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70: A Thousand Splendid Suns
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Maksim wanted to go home to his wife. An assignment had never annoyed him as much as this one. Even processing the information he had received so far was slow. What he needed were the pictures, and he would be on the jet back home.
He glared at the novel in his hand, annoyed at himself for stooping this low. Pleasing his wife meant trying to share some of her interests, but he didn’t expect to be pages deep into a story about some Afghans and their wars.
This was not a romance story.
He shut the copy of A Thousand Splendid Suns. He only enjoyed her mafia romance novels when he was reading them to her, or he would have started with those. They contained lots of misinformation about the mafia, but Camilla cared more for the main leads happy ever afters so he kept shut. Maybe that was why she liked the books. They were a respite from her mafia reality.
The long-awaited call came in. His phone buzzed on the hotel bed, and he tossed the
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The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 71: Home
Maksim hid his disappointment a tad too late. Camilla had already seen it. Her face fell, and she smiled sadly. “It’s not good.”“No,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s fine.”“Don’t lie. Your face says it all.” He took another spoonful to show her he was fine, but that only helped him identify the issue. Salt. The problem was with the salt. “You really don’t have to pretend, Alek.”“Cam, I mean it. It’s good…”“But?”“It’s a bit salty,” he admitted.“Salty?” Camilla asked. He nodded. She scooped some from his plate, and her face wrinkled as she forced it down her throat. “Oh God. This isn’t a little salty. It’s a lot salty. Fuck. I forgot I added salt the first time.” Rising, she tried to pack his plate, but he stopped her. “You don&r
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 72: He liked her
Camilla didn’t tell Alek the exact details of the conversation with Papa because she hadn’t decided what to do. Leaving Alek should make her happy. It was her end goal. Her attempts at pregnancy was in line with it. Papa had given her a better option, a glorious alternative. Yet she didn’t want to take it.What if she told Alek about Papa’s proposal, and he asked her to leave? No, he wouldn’t. The man liked her. That much was true. But she wasn’t sure he liked her enough to want her to stay here with him. What about her? What did she feel?Her fingers wove through his hair. Very rarely did she wake up before him, but today was an exception. He was a quiet sleeper, a quiet man, who seemed to grow talkative around her. She liked it, but she wanted more from him. His secrets. His fears. Many, many things about him.Alek moaned, and her nipples roused. She was naked from yesterday’s attempted sex. When she felt h
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 73: Bible, Cam (I)
Maksim spied the time. Today was going too slow. He had a date with Camilla. A sadistic chuckle almost escaped him. Fine, he called it a date. So what? She was his wife, not a random girl he was fucking.The knob jiggled, and his office door opened. Vanya entered. Their relationship had moved from I want to murder you, Vanya, to, what the fuck do you want, since Camilla’s arrival. He had only been nice to his half-brother for Camilla’s sake, but that had become easier to do in the last days. Not enough to want Vanya around him but enough to tolerate and not kick him out of his office for not knocking first.“What’s up?”Vanya offered him a smile that lacked its usual exuberance. Another patient of his had better not died because Maksim still was unable to offer any sympathies.“I’m leaving. I have to return to work.”Maksim leaned back in his chair, his fingertips touching. He
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 74: Bible, Cam (II)
“Uh-oh,” came from the other end of the phone.“Yeah. Because Cam lost the baby,” Maksim said. Christian muttered apologies he ignored as soon as they came. He should have trusted his friend enough to tell him there was no child, but it had already happened. No use bringing it up now. “If I tell her, she might want to leave. She likes me, but does she like me enough to stay?”“Then get her pregnant. You’re the man.”Maksim groaned. “Look, that wasn’t why I called you. I’m going to do something silly very soon. When that happens, you might need to watch her for me. I trust only you.”Christian whistled. “I’m up for it, bro.”“Thanks. I’ll let you know when I have more info.” Closing his eyes, Maksim said, “Hopefully it never gets to that point.”His friend re-echoed his sentiments, and the call ended. He hadn’t d
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 75: Bright, hopeful eyes
Days had passed since the river date. They hadn’t had any new ones, and Maksim was afraid to ask his wife to another. He loved to think their relationship hadn’t changed much after it. Camilla was still treating him as good as she always did. Her patience with him was frightening. On some days, like today, he wondered if it was patience or something more. Something sinister.As he fixed his tie before leaving for a meeting at the club, he pored through their older conversations in his mind. Even in his imagination, Camilla was still an angel. An angry angel, but still one. Something dropped on his lap. Her scent announced her presence first before he looked up.“What’s on your mind?” Camilla asked. He caught his worried reflection in the mirror before she blocked the view. Standing between his legs, she nudged his hand from the tie and knotted it. “Talk to me, Alek.”“Our last date,” he replied.&n
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 76: My handsome husband
The softness of Camilla’s voice convinced Maksim she wouldn’t hold this against him if he kept the answer to himself. But he wanted to share this information with her. She deserved to know what world she was in. That urge gnawed at his skin.“The don,” Maksim finally replied.“A don?” she said, her nose wrinkling. The word had been used in some of her books, but she had read it without a thought. Her novels might be wrong about a few things, but they were right about the title of dons or mob bosses. “What’s a don?”Maksim laughed. “You curious thing.” He kissed her, straightening up to deepen the kiss. “A don is the head of a mafia family. In this case, Papa is the head of the sinners men. The Kalashnikov’s family. For us, we refer to our dons as the grand sinners. The Sinner Men is the Russian faction of the mafia in Sin City. Some call it the bratva. Just as the Japanese call t
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 77: Accessible shirts
Camilla was lying to her husband. She had to tell Alek what Papa wanted from her. If he let her go, oh well. Maybe it would hurt, but she wouldn’t have to carry a child she might never see again. She would do so today. That thought kept her sane as she cleaned up. She had delayed doing that since their other visits to the hammock.Alek was opening up to her. Opening up might not be the word he would use to describe the actions of the past few days, but she had to reciprocate the gesture. How could he trust her if she was lying to him?What if he wanted to know why she never told him? The answer was simple. For the same reason she called him babe. Which was?A bang from outside paused that thought. Camilla went to the door and cracked it open. Ivan was outside, with shopping bags in each of his hands. She stepped back to let him in. They couldn’t be for her. Alek would rather die than let another man shop for her. In the past, Doris
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 78: Your bastard
Three words. Maksim fucked up. He knew that the moment Camilla spun the laptop for him to see those pictures. How did they get here? While receiving that phone call, he had fantasised about bending her over his desk. He might have asked Ivan to get him some shirts so she could touch him however and whenever she liked, but it looked better on her. She could have them all. If he wanted her to still look at him with a heartfelt smile, he had to fix this.“You’re wasting my time, Alek,” she said.“No explanation would be good enough for why I did it,” he began. Her fists clenched at her sides. And she exhaled. “I’m sorry.”At the time, his reasons had made sense. It was one way to kill two birds. One, end their ongoing silent treatment. Two, confirm that she was to be trusted. If she came to him with the problem, both issues would have been solved. But that only happened when they were on better t
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The Mafia’s Temporary Bride Epilogue (II)
Camilla froze. Her heart raced shamelessly, and emotions she thought herself no longer capable of feeling flooded her. This was their first meeting since he dropped her at KJ’s house. She should pry his hand off her, scold him, or leave. But she did none of those things. It had been months.God, she missed her husband so much. So fucking much it was hard to fully express the loss without breaking down in tears.“Alek.”“Cam.”Camilla’s hand dropped over Alek’s, and she knew the feeling was mutual. He missed her too. If not, he wouldn’t be here with flowers. Or here at all. Her tea was getting cold, but she didn’t care. The shop was empty, so she didn’t have to hide or pretend. She wanted her husband here.Operations didn’t start until 5. So she liked to have an hour of silent reading before the hustle. But she didn’t mind sharing her solitude with Alek. He was the only one worthy of shar
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 122: Epilogue (I)
The alarm on Maksim’s phone went off at exactly 3:45 pm. He shot to his feet and grabbed the bouquet of sunflowers on his desk. Outside the store, people went about their daily activities. But it was only a matter of time until his wife showed up.His wife.Maksim had never thought of Camilla as anything but that, though they had been separated for months. She hadn’t changed her mind about their ending. Not as if he had asked her. He lacked the courage to do that, so he had resorted to stalking her.That was how he knew her routine. That she would walk past this store and head to the coffee shop ahead of it in ten minutes. The man in charge of the shop would be late, but Camilla would wait. And when he finally arrived, he would apologise for coming late. It was the same routine over and over again with her. But with each day, she had grown less skittish and read more books.He couldn’t say if she still read romance, but she read a lot more now.
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 121: Our cliff (II)
“Safe. Sonia and the rest of the girls and women we found have been taken care of.” Maksim knew the man wanted something more, so he waited. Antony didn’t disappoint him by saying, “Some of our guys aren’t so happy Oleg had to die the way he did. So here’s what we will do—” “No deal,” Maksim interrupted. Antony chuckled, a hand going over his belly. “You haven’t heard me out.” He said nothing, and the other man added, “I’m guessing you don’t want to see this Sonia. I’m as curious as you probably are. Is that her real name? Why do you look so much like her? Why did Oleg keep her in such a place after she birthed the heir to his throne?” “What do you want?” “Nothing. For now,” Antony added. “But soon, we might need your help. If you agree, I’ll let you know where Sonia is.” Maksim dropped the file on the bench. It was still open, so he gazed longingly at the picture. He had lost Camilla and Doris, could he lose his mother? How was he certain it was her? His he
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 120: Our cliff (I)
The living room was quiet. Maksim and Christian sat on the floor. A few times, he glanced at the phone in his hand, expecting it to light up with his wife’s name. Things had progressed from bad to worse since the day she overheard his conversation with Vanya. Before that day she was only giving short replies, but now? She said nothing. A few people around him had suggested a change of location to help her mood, so now they were camped in Christian’s other apartment. It was located Nightfall Hills. But Camilla hadn’t reacted to the move, not even Doris’ appearance. He brought the housekeeper to cheer her up. Their relationship had improved. He wasn’t sure if those two spoke. But whenever he was around them, both women were always quiet. “What do you keep looking at?” Christian asked, snatching his phone from him. Maksim shrugged. His head fell back to the couch he was propped against. He wished for so many things he would never have. “She’s leaving me.” “How
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 119: Their home
Camilla was still asleep when Maksim left the room. There was a smile on his lips as he stepped out. He had to arrange pillows in a long line so she wouldn’t know he was gone. Christian called as he got into his car. At first, they had agreed for his wife to move to Nightfall Hills. A change of location, as was suggested by everyone and also get her closer to her family. With his enemies dead, she wouldn’t have to worry about her safety. But he wanted her to go home when she felt better, close to the version of herself he took months ago.The call lasted seconds. They would visit his friend but might end up not staying. He would have to ask her first. As he got closer to his destination, he pulled out his phone to call Ivan. Camilla was slowly getting better, and he needed to check on her. He had never left the house without informing her first, but he hadn’t wanted to wake her up this morning. She looked cute. He also had Ivan at home for emergencies.A
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 118: Babe
Alek was taking too long to get out of the bathroom. Camilla patted her foot on the floor. She had the option of knocking, but he would demand her voice. Talking still felt strange. While in captivity, she had gotten used to the silence. Her voice didn’t save her when those men had her on the floor. She had begged them to let her go, but…But what?A mental block paused her thoughts. The memories after that were too fuzzy. A blank wall she couldn’t get past. Something bad had happened. That was for sure, even if she didn’t know what it was now. The only person’s touch she could tolerate was Alek’s. Even Doris’ doleful eyes couldn’t get her to allow more body contact. Her body was revolting against something her brain and mind was stopping her from remembering.The baby was gone. Their baby. Alek hadn’t blamed her. He didn’t even mention it. That was supposed to be the surprise. The final addition to their ha
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 117: Progress
They could get another baby. If not this year, then next. The most important thing was Maksim had his wife back. Even if she had becoming unbearably quiet. Camilla was awake now. He could tell from how she pulled the cover over her shoulders.Maksim had tugged it down at night to hug her while she whimpered in her sleep. There was no conclusion on the rape. The tests for STIs had also come up negative. Dr Igor mentioned the absence of semen, but according to him, that could also be because of how long ago the assault happened. For now, they couldn’t conclude on if she had or hadn’t been molested. Only Camilla could answer that question for him.The blood was from losing their baby. A baby he couldn’t protect. Maksim stood by the bedside table, his hands fisted at his sides as he stared at the woman on the bed. She looked like his wife, but she wasn’t. She was someone else. A broken version. Her back was turned to him, and in his hand, he held a roma
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 116: For true evil
Couldn’t the car possibly go faster? Left to Maksim, he would have swam across the river, but that would have been a stupid move. How would he carry Camilla after finding her? Now he was in a car with Ivan behind the wheels. His driver had arrived while he was talking to the men.After today’s display at the house, he was sure no one would question his authority for a long time. Before their fear of him fully dissipated to be replaced by respect, he would fish out every single one that had partaken in Camilla’s disappearance and eliminate them from this earth. If that was the only thing he would do as a Grand Sinner, he was completely fine with that.Maksim had never thought of himself as good, even the time with Camilla hadn’t changed that view he had of himself. But the incident of this morning had revealed he had the capacity for more. For true evil.The car slowed as they reached a lonely path. The road was rocky. Trees lined each side of t
The Mafia’s Temporary Bride 115: Baby (II)
If Maksim wasn’t going to listen to Doris at all, the use of his full name had grabbed his attention. She had never called him that. That being said, she stormed out of his sight. Baby? Camilla was pregnant? She wasn’t one to keep secrets from him. Not ones as huge as this. Think, Mak. Think.Wait. She promised to give him a surprise when they reunited. Was that it? No. No!Rage penetrated Maksim’s frame. On his feet, he went to their room. All plans to wait for Dmitri’s reveal dissipated into thin air as the housekeeper’s words danced in his head.Baby.Their baby.He lied to her.He promised to protect her, and he didn’t.In their room, Maksim grabbed two guns and attached silencers to them. For every of Papa’s man he met on the way to his office, he put a bullet in the centre of their forehead. Bodies fell around him. He had the element of surprise and silence for the attack. By the time he arrived at Pa
