*** Marek’s POV ***
I’d been stressing about the charity ball for the entire week. At first, I thought Lec and Aleksei should come as Ria’s guards but Lec said that he didn’t feel comfortable doing the event. I was worried that he had an issue with Ria but he assured me it wasn’t Ria. He said he wanted to make sure she was safe and he didn’t feel like he would have his head in the game somewhere like the charity ball. While I appreciated his honesty, it left a hole in my security.
I finally decided to bring Keenan out from his training. Since he was going to be Ria’s personal guard, his training was in Moscow. I had to fly him in for the event but he at least would get some hands on training with Aleksei to shadow. Ria would feel more comfortable with him as well.
Still, even with that, I was on edge. Her father being there and possibly Enzo made my skin crawl. I didn’t want them to touch her or even
The charity organization went all out this year. The gallery itself had high ceilings and they used the entire space to turn into a garden paradise. It was worthy of the richness that now was walking around the rooms. Ria stepped closer to me and I squeezed her arm gently. My heart rate had picked up though as I scanned over the crowd, categorizing everyone into the potential threats against her.I would say about sixty percent of the people here were just the rich and famous. Movie stars, business gurus, old money, all the people who shinned in the light. Though, most of them knew the rest of the forty percent. We were the underworld. Rolling in money they was done both legally and illegally. That forty percent was the threat. They were the ones we needed to make sure they protected Ria against her father’s wrath.“I see Vor.”I followed her motion and found Juri with Felicity, Kaz, and Sachi. Leading Ria over, I squeezed Juri’s shoulder
I glared at my second. Aleksei was a bit of a jokester and more often than not he had a smile on his face no matter the situation. It balanced my perpetual frown that was etched onto my face for years. Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time I smiled. Not even Aleksei’s greatest jokes would make me crack a smirk. An eyebrow raise but nothing would get me to smile; not anymore. For once though, he wasn’t smiling. We were in the middle of an arms deal with the Colombians. The last thing I wanted was to be interrupted. There were three other brothers they could contact that wouldn’t be finishing up a deal to handle something.“Why are you telling me this and not contacting my brothers?”Aleksei rubbed his palms against his pants. “Juri is in Russia right now, Kazmer is in Florida handling a different deal with the new port opening up, and Lev is arms deep in baby shit since the twins came home. It’s up to you, pakhan.”My lip curled. Aleksei knew better than to call me that. I was not ou
We arrived at the strip club in about ninety minutes thanks to Aleksei’s driving. Sometimes, I had to force myself not to kiss the ground when he drove. God damn maniac. My uncle drove for a bit in the off-road racing circuit. Unfortunately, he taught all my cousins how to drive like that no matter where they were. It was great when we needed to deliver something fast but being a passenger was asking to step beyond the pearly white gates.The bouncer out front opened the door for us as we walked into the club. The music was loud, smoke hung from the ceiling like cloudy day, and the smell of booze had turned sour. I stayed out of these shitholes. I preferred the business side, our larger corporations than the seedy bars, clubs, diners, and other places that were dotted around our territory. Sure, I still managed them but I didn’t need to do that in person.Walking through to the back house, I nodded to the ladies getting ready and snapped at Aleksei as he started to veer off in their di
Aleksei pulled around and quickly got out, opening the door for me. I set the poor girl across the back of the seat and debated putting on her seatbelt. It probably would do more damage than good so I left her laid across the back row. Getting into the passenger seat again, Aleksei came around and jumped in the driver’s seat. Glancing back at her, he scrunched his face up and turned back to the road.“Quick but gentle.”“I know. I know.” He took off from the alley and turned onto the main road.The estate was about the same distance from where we were now to the warehouse we had come from. Except that it was in the opposite direction. The worst part was that it was through the central part of the city. Traffic was a nightmare, but we just had to suck it up. I glanced back at seat where she was draped on. Her arms hung off the seat now and dangled down, the sickly purple and red blotches, only marred by blood, were almost better to look at than the floppy wrists that swayed as the car
Her eye narrowed and I saw her swallow a couple times. “Marek Baranov, fourth son of Ivano Baranov.” The voice was a croak, but it didn’t seem like it pained her to speak. I did notice her eye flit towards the water next to the bed.I was about to tell her to take a drink when I remembered that both her wrists were dislocated and one of her hands were broken. Normally, an interrogation would be best if the person wasn’t comfortable, but I needed her to speak more than just a few words. Striding over the edge of the bed, I grabbed the glass of water and leaned forward, tipping it slowly against her lips. For the first time, emotion crossed her face; surprise. However, it was gone as quickly as it came. She took small sips of the water until about half the glass was gone.Stepping back, I placed the glass on the table, her eye following my every move. She’s waiting for me to strike her down, I realized, but I didn’t let the disgust show on my face.“Who are you?”Her lips parted for a m
Shutting the door quietly behind me, it was about four in the morning when I got back to the estate. I had barely left the pit and missed the messages from my brothers. Juri already landed and apparently, they had already talked about the Italians. I didn’t know if Rosaria had provided the information to them. Or if they even bothered to ask. I’m sure they were more concerned with covering the border of our territory.Quietly making my way up to my office, I poured myself a straight whiskey and barely sat down when my door slammed open. Kamilia was livid as she slammed the door shut behind her as well.“What the fuck do you think you were doing? Just left, no information about where you had been or when you would be back. We’ve got the Italians up our ass and you decide to just fuck off.”I took a sip of my drink as she seethed. “I’m sure Lev tracked my phone.”“The fighting pits? Really Marek? You’re thirty-nine years old. Next year you’re going to be 40 and you think it’s okay just
“Wake up, Marek. I’m not that late.” Kazmer walked in, closing the door behind him.Shaking my head, I opened up my eyes to watch him sit down on the loveseat on the other side of the room. Of course, Juri was sitting behind his desk, his fingers laced together while his elbows rested on the dark mahogany.“So right now, we have an Italian princess in our guest bedroom.”I amended his statement. “An unwanted Italian princess.”Kazmer snorted. “A dead princess.”Juri didn’t acknowledge either of us. “I will not have a war with the Italians. The Spaniards are up our butt and from what I understand, they have sided with the Italians and our mutual understand with the Colombians isn’t enough to hold them to their word. Not until Damian and Ramona are officially wed.”We all hummed in agreement. Lev looked up from his computer. “So we take an unmarked vehicle, tos
“I would request you don’t call me Miss Bernardi. It feels more like a slur than anything.”I gave her a quick nod before walking to the far wall, where the windows looked out over the front lawn. It was quiet and the morning was clear. It was one of my favorite views outside of my own on third floor overlooking the back gardens.“So your brother decided whether to kill me, or let my father do it himself.”Turning, I looked back at this little bird. Her wings cut from birth, caged in a windowless room. “A third option has been presented by my brother.”“Juri Baranov? Your head?”I nodded. She waited patiently, her eyes defaulting to watching my every move as I tried to sort out my thoughts. I could imagine her outrage when I explained. Her face twisting in disgust much like my brothers. The nail in the coffin would probably be her wanting to choose death over marrying me.“What do you know of my family?” I figured I would put it off as long