us, but if you look closer at his expression he looked as if he didn't want to be here.

"Mr. Cattani, it is nice to meet you," Andrei responds with a strong Russian accent and then his eyes move to me "And who is this beautiful woman?" he asks him.

"This is my daughter Lea Cattani." my dad responds to him with a tight smile.

Andrei takes some steps closer to me and Enzo puts himself in front of me, making Andrei halt his movements, I lean closer to Enzo's ear and whisper, "It's okay, let him come close", Enzo hesitates, but does as I say, going to his previously position behind me. Andrei smirks at Enzo once he reaches me, he takes my hand in his and brings it to his lips, kisses it with a lingering kiss, I do my best to control myself and not retract my hand from his unwelcomed touch, so I just put on my best fake smile and say as politely as I can muster, "Nice to meet you". His eyes linger on my chest for a second, exactly were my necklace is.

Bingo!

"The pleasure is all mine." Andrei says with a smirk, then he retracts from myself and goes back to his father's side whispering something in Russian to him.

At that moment the announcer of the gala invites us to take a seat at our tables since the dinner is about to be served.

"It was nice talking to all of you. See you around!" Aleksandr says, surprisingly sounding polite for the first time "Welcomed to Italy and enjoy the gala." my dad responds to him.

Aleksandr nods his head at my dad's words, his eyes moves to were I am standing and smirks when he says, "You dress up nicely, Ms. Cattani".

If I didn't knew better I would say he was genuinely complimenting my looks, but something tells me that his words have a double meaning behind them.

"Thank you, Mr. Morozov. I hope you have fun tonight." I say with my best fake smile, "Oh, I will..." he responds and with that they retreat to their table.

I make eye contact with my dad and we have a silent conversation with just your eyes, I move my head subtly towards my necklace as I take a seat at our table and I nod my head signaling to him that they are indeed after the necklace, he nods his head back at me as if saying that he understand my message.

The table that is at our right side and the one that is at our left side, are reserved for all of our bodyguards. Enzo seats at the table that is closest to me, keeping an eye on our surrounding all the time.

Max is sitting beside me on my right side and when he rest his arm on the back of my chair, I see Enzo from the corner of my eye look away from us.

Niccolo is sitting beside me on my left side, he leans closer to me and whispers, "Is it just me or did Andrei Morozov got close to you to take a better look at your necklace?" he asks me, he must have seen my surprised expression because he adds, "Lea, I have known you since you were a baby, I know you better than you think. When he got close to you and looked at your necklace, you had a smug look in your face, almost as if you were waiting for him to do that. And we both know that necklace you are wearing is not just any necklace you find at a store, that is your family's heirloom".