Crash into Me: A BWWM Russian Billionaire Romance Read Free

friends , preferring to spend his time either traveling or with his family. The table was full of his family and the few members of Veronika’s side that had attended, as well as a couple of Oskar’s business associates who had been deemed worthy of an invite.
    All four of Oskar’s sisters were there, as well as their husbands and children, and they took up most of the table.
    Of course, it was them who eventually broke the silence.
    “I remember when Oskar was four,” Leda said with a small smile. She was the oldest of all her siblings, and the others looked at her immediately. “He was always running around taking his clothes off. Couldn’t keep him dressed for more than five minutes at a time, and it drove our nanny crazy.”
    Veronika stared hard at her plate and clenched her fingers around her water glass, saying nothing.
    “He was such a defiant little boy,” Dagna put in. “Nanny would try to get him to sit down and do his lessons. He would shout that she wasn’t in charge of him and then run off. Mother had to be enlisted to bring him back each time before he disturbed Father.”
    Alexei’s mouth curled into a smile at the thought of his father doing that. Certainly the older version of him had been that stubborn, but never really in a way that had amused Alexei.
    “And remember when he declared at dinner one night that he wasn’t going to be eating vegetables anymore?” Ana asked in her quiet way with a little smile.
    The sisters laughed warmly and Alexei couldn’t help but smile at that. His father had never been inclined to displays of affection or declarations of love. Alexei had only seen him interact with any of his sisters a few times, but it was obvious that they loved him. It was obvious that he would be missed for more than the fact that he’d been good with numbers or was good at business. That was nice to see.
    Of course, he was the only one who felt like that. At the head of the table, Veronika slammed her glass down, splashing water over her hand.
    “I do not think this is appropriate talk for the occasion,” she said sharply.
    Every head swiveled to look at her, and Dagna looked confused. “What do you mean, Veronika? We’re remembering our brother.”
    “You’re making a mockery of him,” Veronika snapped, clearly upset. “Telling stories about him doing childish things. And in front of his children, too. Is that how you remember him?”
    The sisters exchanged glances and then soft spoken Ana smiled. “Of course we remember him for his accomplishments as well,” she said. “But he was our brother before he was a ruthless business man. We aren’t mocking him, but speaking fondly of the man we all loved. Don’t you want your children to know that there was more than one side to him?”
    “No!” Alexei’s mother said firmly. “I want them to remember him with respect .”
    “Mother,” Alexei said softly. “Leave it be.”
    “I will not ! This whole thing has been a mockery of my husband and the man he was, and I won’t stand for it a moment longer!”
    She got to her feet and strode away from the table, heels clacking furiously on the floor as she went. The rest of the people at the table watched her in silence for a moment, and then the muttering started.
    Alexei sighed, wondering how long he could sit there and eat potato salad before he was expected to get up and try and do something about his mother’s tantrum. He could practically feel Vera’s eyes boring into him while he sat there; so he sighed and pushed his chair back from the table, smiling apologetically at his aunts.
    Vera followed as they made their way across the cathedral floor.
    “I can’t believe you just sat there,” Vera said lowly.
    Alexei gave her an incredulous look. “What was I supposed to do?”
    “Take up for Mother!”
    “Are you kidding me? She was completely out of line.”
    “How? Because she didn’t want to hear about Father as a toddler? Let me guess, you probably thought that