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“Capris…out of all people,” Vik said with a sigh as he scrubbed a hand down his face. “You both know how to complicate things.”
“How did you come to work for him?” Yaro asked, seemingly sticking to the interrogation as he kept his eyes on me.
“My sister and I moved from Russia for a better life, and a friend of mine got me the job,” I replied, hoping to keep myself as innocent sounding as possible. “I can’t say it was my first choice, but I needed money to support us both.”
He gave me a skeptical look, and I had the feeling he would keep it up for as long as physically possible. He glanced over at his sister. “And you consented to this marriage?”
Without missing a beat, Anastasia nodded. “I did. I signed those papers with my own free will.”
There was no blocking out the guilt that moved through me then, perfectly aware that she had merely conceded to it, likely due to being stuck in that bedroom.
I wished more than anything that things could’ve been different, and that we didn’t have to tell our white lies at all. And yet, we couldn’t go back in time, as much as I wanted to.
“So where are you staying now?” Vik asked, sounding a bit more at ease than his older brother.
“Anastasia has been staying at my place. It’s not far from here,” I answered, hoping that small detail would seem like the slightest olive branch.
While I was doing my best to be civil with them, I had no way of knowing just how long they would restrain themselves, especially Yaro. At the very least, we were in public, and any scene they caused would be witnessed by numerous others.
It was a slight shield I hoped would last the duration of our talk.
Yaro’s eyes were shadowed by his tempered fury. “Let me get this straight. You work for the family currently on our radar and actively instigating issues, you kidnap our sister from her lecture and keep her holed up in your house, and you decide you’d like to marry her. Correct?”
Seeing as none of it was wrong, I simply nodded. “Correct.”
He leaned forward, making me glad there was a table between us. “So why in the hell would you bring her into this if you knew damn well there was an active feud happening? Did you ever ask her opinion on this line of work?”
Shame settled into my skin, aware that he was completely right. “She expressed not wanting anything to do with it, but—”
“It was my idea,” Anastasia interrupted, swooping in to save me. “I was hoping that if we got married, you’d give him some slack despite his associations. I wanted to give him immunity through all of this, even if it meant somewhat involving myself in your world. Which is also why I wanted this to be civilized.”
Yaro pulled back slightly at her emphasis, and he released another breath as he leaned against his backrest. “You have to know this is a precarious situation you’re both in. How do you expect to work for your boss and have your wife’s family as an active enemy? I can’t exactly see that playing out well.”
He glanced between us both, but neither of us had an answer. Trying to learn exactly how to accomplish that became my greatest challenge after finally getting Anastasia to cooperate with me.
When we didn’t say anything, he sighed.
“Look. Regardless of what we think about all this, since you’re married, we can’t force you to do anything. But, that means you do need to make a decision,” Yaro began, pointing at me as he spoke. “You have to either pick Anastasia or the Caprises. You cannot possibly fight on both sides without hurting our sister. That conflict of interest is too crucial for us to ignore. And as you probably know, if you hurt her, we won’t hesitate to take an eye for an eye.”
Anastasia seemed uncomfortable as he spoke, handing out those threats with ease. “Yaro, please—”
Ignoring her, he continued with that dead-serious gaze locked firmly on me. “You might be married to Anastasia by law, but it doesn’t mean we won’t use force against you if you or your boss get in the way of business. We’ll be expecting you to make your decision soon. If not, we won’t be afraid to liberate our sister.”
Anastasia didn’t say much else as she averted her eyes, and I couldn’t decipher what she was possibly thinking. It wasn’t exactly a raving review of our marriage so far, but I was glad she didn’t say anything against me, at least. In fact, she took the fall for me in multiple ways, and that was my sliver of hope despite it all.
Silence lingered between us as I digested those words, aware of just how serious it was. Given their track record, I knew the Levovs weren’t bluffing. They never did.
Being on their radar wasn’t something I wanted for myself, but it was the trade-off for having Anastasia in my life, and one way or another, I had to come up with a solution.
Growing impatient where he sat, Yaro shook his head absently and stood. “We’ll be going then. Let us know your decision soon.”
Before they could leave, however, Anastasia got up with them, looking like she wasn’t ready for them to go yet, despite understanding it was likely for the better.
As Yaro realized this, he looked down at her and seemed to bury that anger for her sake. He reached out to her, and she was quick to accept the embrace.
From my place, I could still see and hear them as he pulled back and held her arms in place. His expression turned serious yet tender.
“Remember, you aren’t stuck. If anything happens, give us the word and we’ll be there. We’re always here for you,” he offered Anastasia, barely glancing at me before returning his attention to her. “Please be careful.”
