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I looked up to see Mariana standing there, her blonde hair swinging over to the side as she craned her head into the room. She looked both hesitant to approach me and determined at the same time. I shook my head. She was quite the woman. There was no arguing with that.
“Did you need something?” I asked, maintaining my aura of superiority. I didn’t want her to lose that fire, but I also did need her to begin complying, especially if I was ever going to take her out in front of the other clans. If they saw her defiant nature towards me, there would be talks about how I was unfit to lead – about how my woman held the leash, and that simply would never happen.
“Yes, I do need something,” she said, coming all the way into the room. I couldn’t help but let my eyes trail down her body. She was wearing some of the clothes that had been purchased for her and put in the closet. The black jeans hugged her legs, and the shirt left a little peek of her cleavage. It made me think of the way her nipples felt up against my chest just a few days earlier. I held myself back that day, given the circumstances. I won’t do it again, the next time she’s clad against my chest with hardened nipples, I will take her the way I want.
My boner would be short lived, though, as she began yet another of her tirades. This one, I could, unfortunately, understand, though. “I need my daughter!” she said, her fist coming down on the desk hard. It was a move I had used once or twice and wondered if it was something she had seen her father do when she was younger.
“I already know that Ana, and I am working on it. You know how Jonas is with evading everyone when he wants to. He is not an easy man to find,” I explained, trying to nip the problem in the bud.
“Are you even really looking for her, or are you just going along with all of it?” she asked angrily. I could see the pain hidden behind her chocolate eyes. I did not know what it was like to have a child, but I could only imagine what she must have been feeling, knowing her daughter was out there with that monster. I hated that I could sympathize with this woman, a woman that was just supposed to be mine; easy as pie. But there was no denying anymore that the situation had changed things a little from what our fate would have been. It grated on my nerves, but I couldn’t fight against it all the time, or everything would crash and burn.
“Why would I do that?” I asked, trying to dismiss what she was saying and move on. If stern didn’t work, then non-caring denial would be my next move.
I knew it was a mistake, though, as I watched the light in her eyes catch on fire. She was about to snap. “So that I’ll fuck you and become your little breeder so you can secure your line! That’s all you want from me, isn’t it, Ion? My blood, my power. You don’t give a shit about me, or about Bianca. You just want your prize, your trophy, your compliant little betrothed who will suck you and fuck you whenever you command!” The words came out like the roar of a lion, and I have been reminded yet again of the horrors she went through that I was just beginning to learn. Cutting and burning a woman? That was some sick shit.
“Just fucking hang on a minute,” I told her, standing up so that I was above her. Yeah, I was a bit of a controlling and cocky asshole, but that was what it was going to take to take over for the Vasile’s and the remaining clans. “I told you I wasn’t going to hurt you, and while having children with you is a top priority, and I will never deny that I am most certainly looking for your daughter. I am not going to let a child suffer at the hands of that monster, regardless of her being mine or not. Now, if you want an update on finding her, then you can wait until after my meeting with the clan and the Balan’s later today,” I told her, brushing off the insult that made it feel like I was no better than a man like Jonas.
She stared at me with fire in her eyes, the same look in her eyes from our chat the other day. She said nothing, and neither did I, at least, not for a moment.
“For the record, Mariana Adriana Vasile, I do give a shit about you. Don’t you ever fucking say that shit to me again, do you understand? I’ve given a damn about you since I was three years old, and you of all people should know better. Don’t act like you don’t understand what I’m saying. I will take a lot from you privately, draga, but one thing I will not tolerate is what you’ve just said. I have cared about you since the day you were born, and I will continue to carry those feelings until the day I die. There was a reason I was the one chosen for you, don’t you believe that?”
“You said there was a meeting?” she said, trying to change the subject, stepping in my way so that I would have to push her aside to escape the room. Damn it; she had to have noticed my attraction to her with the way she was using her body to make me listen.
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” I asked her angrily.
“I’m going with you. I want to see if my you will be a good ruler or not,” she said, she glanced up at me, a small smirk forming at the sides of her mouth.
“I’ll be the best-damned leader you’ve ever seen,” I mumbled as she let me through. “If you’re going, you will look perfect, and you will keep quiet unless you are asked a direct question!” I called to her from far away. She walked down the hallway and slid into our bedroom entryway.
***
Mariana
I sat there politely with my legs crossed under the table as I listened to the meeting Ion was running with his clan and some of the Balan’s, who was the clan south of us. Apparently, in all the chaos that had ensued after my capture and the death of my family, Ion and Anton Balan had struck up an easy alliance – as they should have. It made entirely no sense to me why the clans weren’t all on the same page. We’re all part of the same mob; it’s not like we’re the Irish and the Russians. We’re on the same team. From what I’ve witnessed they had been working together to keep the peace as well as find me.
Anton was older than Ion by about a decade, but he had a lot of respect for me as well as Ion. The first thing he had done is give his condolences to me for the loss of my family. It was strange to see how everyone gravitated towards Ion as the natural leader, and it didn’t seem to have to do with my presence at all. He had commanded it from them long before I had arrived.
I listened as they talked about drugs, prostitution, alliances, and gun trade. “We also need to address Rafael,” one of the men spoke up, one of the Balan clan members.
Ion nodded, and I wanted to hear what this was about. I was not familiar with the name. “Yes, for those that do not know, Rafael is the leader of the Mexican Cartel, trading drugs, guns, but mostly, women. He is a bit of a nasty individual to deal with
, so I had previously stopped buying women from him. But now, Rafael will not allow any of us to cross the border when we need to because he is upset with us.”
“Who have you been getting your women from, then?” Anton asked, seemingly curious for his own purposes.
“Russia. I have had to appease my customers. The women from Russia are very pleasing to my clients,” Ion explained, making me cringe a little. I hoped no one saw. I knew that it was an ugly world they lived and played in. I had grown up around all of it and knew what it was, but perhaps my own experience had made me feel a little sorry for these women. I doubted it would ever change since the sex trade was one of the biggest underground industries in the world. The entire mob relied on income from such dealings. It was just something I would have to get used to over time.
“I suggest that we go ahead and begin having dealings with Rafael again, for the sake of keeping the peace. We will be able to transport the drugs again, but we will only buy what we absolutely need from him. The rest will still come from Russia as it is a preference for many. Rafael has a good stock of very young women. We will stick to that,” Ion told them with authority.
“And one last thing,” Ion said, sitting up in his seat in a regal way. I could see the beginnings of the reason he was the one chosen to take over. He knew what the hell he was doing. “I need an around the clock team to track Mariana’s daughter. No more excuses. Jonas is to be found immediately and held from leaving with the girl until I arrive.”
I was happy and surprised with his decision to put all his resources into one basket like that, but she needed to be found. Bianca would come back to me. She had to.
When the meeting was over, we sat in the back of the car together on our way back to his place. “Are you satisfied?” he asked, looking at me in frustration that resembled that of a child.
“Not quite,” I told him, unable to resist the challenge. Maybe Ion Petran needed to be knocked down a couple of rungs. “But thank you.”
Chapter 10
