“Does my age not bother you?” His head was cocked to the side a bit and he almost looked nervous about asking the question.
I stared at his chest for a moment before my eyes trailed back up to his. “At nineteen, would you have been able to protect me against my father?”
He seemed a little taken aback by the question but slowly he started to shake his head. “No, I wouldn’t have.”
“Then no, I have no problem with your age.”
His mouth opened up just a bit, his jaw dropping ever so slightly, before snapped back into place. His lips pursed in a thin line.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” His question came out quiet and breathy.
I held his gaze. “Are you?”
After a few seconds ticked by, he nodded. “I am.”
Swallowing, I ran my tongue over my chapped lips. “Then so am I.”
Neither of us moved. Our agreement to marry when neither of us really knew each other felt like a weighted blanket of tension. Shifting slightly, my ankle
“Yebat’.”The curse roused me from my sleep and I turned to see Marek holding a platter of most-likely the bone broth Kamilia had been serving me. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, it was easily about mid-day with the sun streaming in from the windows.“You shouldn’t be up.”In a shocking action, Marek set the platter down on the table and dropped to one knee before me. His hands touched my bare legs as the goosebumps exploded all over my body. He gingerly touched my ankle.“This needs to not be hanging down. The swelling went back up.”He lifted me with not even a grunt before placing me gently on the bed. I watched his every move. Not a single movement was wasted energy. He was a fighter but I wondered if his fighting was closer to dancing than it was pummeling the other person.“Búsinka, you need to eat. You’re a twig. I feel like every time I touch you, yo
“Look…Vladimir and I recently decided on moving out of the city. Yes, we bought a house. It’s not as big as the estate but it’s pretty large. I really do love it. We plan on moving in next week. We hadn’t closed on it last time we talked.”Marek called it. She was diverting attention to a different subject. The women sitting downstairs also knew what she was doing. A couple shook their heads and Kamilia outright scoffed.“You bitch, we mean the pregnancy!”Bronya paled over the line and she looked back at the room quickly before leaning into the camera. “How the fuck do you know?”The woman, Sachi I presumed, covered her mouth. “You haven’t told Vladimir, have you?”Marek stood up straighter and all eyes were on his sister. She shook her head slowly.“Are you kidding?”The women were all talking at the same time but Bronya paled even mo
Her eyebrows rose and she smirked. “I don’t think that’s true. He wouldn’t have agreed to this if he did. Trust me. Juri could have ordered him but if Marek said no, Juri wouldn’t have forced it.”“But he seems the type to do anything for his family. If your Vor told him to do something, he would. Even if it was to fall on a sword.”She hummed. “You may be right. But Marek is probably one of the few with a moral compass that far exceeds ours.” Her thumb brushed my cheek. “Don’t be so quick to write him off. I know people like us are rarely given the chance to love. We do, however, get to have lifelong friends.”I closed my eyes and shut my mouth. Her family seemed to be lucky enough to get that. My family was not. I’d had six sisters die at the hands of their partners. We were sold, not partnered off. If anything, this deal with the Baranov family was one of the best dea
My heart leapt into my throat. It beat wildly and uncontrollably. I was saving myself. Fucking over my father, and ensuring that I had a place to rest my head that wouldn’t torture me. Taking a deep breath, I turned and slipped on the white beaded flats that were on the floor. Kamilia had been conscious of my ankle and I could almost cry. Plus, I’d never worn heels. I’d seen my sisters walk like newborn deer trying to get used to them and I didn’t fancy doing that now.They escorted me out of the room and down the stairs that opened up into the living room below. My eyes shifted back and forth, taking in the area. I could see a fairly large amount of people gathering outside. My feet planted themselves into the carpet before we reached the doors going out into the garden. Sachi came over and brushed my cheek.“Marek is well loved among the men. His own team adore him. Aleksei is his right hand man and best man.”“I thoug
My eyes dropped to where my hands were fidgeting with the front of my dress. She wasn’t wrong. I’d been living in this small bubble of a dream since this morning. That I wasn’t me, though. Thinking I was someone beautiful and felt like I was almost a normal mafia princess was a delusion. My three sister-in-laws, Marek, even Juri helped me forget for a little while. Sheena was just saying what everyone else was thinking.What I didn’t expect was the resounding sound of a hard slap ripple through the air. Everyone went quiet and turned their attention to us. My eyes pulled back up to see Sheena clutching her cheek and Felicity with her hand up in the follow-through.“Fe…what’s going on?” Juri stepped out of the circle the boys that had formed around Marek. Marek also came over, though I wish he hadn’t.“Sheena, that’s enough. You keep your jealousy in check. I know your hormones are running high, b
Cursing in Russian, she jumped and slammed the gauze on my arm, putting it in a vice grip as the blood poured out.“Suka, u tebya yest' zhelaniye umeret'?” Kamilia growled angrily at me.I looked up at Marek for a translation but he had fallen back a few steps, looking unsteady on his feet.“I’m fine. This isn’t the worst I’ve had. If anything, this is a normal Friday afternoon.” I kept my tone light but no one seemed to lighten up.“Kaz, please schedule a meeting with the Irish. I want them here in the next two days.”Kazmer stood to attention and nodded. “I’ll do it now.”He pulled Sachi along with him, probably feeling like he needed to keep her close in the wake of what happened. It seemed that Juri was doing the same. After Felicity had gotten me the towel, he tucked her into his side.“Marek, when Lev gets in, send him straight to my office.&r
I woke up when I heard the door click shut. Sitting up, the blanket fell down and I rubbed my eyes.“Marek?”“It’s me. Sorry to wake you.”I shook my head. His voice seemed back to normal at the very least. “What time is it?”“Just after nine.”My eyes widened. “That long?”He hummed as I watched his dark figure disappear into the closet. “Juri told me I needed to let off some steam. I hit the pits for a couple hours”The pits? Then it clicked. The bruises on his hand and body the other day. He was at a fighting ring. It surprised me that Marek would participate but I guess it was better than beating up his own men.“Did you win?”His figure froze between the closet and the bathroom doors. “Of course.”“Good.”I didn’t add anything else and he didn’t offer anything. Instead, he slipp
My arm woke me up. It wasn’t ridiculously painful but it didn’t feel great. Blinking a few times, I took stock of where I was and realized why. Somewhere in my sleep, I’d roll into Marek. Currently, I was curled up into his side. His arm was under my head as it wrapped around me, holding me protectively to him. He was so warm but even as I flushed with embarrassment, my body felt relaxed and mellow.There was no way I could get out of his hold on me and I wasn’t about to wake him up. My eyes landed on his peaceful face. It was so calm that couldn’t remember seeing his face look like that. This was Marek, the man behind the bratva. In his sleep, the sense of duty and need to exude confidence replaced by his features softening as he lightly snored.Closing my eyes, I nuzzled into his side further. If I was already here, I might as well enjoy it. He didn’t seem to mind as his arm also tried pulling me closer. My arm still hurt but it was easily forgotten as I tentatively placed my right h