Drake Sisters 06 - Turbulent Sea

erupted into speech at the same time.
    'No!' Sarah said firmly. 'Absolutely not.'
    Libby shook her head. 'Joley, you haven't thought this through.'
    Abbey stepped directly in front of Ilya. 'Mr. Prakenskii, do you kill people for a living?'
    The room fell silent again, and Joley hissed, a long, angry note escaping between her teeth. 'Don't answer. Don't say anything. She's using her gift of truthspeaking on you' She leapt up and pushed between her older sister and Ilya. 'How dare you? Did you ask Damon that question? Or Matt? What about Jonas? Did you ask him? Or Tyson? You have no right to do that to him.' Furious, she glared at her family. 'I'm done here.'
    She turned on her heel, yanked open the door and walked out, slamming it behind her.
    Ilya faced her sisters and their men. 'She wanted you to be happy for her. She wanted to share something special with you. I would have given you any information about myself freely had you asked. It wasn't necessary to embarrass her.' He followed Joley out into the hall.
    Joley walked briskly toward the elevators. She was furious -furious - with her family. It was always the same. Joley, the one they all had to look out for because she couldn't make a decent decision to save her life. None of them had lost their minds over Damon or Matt. Or Jonas. What the hell was that all about? Jonas was bossy and he worked undercover even when he promised he wouldn't. What kind of a husband was he for Hannah?
    Ilya caught up to her and took her clenched fist into his hand, stopping her. 'They were objecting out of love for you, Joley' His thumb slid over her bare knuckles in an attempt to ease the tension out of her.
    She was going to cry. She could feel the tears burning behind her eyes, and that made her even angrier. 'I didn't question if Hannah was out of her mind when she chose Jonas. I supported her decision. Maybe I teased her a bit, but I wanted her happy and it was obvious that Jonas made her happy'
    She had always been so careful in her choice of men because she knew she had a weakness for the dangerous ones.
    She'd laughed about it, joked about it, never once hid it from her sisters, and she'd made certain she stayed away from them. Her family should have trusted that she knew what she was doing.
    'Is it possible that all of you knew Jonas and had accepted the man he is already?' he asked gently. 'I watch you all when he's raking you over the coals, and you might roll your eyes and sigh, but you let him have his say because you know he's afraid for you. And when he's afraid, he's angry.'
    'Don't defend them. They don't deserve it.'
    He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her clenched fist before pulling her into the refuge of his arms. 'You had the same fears, laskovaya moya. It is a legitimate question after all. I went to a great deal of trouble to create my reputation.'
    'Jonas and Aleksandr are standing in that room. Aleksandr is Abbey's fiance. She could have asked him privately what he thought, not tried to embarrass you in front of my entire family.'
    'I don't embarrass so easily, Joley.' He nuzzled her neck, holding her close in an effort to still the tremors running through her body. 'But I love you all the more for wanting to defend me.' A sound alerted him, and he whirled around, thrusting Joley behind him as a door opened. Hannah came down the hall toward them.
    'Joley, Ilya, come back inside.'
    Joley looked stubborn. 'I'm really angry,' she said. 'I'd better not.'
    Hannah reached them and drew her sister into her arms, although Joley remained stiff. 'You're hurt, baby, that's not the same thing. And you have every right to be upset. I'm happy for you and so is Jonas. He says Ilya is a good man.'
    'By agreeing to marry him, I said Ilya was a good man. I know I've always been attracted to the wrong sort of men, so why would I marry someone I wasn't certain of?'
    'You're right, Joley. Everyone is very sorry. Please come back and we'll have some tea.' Hannah smiled up at Ilya.
    'Joley is very loved and we're all a little overprotective of her.'
    Ilya nodded his understanding. He felt very protective of her as well, and sometimes felt her family didn't protect her enough. Joley thought of herself as tough, but she was very sensitive and vulnerable. He slipped his arm around her waist. 'Let's go have some tea.'
    Joley scowled at them, but she'd never been able to resist Hannah. She followed her sister back to the room. You're uneasy. We don't have to go in.
    He