Page 32 of The Pakhan’s Heir

“Oh. So, it’s not an act? That’s interesting.” She leans into me. “You weren’t a virgin before you married my brother?”

“No,” I say a little too quickly. “And that’s really personal.”

“Oh, relax.” She leans back and takes another sip of coffee. “I’m not interested in a play-by-play of your wedding night or anything like that. I mean.” She scowls a little. “Alex is my brother. I’d rather not picture him fucking anybody. I’m just saying you’re really green to be one of us, you know?”

As much as I want to, I can’t argue that. I am green. I’m a Pakhan princess who hardly knows anything about anything. “So what if I am?” I say, trying not to sound defensive. It’s not working. “Is that a crime?”

She smiles, to my surprise. “So what if you are?” she repeats. “Listen, Nona, I’m not trying to put you down, all right? I’m just… interested, that’s all. I’ve never met anybody like you. Not to say that I haven’t heard of girls like you. Some of the older generation prefer the women in their families to be wide-eyed and dumb to the ways of the world, so they raise them in gilded cages.”

“I’m not dumb to the ways of the world,” I say. “I’m well-traveled. I’ve been to other countries and I’ve seen some things. I’ve had experiences.”

“Sure, you have. That’s the modus operandi for any rich kid. Especially one with our kind of status. But that said, I doubt you’ve stepped out of line with your father. You certainly didn’t when we were in school. You were very much the rule follower when we were kids.”

I can feel my spine stiffen. “Yes, well,” I say. “I’m not perfect. I’ve disobeyed my father or mouthed off to him. It’s never been advisable, but I’m not all that innocent.”

She nods, her smile fading a little. “Well, I can understand how it feels, at least. The restrictions. Isn’t it funny how the sons can go around pillaging and playing cops and robbers, but we have to be little ladies at all times? Growing up around all these big, bad men who are taught how to take the world by the balls while you’re taught to stand back and let them… It’s a raw deal. I could run this Bratva just as well as Alex. It’s a joke that I’ve never been considered.” She takes another sip from her cup. “But you… You’ve managed to play the role well up until now. This is a whole new game, though. We’re in our twenties. We can make our own decisions.”

I scoff. “If I could do that…” I let that thought hang in the air between us. It’s a dangerous one, no matter how friendly Yeva’s being with me. Her smile disappears.

“If you could do that,” she says, finishing my thought, “you wouldn’t be married to my brother.”

I wish I could lie better. I clear my throat. “That’s not true. I’d still marry him if I could have chosen it,” I tell her. “Our marriage is for the good of our families. The fact that we can sit here and have coffee without the fear of one of our father’s men giving us problems is proof of that. If I can help build a bridge, then it’s a decision I’ll make over and over again.”

Yeva’s flat expression melds into a smirk and she responds with, “That’s a very nice speech, Miss America. Let’s be real, though. You and Alex wouldn’t ever choose to be together. Even for this whole… merger thing between our families. I suspect if either of you were in charge, you’d figure something else out before an arranged marriage.” I start to protest, but she puts a hand up to stop me. “I’m not badmouthing it or you. The situation is what it is, and asking somebody to marry someone they barely know… it’s admittedly a little Medieval. I’m on your side, here.”

Strangely enough, that makes me feel a little lighter now that she’s said that. Or maybe like I’m not crazy for thinking about how weird this whole thing has been.

“That said,” she goes on, “At this moment, you ought to know that you’re still an outsider to us. Maybe even more so because this marriage is bullshit. You’ve come into this as a virtual stranger to us. Alex, Rikki, and I… we don’t know you from a hole in the ground. You should understand that moving forward, because my brothers and I are close. Very close.”

“So you’ve said,” I say. “You’re protective of them.”

“We’re protective of each other,” she says. “And like good little Brava spawn, we were all taught not to trust anyone, not even family, not even blood.” She pauses and her smile’s gone, replaced by a soft, faraway look in her eyes. “Incidentally, my brothers and I have figured out ways to defy some of those lessons. The whole never trust a brother thing, it doesn’t apply to us, you see. There’s no one on this earth that I trust more than Alex and Rikki. And the same goes for them. That said, it’s going to be some time before you’re really part of the family.”

I nod. I can’t be too angry at that assessment. I look down at my half-empty cup, remembering what my father said about getting close to Alex. But after everything that’s happened and everything that Yeva’s just said, I don’t see how it’s possible.

“You make it sound so hopeless,” I say. “It sounds like I’ve got miles to go before I’ll be a part of this family.”

Yeva arches an eyebrow. “Miles. Well… It depends on how hard you want to work for it and whether you really want it or not. Do you want it?”

“I don’t know. I mean, it’s not exactly easy to live in a house with a man who just barely likes you.”

She sighs. “Well, if you want, I can give you some tips. Nothing big, just some things you ought to know if you want to impress my brother.”

“Like what?”

“Like this whole innocent thing you’ve got going? You should probably knock that off.”

“I’m not… The thing is⁠—”

“I know you’re not doing it on purpose,” she says. “Look, Bratva men, a lot of them, anyway, they’re bloodthirsty. Whether they like peace times like our dads seem to be going for or if we’re in a full-on war, at the end of the day, the thing that really gets their juices going is conflict. They live for it.”

I’m taken aback by that. Alex certainly didn’t seem like he enjoyed conflict to me. “So… I should pick fights with him?”

“No,” said Yeva. “Well, maybe once in a while, sure. But just don’t be a doormat. Don’t let him push you around and don’t act like you don’t know anything. You start being a little more sure of yourself around him and he’ll notice and respect it. Trust me.”

I chuckle. “I… I don’t know, Yeva. I’m a fish out of water here. I’m just supposed to pretend I know what I’m doing?”

“Yes,” she says with complete certainty. “Listen, I haven’t had any long conversations with him about you or anything, but I do know that the one thing that turns him off the most are wide-eyed, bushy-tailed, Bambi-types. I think he finds it insulting, to be honest.”