Chapter 21

Ethan watched as Alfred ushered Kristina and Sokolov into the living room to join the rest of Nikolas's guests. They were standing arm in arm in the doorway, the top of Kristina's head barely reaching Aleksandr's shoulders. Neither looked apprehensive, but that could be a ruse; the two of them had obviously been playing a very dangerous game together for a very long time. It was doubtful that they'd be so sloppy as to show their cards now.

He couldn't say the same for most of the other's in the room...

Alexis was doing her level best not to seem angry or out of sorts; this came across as frighteningly gracious and nervous. She'd nearly tripped over her own two feet when she'd rushed over to greet Aleksandr and her middle daughter. She shook his hand with more than her fair share of enthusiasm, and squeezed Kristina in such a tight embrace that Krissy had noticeably winced.

Sonny was doing his best not to react at all, as far as Ethan could tell. He coolly walked over to Kristina and wrapped an arm around her, seemingly relaxed…

Ah, there it was Ethan thought – his tell.

Sonny might seem calm to the casual observer, nothing in his body language giving him away, but the look in his eyes promised murder…or worse. Flashing his famous dimples at Sokolov he reached out to shake the man's hand; there was something sinister about Kristina's father in that moment…something menacing. To Sokolov's credit he returned the smile, not looking a bit concerned.

The other introductions were made quickly; Olivia came off as gracious, if a bit edgy. Nikolas…ever the magnanimous host and doting cousin, was charming and well-mannered. Dante was very personable and friendly…years of undercover work obviously paying off.

Dear cousin Carly came off as a bit of a bitch – but nothing new there really – acting any other way would have seemed more suspicious. Michael's only mistake seemed to be that he was being too nice…a bit like a used car salesman in Ethan's opinion.

Sam embraced Kristina warmly, and threw a 'Nice to see you again' at Aleksandr; Samantha Morgan PI…at ease on the job. Jason was…well…Jason; Ethan wasn't sure that he'd ever seen the man really react to anything or anyone except for Michael, Sam, and his children…unless he was annoyed with Carly.

Throughout all of these the introductions and greetings both Kristina and Sokolov were cool and collected. It was irritating really, how at ease they seemed; it was almost a pleasure to see the look of shocked surprise on Kristina's face when Johnny stepped around Jason and bent down to kiss her on the cheek. Sokolov cocked his head a bit to the side and narrowed his eyes, but there was no other outwards reaction as he shook Johnny's hand.

"Well now," Luke murmured, turning to grin at Ethan "looks like the gangs all here." Tracy rolled her eyes, but both she and Ethan followed him over to greet their newest arrivals.

Kristina suppressed the urge to turn and flee when Luke and Tracy Spencer approached her…Luke carrying a dish of entrée's – which he was eating from. Ethan was trailing slightly behind them…eating some kind cheese on a stick – apparently taken from Luke's tray. Their eyes met and everything else seemed to fade for just a moment before Luke pulled her back to reality.

"Kristina! Long time no see darlin', how've you been?" Luke asked, offering both she and Aleksandr the chance to grab something from his platter. Kristina declined with a slight wave of her hand, while Aleksandr reached for one of the little cubes of cheese as well.

"Hi Mr. Spencer, I didn't realize you'd be here." She said, still more than a little apprehensive. If her parents had enlisted the help of Luke Spencer, then they knew Helena was involved...she'd hoped that they hadn't quite figured that out yet. She hadn't anticipated seeing Johnny or Ethan either; after all, neither of them were exactly on her father's Christmas card list.

"Oh, well you know that you dad and I are old friends. As for your mom…I'm the one that got away." He said it dramatic sigh, and turned to bat his eyes at Alexis. "Isn't that right Natasha?"

Alexis quirked an eyebrow at him, and then grinned appreciatively at Tracy when she crammed a piece of Gouda cheese into his mouth…hopefully she'd removed the toothpick first.

"It's a very great pleasure to meet all of you." Aleksandr said. The tone of his voice and that damnable Russian accent grated intolerably in Ethan's ears. He and Sonny were the only two in favor of tossing the Russian bastard straight into one of the Wyndemere cellars and extracting their answers with a couple sponges, a bucket of water, and a pair of jumper cables.

They all stood in an awkward semi-circle of silence for a few moments before Nikolas cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Dinner's ready now if you're hungry…cook has prepared a fairly large selection, including many of your favorites Kristina. Shall we move this conversation into the dining room?"

Several people nodded their assent and turned to follow him; Tracy snatched the half eaten tray away from her husband, who was still leering at Alexis. She slammed it down onto the nearest table, grabbed his arm, and fairly dragged him out of the room.

It was going to be an interesting evening, no doubt about it.

Sestrenka – little sister

Kristya - Russian diminutive (kind of like a nickname) of Kristina

Sasha - Russian diminutive (kind of like a nickname) of Aleksandr

Bolshoy Brat - Big Brother

Anfisa - Flower

Matʹ - mother of

lyubov - love

Kazan, Russia – *Wikipedia definition* - Kazan is the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,105,000 (2002), it is the sixth largest city of Russia.

Kolyma, Russia – *Wikipedia definition* - The Kolyma region is located in the far north-eastern area of Russia in what is commonly known as Siberia but is actually part of the Russian Far East.

Moscow, Russia - *Wikipedia definition* - Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia.