He held up both hands in a miniature shrug. “Or any of your brothers or cousins. Adrik is clearly unavailable with his recent marriage.”
I supposed if he were trying to appease us starting from the top, I would be next in line, the successor after Adrik. But now that he was expecting a child, I’d still be a spare should he have a son, and that son would eventually take over.
“Perhaps we can have a moment to discuss this,” Viktor said, clearly sensing that I needed a moment to formulate a real reply.
“Sure, sure. Of course, my friends.” Arturo stood and laughed lightly.
“Perhaps we can step outside,” I said, not wanting to discuss anything with my brother in here where anyone could be listening. “Get a breath of fresh air before we reconvene this discussion.”
Arturo had his men lead us out toward an extravagant outdoor entertainment area. It seemed that some leaders and men within the Cartel were partying it up. Women in bikinis surrounded apool. Cartel thugs laid out in the shade with drinks. Latin hip hop sounded from further back as Viktor and I walked toward an ornamental garden.
“What thefuck?” I whispered. “That’s his first idea for proving we’re still allies and in a partnership?”
“Hey, it doesn’t have to be a bad idea,” he mused, almost mocking me as he lowered his sunglasses to look over them. Ogling the women at the pool had him smiling slyly. “I mean… Some of them don’t look so bad.”
I glowered at him. “Shut the fuck up.”
Viktor was a smartass on the regular but also extremely cunning.
“Relax,” he drawled, making sure to keep his expression light and friendly should anyone be watching us too closely. “It’s not like it’d be arealmarriage.”
I frowned slightly. “You think he’s bluffing?”
“Oh, no. No. I think he means it. He’s ready to hand over his sister in a legitimate wedding. I mean that it doesn’t have to mean anything.” He slid his sunglasses back up and raised his brows. “Not like it means something to Adrik and Elena.”
As in love.
“I know that,” I bit out. Very rarely did arranged marriages ever result in anything resembling love. I wasn’t on the hunt for that, anyway.
“It’d be an arrangement,” he said. “Nothing more.”
“Iknowthat. It just seems too suspicious.”
Viktor nodded. “It does. But look at it this way. Any woman he gives you would be a means of intel on what the fuck is going on down here.”
He had an excellent point there. Without a doubt, this engagement would begin with a thorough interrogation.
“That goes two ways, though,” I reminded him. “He could be giving me his sister so she can spy on us.”
He huffed. “Then you’ll just have to be that much more fucking careful about what you say, won’t you?”
I shook my head, trying to pick at this until I sawhisulterior motivation. “What’s he after?”
“Maybe nothing more than realizing he fucked up and he doesn’t want to lose us in this trade agreement.”
“Do you really think that?”
“No. But I think letting him think that he’s convinced us is the first step to moving forward. What does he have to lose? His sister. What do we have to lose?”
I wasn’t sure about that yet, but it was the very question that ran through my mind. “I’m stuck on the side of wondering what we have to gain.”
“Intel,” he stated simply.
I had no argument against that. Annoyed that there could be a benefit in marrying this Cartel leader’s sister, I tried to stay pragmatic, to avoid letting emotions get in the way. I hadn’t considered settling down anytime soon. I was too dedicated to my responsibilities. I was satisfied with random fucks and giving my all to my family.
A wife?
Even from an arranged marriage?
