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“Ya otdayu prikazy a ne ty.”
I give the orders, not you.
I was disgusted. My father had remained a true Russian while Alexei and I had been born in the States. While I’d been forced to learn Russian, my parents insisting we speak it inside the house as we were growing up, I wanted little to do with the old ways. “You may give the orders, Pops, but this is my life. I choose who I want to spend the rest of it with.”
“This isn’t a request, Sevastian. Period. The contract was signed and to date, Cesare had maintained the peace. Do you not think his men would have tried again? Then we would have retaliated, and the cycle would have repeated itself. Eventually, family members would have died. I couldn’t allow that to happen.” His face clouded and he looked away. “Tatiana had never been the same since that night. If you hadn’t acted so quickly, I think we would have lost her.”
I rubbed my eyes, loathing the entire situation. What the hell was I supposed to say?
“This will ensure that our family is protected,” he continued.
“From the Italians, Pops. They aren’t the only organization gunning for us and you know that. With our coupling, that makes two targets in one household. Imagine if the Durango Cartel is made aware of this.”
“That’s why you built a fortress in the Maldives.”
“Jesus Christ.” Sadly, the only thing I could do was keep her as my prisoner. No matter how lush the surroundings or the lifestyle, she would be nothing more than a lioness in a cage. And the kind of pet I craved didn’t have claws.
“Jesus has nothing to do with this. Cesare made his bed the day he had his men break into my house. Now, he gets to watch his little girl suffer for the rest of her life.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“Use her. Fuck her. Punish her. I don’t give a shit what you do, but you keep her alive. Oh, and there’s one more thing. You will have children. After that, I don’t care how many mistresses you have. That’s none of my concern.”
In my mind, I saw blood, my need for violence coming to the surface. However, family was everything, the need for respect coming in a close second. He’d demanded two things from me in my life. One was attending the university, which had given me a taste of even darker brutality and two, this bullshit. So, maybe having a play toy wasn’t such a bad idea. I’d spent years of my life planning methods of revenge for the Vinchetis.
However, once I started, there would be no chance I could wrangle in my beast. At least I would enjoy the time it took to break her before tossing her away.
“Fine. I’ll go through with it, but on my terms.”
“You can do this how you want. There’s only one request. A goddamn church wedding, Catholic at that.”
“What my lovely bride wants, she’ll get. Until we’re married.”
He patted me on the shoulder. “I knew I could count on you. Consider taking your honeymoon in the Maldives. I think your presence there will be beneficial. The fuckers trying to steal from us need to learn a hard lesson. You’re just the man to make that happen.”
“I also suggest we send a message to the DEA.”
His eyes opened wide with surprise. Then he smiled. “The university did you some good, boy. Make an example out of one of them but be careful how you do it.”
“Don’t worry, Pops. I know exactly how to handle it.”
As I turned to leave, he cleared his throat. “There’s just one more thing. I agreed with Cesare that the two of you should meet immediately. Tomorrow night.”
I thought about his request and nodded. That would give me time to indoctrinate her into my way of life, one that included rules that she would follow.
There was no need to discuss the necessities of what was to occur any further. While I was beyond pissed, I’d do what I always did in these situations and use it to my advantage. As far as I was concerned, the Vincheti clan should have been exterminated years before. Perhaps mingling our worlds would allow me to find a weakness that would make it easier to destroy them.
I yanked out my phone, pressing a single button, connecting me to my main lieutenant. Sanchez Martinez was discreet in his actions and trustworthy, two valuable commodities.
“Yeah, boss?”
“Time to go hunting. Track down and bring an agent to the empty warehouse.”
“Did something happen?”
“Does it need to happen in order for you to follow orders?”
“No, sir. One hot DEA member coming up. Poached or blackened?” he asked, referring to terms coined in order to speak over the phone. Although we swept our systems on a regular basis, given the DEA’s recent increased interest, calls were kept to a minimum. However, at this moment I was far too enraged to give a shit.
