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
“What do you normally wear?”I shrugged. “The outfit you found me in was one the I liked the most. The jeans were from Target and the shirt was from Walmart.”His shocked face, mouth open just a little, made me want to laugh. It looked ridiculous on his face.“Target? Isn’t that a grocery store? Come to think of it, isn’t Walmart as well?”My eyebrow rose. “You’ve never been to a Target?”He countered. “You’ve been to a Target? You are a printsessa of the mafia. Your father isn’t stupid enough to just let his blood roam freely in the streets.”“I don’t think my father has seen me as human for a long time. He called me his pet but in all honesty I was his stray. On days that I could guarantee that he wouldn’t be back, I’d take a hundred out of the wad in his top office drawer and go out. Have a meal at the local diner and
Juri motioned me to continue.“Last night, Marek spoke to me in regards to the plan moving forward. He said he would feel better with me at the penthouse for the moment rather than here.”He nodded. “Yes, Marek informed me he is headed back there today with you. I won’t say I disagree with him but I don’t think he’s wholly correct in his thinking.”“He also told me that when we got back, he would get me settled in before leaving to Moscow in the evening for business.”I saw it. The immediate surprise and anger rise up in him. He slammed his hands down on the desk and was about to say something, or yell something, when I put up my hand.“My request is that you allow him to go.”Everything Juri was about to say died in his throat. “Wait…what?”I clasped my hands together. “I’ve upheaved so much of his life already. I never meant for this to
I looked up at him and he was standing within moments, squatting down in front of me and taking my hands in his. My eyes looked from the phone to his hands. I didn’t really want to explain why this brought a panic attack up.“Ria, what’s wrong? It’s not the newest model, I know, but it’s what we could get on short notice and Lev being out of commission.”“I…I don’t know how to use it…”Everyone in the kitchen stopped, the constant sound of movement ceased. It was a silence that made me want to run for the door.Marek’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? You’ve never had this type of phone? Or…”God, I wanted to die right there on the stool. “No, I…it’s a touch screen? I use my fingers to open it?”Suddenly, realization dawned on him. “You’ve never had a cell phone before.”I shook my head. &ldqu
I held down on the box and it popped up. A little keyboard with the message bubble from Aleksei. I pressed each letter on the screen slowly.‘Fine. Marek is mad.’It took me about three tries to get it so it said Marek and not mark or mare but I hit the little paper airplane and watched the bubble pop up under Aleksei’s bubble.‘Look at you! Texting and shit! I can hear Marek screaming through the door of Juri’s office.’Hitting the window button, I rolled it down and Aleksei was right. Marek was bellowing Russian into the phone.‘Okay. I&