Scandalous Heroes Box Set (108 page)

After their love making session, they had taken one more shower, void of sex but plenty of kissing.  After which, he gave her some of his pajamas and a t-shirt to sleep in; then she finally passed out beside Dylan in the bed. 

Unable to leave her, he fell asleep on the small sofa across from her bed, but not before watching her rest for hours by his son.  It was such a beautiful and haunting site until he simply could not look away.  To know that they had been out in the world all this time, unattended scared the hell out of him.  Yet, to know what he had in his future now was more exciting than any adventure he’d ever known. 

For a man his size, the sleep had been rough and hard, but it was worth it to make her feel comfortable her first night in Dmitry’s home.  Evidently, he had done his job, because once she closed her eyes and snuggled up beside Dylan, she was out like a light. 

As his eyes flashed open to the sun a few hours later, he straightened his long body from its crooked position and pulled the throw cover from his legs.  As he did, he noticed that he wasn’t the only one up. 

Dylan sat up in the bed quietly waiting for his mother to rise from her peaceful slumber beside him and reading
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
.  Immediately, his eyes lit up when he saw Vasily finally stir across the room.  He waved innocently and pointed at his mother to let him know to stay quiet. 

Vasily nodded and motioned for him to get out of the bed and meet him at the door.  Grabbing Dylan’s overnight bag off the side of the bed, he led the little guy out in the hallway and closed the door quietly behind him.

“Mommy’s tired.  She works long hours at the restaurant,” Dylan explained.  His raspy little voice sounded too mature for his eight years. 

“When a mother loves you, she does what she can,” Vasily said, unsure of what else to say to the boy.  “You always stand guard over her when she’s asleep?”

“Yeah, I try to watch over her. She’s the only family that I have.”  Dylan rubbed his growling stomach.  “Mr. Vasily, I’m hungry,” Dylan said, looking up at his father.

Vasily’s face frowned. “Don’t call me that.”

“Call you what?” Dylan asked.

“Mister,” Vasily rubbed Dylan’s mop of curls. His locks were just like that when he was boy. “Just Vasily will do,” he said, walking with him to his room.   He opened the door.  “I’m right here.”

Dylan would adhere to Vasily’s wishes but didn’t like it.  He put up one last protest. “Mom said that children should address all adults as either mister or misses. She says that it’s a sign of respect for your elders.”

Vasily could appreciate that, but still didn’t want to be called by a title. “I’m sure that she’ll understand this one exception.”

“Where are we going?”  Dylan’s apprehension rose.  Looking through the door, he paused.   

Vasily yawned and cracked his back.  “Why don’t you get dressed in my room, and I’ll take you downstairs to grab a bite to eat. Let your mom rest up for a while.”

“Okay, but I’m not sure if she’ll be happy.  I’m not supposed to go off with strangers.”

Vasily had to chuckle.  The kid was already pretty hard around the edges, maybe a good thing for his situation.   “She taught you well, but again, I think she’ll make an exception.”

“Mommy makes a lot of exceptions for you, huh,” Dylan asked. 

“You have no idea,” Vasily said, patting the boy on the back. 

They went into the bedroom, but Vasily left the door open just in case Lilly came looking for him, and
just in case he wasn’t the exception
.

***

Breakfast in the Medlov compound was not only the most important meal of the day but also one of the few times that everyone got a chance to see each other at one time before they all went about their business.  

The staff of five would start to prepare the food way before dawn, making sure that even the earliest riser had coffee, juice and fruit before the full assorted breakfast was served.  However, considering they were such a large family comprised of Dmitry, his wife Royal and their three children, Anatoly, his wife Renee and child and Gabriel and his girlfriend Briggy, plus the guards, which Dmitry fed every day, there was plenty of food to prepare. 

Still, it was a daily ritual that Dmitry insisted upon and everyone else looked forward to.              

By seven in the morning a buffet of food lined the kitchen table, bar and countertops and the informal dining room was set for a family of seven plus three high chairs. 

The television in the kitchen was normally on for everyone to watch the news.  And following breakfast there was a meeting held by Vasily to go over the directives for security for the day. 

Like clockwork, no matter the day, no matter the season, breakfast happened. 

Slowly, the families descended from their quarters in the house to the kitchen area, yawning and searching out the smell of freshly brewed Columbian coffee.

Dmitry was always the first to arrive, followed by his wife.  The last one to show was always Anatoly, because he had to go to the kennels and feed his dogs; tagging along with him was his shadow, Vasily.

But today was different. 

Anatoly went out to the grounds with Boris, a thing that had never happened before, while Vasily slept late. 

There was a roar of laughter coming from the dining room as the family sat around the festive table. The smell of pancakes and croissants, rice and gravy, grits and sausage filled the downstairs. 

An assortment of hot and cold dishes were presented in the customary fine china.  Fresh bouquets of flowers in beautiful crystal vases were placed in the middle of the table and on the buffet and the best silver wear had been set out per Royal’s instructions after she found out that they would be having a couple of guests.   

The windows were opened and curtains pulled to allow the bright sunshine inside, which illuminated the already beautiful interior and set the mood for a great day.  

As normal, Dmitry was at the head of the table reading the newspaper with his gold rimmed glasses perched on his perfect nose with Royal to the immediate right of him, using her IPad to check her emails.  Gabriel joked with his girlfriend Briggy about her snoring lightly at night while Anatoly helped his wife fed his daughter and played with his little sister Anya.

The room went silent, however, as Vasily entered with Dylan. 

All eyes were on the curious pair, especially on the breathtakingly beautiful boy with his bright eyes and rosy cheeks. 

“Good morning,” Dmitry said, putting down his paper.

“Good morning, boss,” Vasily said, looking down at his son. “Everyone, this is Dylan.  He’s…my guest,” he grunted. 

“He’s so handsome,” Royal said in awe. “I’m sure that you’re very proud of
your guest
.”  She had heard the entire story already from her husband and found it to be remarkable.  Vasily had always been a very secretive man about his private life, never mentioning any family and especially any former lovers.  To know that he actually had been in a relationship before made him more human in her eyes.

Vasily nodded toward Royal in appreciation.  “Thank you for that.  I’m growing quite fond of him myself.  His mother is still asleep.  But Dylan was hungry, so I thought…”

“Join us,” Anatoly insisted, pulling out the chair opposite him and his wife.  “Dylan come and sit with me while your…” There was an abrupt pause.  He narrowed his eyes at Vasily.  “
On znayet , chto vy yego otets
?” Hoping that the boy did not speak Russian, he asked Vasily if Dylan knew that he was his father.

“Net,” Vasily responded, a little embarrassed to say so in front of everyone. 

Anatoly tilted his head, but decided against anymore on the subject.  Certain things simply weren’t his business.  “Vasily will fix your plate,” he said, taping the chair. “Dylan, you come and sit with your uncle Anatoly.”

Dylan looked up at Vasily and waited for him to say that it was okay. 

“Go on then boy,” Vasily said, giving him a little nudge.

Dmitry’s daughter was the first to greet him.  Near him in age, she boasted the same blue eyes as her father and long black hair tied with a red ribbon that even while curled stopped at her lower back.  She turned in her chair, ecstatic at someone new to play with a smiled at him.

“Hello,” she said simply.

Dylan’s face lit up. “Hello.” Taking the seat beside her. 

“Are you going to live her now?” she asked innocently.

“I don’t know,” Dylan answered. “I’ll ask my mom when she wakes up.”

“What do you want for breakfast,” Vasily asked Dylan, cutting off the conversation. 

“Cereal,” Dylan answered.              

Dmitry laughed.  “The universal breakfast of children.”  He winked at Dylan.  “We’ve got a wide selection.  What’s your favorite?”

“Captain Crunch.  I like the peanut butter kind,” Dylan answered. 

“I bet we have that, too,” Dmitry said, picking his newspaper back up.

“Oh, I know we do.  Anya loves it,” Royal added, trying hard to hide her utter enjoyment of the scene. 

“Alright, well, I’ll be right back,” Vasily said, glad that the hard part was over.

Gabriel watched the interactions between the boy and the family without a word, but when Vasily headed toward the kitchen, he excused himself from the table.  Following behind him out of earshot of the family, he went to the counter to pour more coffee.

“It’s always hardest for the last ones into the circle.  I know. 
Well, you know
.  You were there when I had my introduction into the Medlov clan.  You might want to spend extra time with him so that he can get used to everything,” Gabriel said casually. “It can be real culture shock for a person to come into this world, but just remember that everyone comes around in their own time.” 

“Thank for the advice,” Vasily said, digging into the cabinet for box of cereal. He didn’t bother to look back or make eye contact.

Nothing new for Vasily. 

“Anytime,” Gabriel said, unsure if the normally stoic man ever showed any emotion.  Walking out of the room, he left him to fixing the cereal for his son and hoped that he’d actually gotten through to him. 

When Vasily was alone, he took a deep breath.  It had been years since any attention at all had been on him, even in his private life.  Now, his entire world and everyone in it was looking at him.  Only, he wasn’t concerned about himself as much as he was concerned about his son.  It was hard not to tell the boy who he really was.  Hearing Dylan vocalize at such a young age that all he had was his mother reminded him so much of his own life, something that he promised himself that he’d never do to a child of his own.  Now, here he was. 

How do I make it up to him
? he asked himself, refusing to place blame on anyone but himself.  Pouring the bowl of cereal, he tried to still his nerves.  He had to keep it together, had to not be any different then he normally was.  Only this family wasn’t helping him.  They all were so
family-oriented,
until it was hard to carry on the way he had done before. 

The sound of the door opening again made him stiffen. He turned to see Royal with a clever grin on her face.  She walked over to him and took the bowl out of his hands.   

“Are you alright?” she asked him in a soothing voice.

He looked down at her and shook his head.  “No.  I’m still in shock, I think.”

“That’s natural.” Royal walked over to the kitchen table and poured milk into the bowl. “You know, I didn’t meet my mother until I was an adult
with a child
.  Anatoly didn’t meet Dmitry until he was an adult, and Gabriel didn’t meet the rest of his family, to his detriment I might add, until he was an adult.”  She walked back over and handed him the bowl.  “But you have a chance while he’s still just a baby to develop a priceless relationship with him.  Now all of this might be untimely and the way that you found out might be unfortunate, but it all happened for a reason.  Make the best of it.  Make it worth it.” 

Vasily smiled at her.  “I will. I promise.”  Pride overtook him for just a second.  “He looks just like me.”

She chuckled. “Oh, Vasily. Don’t be vain.  He looks so much better than you.”  Rubbing his large arm, she motioned toward the door. “Let’s go have breakfast as a family.  Okay?”

“Okay,” he said, following her out.

***

When Lilly woke up and saw that she was alone, it took her only a few seconds to throw on some clothes, brush her teeth and put her hair in a ponytail before she headed out of her room.  As soon as she did so, she was met by a bodyguard in the hall who escorted down to where the family was congregating.

The house was bigger than she remembered from the night before.  In the daylight it was even more opulent and intimidating, but at the moment, all she cared to do was see her son and make sure that he was okay.

Hearing Dylan laugh at a joke by Anatoly made her heart skip a beat as they rounded the corner. He was okay if he was laughing. And if he was okay, then she was okay.  

Again the room went silent when Lilly was brought in.  They all looked at her with smiles that made her wonder if they truly were as nice as they seemed or if it was simply
rich people
manners.  She tried hard to keep her mouth from flying open in shock as she looked around the table.  Sitting right beside her son was Vasily and right by him was an empty chair in front of a table setting, she assumed was for her.

But the most shocking thing about the group were the other two black women at the table, one sitting beside Dmitry and one sitting by Anatoly, plus four interracial children outside of her own. 

“Good morning, Lilly,” Royal said with a smile.

“Yes, good morning,” Renee chimed in giving an equally big smile.

“Please come and have a seat with us,” Dmitry invited. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did. Thank you so much for your hospitality.” Lilly made eye contact with Vasily, who as soon as he saw her felt his hands go clammy. He looked even better to her this morning, especially after the night that they had spent together.