Dmitry's Royal Flush: Rise of the Queen (4 page)

"Yes, ma'am. You must be Mistress Medlov," the woman spoke in an American English accent.

"I am."

Anatoly smirked. That wasn't all that Royal was, but he would let the poor woman find out on her own.

"You sound American."

Royal started down the steps as her clan dispersed around the room to various vantage points to watch the event unfold without their views being obstructed.

"I am. I'm from… " Victoria paused and looked around the elegantly designed room. "I'm from D.C. by way of the Dominican Republic. My family moved to the states when I was a baby."

Royal walked up to her and offered her well manicured, diamond drenched hand. She shook her hand firmly, looking her up and down, inspecting the new help. "I've never been to either place, but I've heard tons about them."

"They are very diverse places," Victoria answered, releasing her hand. "What city are you from?"

Royal raised her brow. "All over. But enough about me. This is my family. You already know my husband Dmitry, who went through the labor of hiring you. That is my daughter,
your pupil
, Anya." She turned and pointed in the opposite direction at the corner bar. "His son, Anatoly. And my bodyguard, Davyd."

"Nice to meet you all," Victoria said with a nod of her head. Her eyes lingered toward the blue prisms of Anatoly's eyes as he too sized her up. He gave a sly nod and turned back around in his seat away from the drama and the young stranger.

Victoria Jackson was a tall, dark and strikingly beautiful woman. Her perfectly toned, milk chocolate skin gave contrast to the designer winter white wool suit cut to fit her long slender body and brought out her bright brown eyes.

She radiated style and elegance with perfectly erect posture and an apparent social grace that Royal chalked up to her being from a good family and having a good education, which had been two of Dmitry's prerequisites for this position.

"Were very happy to have you here," Dmitry said, walking up to Victoria and Royal with Anya. He sensed the need to interject in the conversation before it turned sour. He could see that his wife was trying to be gracious but could feel her anxiety from across the room.

"Thank you, Mr. Medlov," Victoria said, shaking his hand.

He was a breath of fresh air in the room. His smile calmed her. Unable to keep her attention from the beautiful little girl, she looked down at Anya.

"You're a very gorgeous little girl. I can't wait for us to begin our classes tomorrow."

"Daddy said that you were going to teach me a lot of new things," Anya smiled, holding on to her fathers trousers. "But Mommy said you're just one more person to irritate her."

"Anya," Dmitry corrected as he looked down at Royal, who only smirked.

"It's okay," Victoria smiled but noted the concern.

Anatoly laughed and swirled his ice around in his water. He could always count on Anya to liven things up a little.

"Don't scold her, Dmitry. I
did
say it," Royal countered, taking up for her daughter. "But lets just hope that that isn't the case." She smiled at Victoria.

"I'll do my best, Mrs. Medlov," Victoria said courteously.

"Good, now if you come with me, I'm going to escort you to your new living quarters, make sure that you get everything that you need to be comfortable and leave you for the rest of the day on your own," she turned and waved at Stepan to get Victoria's luggage. She couldn't wait to get this woman as far away from her family as possible. There was just something about her that she did not like.

"Well, I was hoping that she could join us for dinner tonight, since it is her first night here," Dmitry added.

Even Anatoly looked over with a cocked brow.
Was he crazy
? He and Davyd made eye contact.

Royal stopped.
Now
, he was pushing it. "Oh. Well, okay. Then, well call for you around dinner time. It's normally around six." Her smile was half crooked. The patience she had mustered was now starting to wear thin and not with the woman but also with Dmitry.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be here." Victoria sensed Royal's resistance to the imposition but chose not to decline his offer. After all, her checks were written by Mr. Medlov, not his stuck up wife.

"Can I go with you, Mommy?" Anya asked, reaching for Royal's hand.

"Yeah, baby." Royal picked her up and planted her comfortably on her left hip while giving Dmitry a very dirty look.

Together, the three women left the room with Royal leading quietly, fighting the sudden desire to crawl up the side of her husband's body and rip his eyeballs from their sockets.

* * *

As the doors closed behind them, there was a collective sigh among the men. Dmitry turned with a clever smile and went to the bar, where Anatoly and Davyd sat, to pour himself a drink.

"That didn't go
so
badly," he said, raising his glass at the men.

"It went worse," Anatoly answered. "You've just started World War three under your own roof and with no exit strategy."

"How? By providing more structure for Anya? Please," Dmitry scoffed.

"Did you have to pick a black woman?" Anatoly asked. He shook his head. "Royal is going to kill you both."

"I don't want anything to do with Ms. Jackson. She's here for Anya." He sipped his drink and looked over at Davyd. "Well, weigh in. I know you want to."

"It's not my place," Davyd said quickly.

"Then make it your place," Dmitry urged. "She's too… beautiful, Dmitry," Davyd explained. "Royal will feel she's in competition. And you don't want
that
woman any more combative. She's already handful." Davyd would not betray Royal's trust and tell Dmitry that his wife's self-esteem could not take such a hard blow.

"I'm not stupid. I know Victoria is beautiful, but she's also most qualified. Plus, I know her family. Her father owes me big favors, and he's still on my payroll."

"I give it one month," Anatoly smirked.

"I give it one week," Davyd bet against him.

"She's been commissioned for
one year
, until Anya starts pre-school at the academy. This will help her have the edge she needs for school. Plus, Victoria went to Brown. She's a world traveler, and she plans to work for a reputable school for girls abroad soon. Learning how to understand families from inside helps her develop skills."

"You don't have to sell us, papa," Anatoly grabbed the bottle of vodka. "I will be on plane out of here soon. You, on the other hand, will still be here with the two of them."

Davyd chuckled.

"Maybe this will help Royal," Dmitry said seriously. "She needs something to focus on. Having Victoria here might give her a chance to find out what that is."

"As your wife puts it often,
we’ll see
," Davyd said, getting up. "I better go and get car ready to take Royal to her shop."

"She's going to work today?" Dmitry was shocked.

"Da, Da
. She told me yesterday that she wanted to go and check on everything today."

"See," Dmitry smiled. "Progress already."

* * *

The Medlov chateau was far too luxurious for words. Victoria walked quietly behind Mrs. Medlov and her curious daughter, who eyed her the entire time as she gawked at the endless limestone staircases, the marble posts, the incredible lighting, the extravagant tapestry, the endless hallways, the statues, the priceless rugs, the one-of-a-kind art, artifacts, the vases, the lighting… it was all too much.

"Mommy said
marvel not
," Anya said, finally as she ran her hand down Royal's shoulder.

"Excuse me?" Victoria asked quietly.

"You aren't supposed to marvel at things," Anya said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Now, now," Royal admonished. "She's not a child like you. She doesn't need
your
help or
my
preaching."

"No, ma'am. That's not what I meant," Victoria was amazed. "It's the fact that she not only knew what I was doing but that she could articulate such a thing."

"Yes, well, Anya's special," Royal said stopping at a large door. Taking a key out of her pocket, she unlocked the door and led Victoria inside.

"Dmitry made sure that you had a nice room," Royal said absently. Seeing Victoria's face light up brought back old memories of when Dmitry had first given her an apartment. She looked away as she tried to hide her jealousy.

"Mrs. Medlov, this is absolutely… ."

"I know," Royal interrupted. "Lets go through the rules this one time."

Victoria stopped
marveling
as Anya had put it and focused. "Alright."

"All of the staff lives here on the third floor. No one outside of Stepan and Davyd are allowed on the second floor. That's where the family lives. You can bypass the second floor by going back down the same flight of stairs that I just brought you up. I'll make sure Anya is downstairs every morning by eight. She can start classes at nine, after breakfast."

"Yes, Mistress."

"I'll handle your pay. I'll handle any problems that you have. And I'll handle Anya. I don't want you to make yourself available to anyone in the house. No relationships with the other staff. No interaction with my step son. Absolutely, no interaction with my husband. Are we clear?" Her voice hardened.

"Yes, Mistress. We are clear."

"Good, these instructions are for your own good. I can't be responsible for what might happen if you don't listen." Royal couldn't come right out and tell the woman that they were a mafia family, but she could at least warn her,
even if she didn’t like her
. It was the most that she could do, but if the woman was obedient, it would be enough.

"Yes, Mistress."

"Now, I'll have Stepan go out and get whatever you need to make this room more comfortable for you. You have your own phone, computer and laptop in your study, which is the next room over. You also have an entertainment center with a large television, DVD player and movies. It gets… lonely out here. So you'll need this.
Trust me
."

"Thank you."

Royal took Anya's hand and started to walk out of the door. She stopped suddenly and turned around. "Oh, and more thing, Victoria. Dinner is optional after tonight. You don't have to feel obligated to dine with us. We have a great cook on staff, who stays two doors down from you. All you have to do is call down to the kitchen, and hell bring you almost anything that you can imagine up to your quarters."

"I understand," Victoria said, bowing her head once more.

As Royal closed the door behind her and left with Anya, Victoria rolled her eyes and kicked off her shoes. What a bitch! She hadn't been there ten minutes and already the woman was going through her
don’t-mess-with-my-man
routine.

Victoria could tell at first sight that she didn't like Mistress Medlov, but she knew that the woman felt the same way about her.

However, she could understand why. With a husband as fine as Dmitry, she would be tripping too, especially since he liked sisters. Plus, his son, Anatoly, was a sexy thing too. She caught him checking her out on the slick side. Then, Davyd was like an old sexy grandpa with the damned guns visible for everyone to see. This family was off the chain.

Her dad had told her to tread carefully here and do this favor for Mr. Medlov, a friend of the family that she had never met or heard of before he called. It was just like her father to know some of the shadiest people in the world. Lobbying for gun rights had its perks, she guessed.

She smiled to herself. There wasn't much to complain about here. She was going to make 150,000 Euros to work for
Mistress Hardass
for one year. She got most weekends off; she got most holidays off; and shed fine something or someone to keep her busy when she wasn't working. Good thing that she already had
someone
in mind.

Dmitry pushed through his last set of skull crushers as he thought about Royal. Shed been out in the courtyard all day with the gardeners giving them direction on how she wanted the landscaping done for spring, which was most unlike her.

However, since Victoria had come to the chateau over two weeks ago, it seemed that his wife was determined to keep busy and stay even farther away from him than before.

Her distance only made things worse between them, and he had every intention of taking the matter up with her today. But it seemed she had sensed the confrontation coming and immediately found a reason to be preoccupied the entire first half of the day.

Flat on his back with sweat glistening, he grunted as he let the bar plop loudly back in the rack and sat up. He breathed in heavily, grabbed a towel to wipe his face and looked over at the clock. He'd been in his gym for over an hour. Exhausted, he slipped on his t-shirt and headed up to his room to jump in the shower.

As he headed down the long corridor that led from his gym into the common rooms of the house, he heard his daughter giggling and laughing. Curiously, he stopped at the door of her new study room and stuck his head inside. Victoria was sitting Indian-style in the middle of the floor with a book in her hand reading, while Anya sat across from her on a pillow. They were evidently having a great time. He cleared his voice and tapped on the door.

Anya automatically looked his way then scurried to her feet and greeted him with a huge hug.

"
Daaaaddddyyyy
, where have you been?" she asked, kissing his sweaty face as he scooped her up.

"In the gym, baby," he said, whirling her around.

Victoria stood up and smoothed out her jeans. Her face lit up when she saw him. To look at the beautiful giant was a treat in itself, but to see him glistening in sweat, muscles bulging in his gym clothes made her heart skip a beat. Plus, she would have never guessed that such a refined man had so many tattoos. They made him even sexier and even harder to resist.

"Mr. Medlov," she said blushing. "We were not expecting you." She tried not to look directly at his penis, but she did steal a peak.

"Sorry to interrupt. I heard someone laughing," he explained, kissing his daughter. "And I could not resist."