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CHAPTERFOUR
“For someone who does not want to impress their new fiancé, you sure picked a hell of a dress to show up in.”
I rolled my eyes at my cousin as I smoothed a hand down my skirts. The bright red fabric clung to my stomach and waist, accentuating my hips into an hourglass figure. It was much more conservative than I normally wore with only one shoulder on display as the other was covered by a large fabric flower.
“Just because I have no intention of marrying this man doesn’t mean I don’t see the benefit of ensuring that he’s wrapped around my finger.”
I expected Natasha to giggle, but instead, she rolled her eyes. “I don’t see why you can’t just give the man a chance. Maybe he will surprise you.”
“I doubt it.” I had never met a man who had surprised me. I fluffed my hair in the mirror as I considered the many men who I’d engaged with over the years. They had always been exactly what I’d surmised of them. Horny and boring—thinking only with the head between their legs.
It was why I could not allow them to continue to run the Bratva. I feared that if my family continued to be run by men, we would all suffer for it.
“You know,” Natasha said. “One day you are going to meet a man who is going to knock you on your ass.”
My brow rose at Natasha’s words. My cousin rarely cursed, but she had been frustrated with me since I trashed the room. I suspected that the only reason she was willing to come with me to this evening’s events was because Maximum Popov was supposed to be in attendance.
The very thought of my sweet cousin with that brute made my stomach turn. Natasha deserved better, but she had been brainwashed into believing that her only purpose was to be a wife and mother.
“I doubt that there is a man alive who can compete with me,” I said, pursing my lips in the mirror as I put on a deep shade of red, which matched my dress. I had added smokey eyeshadows to my lids which gave me a sultry and alluring look.
I smirked as I looked into the mirror.
“I think you should have gone for a softer look with your makeup, Natasha said. “You look like a femme fatale. From what I have heard about Leo Petrov, he likes his women to look more traditional. I heard that his last relationship was with Hannah Softel.”
I snorted. “Hannah is a simpering idiot.”
Natasha shrugged. “Maybe, but she was with your future husband for years.”
“He’s not my future anything.” I grabbed a gold clutch that I had bought that afternoon. Inside was a small gun that I carried with me wherever I went. Though my father gave me a full protective detail, I did not trust them. The very people that I needed protection against used the same sort of tactics that my own father did.
With things heating up with our enemies, I was not going to allow myself to be unprotected.
“I don’t know how I am going to do it, but I can assure you that I will be getting rid of Leo Petrov one way or another.”
* * *
“This place is tacky as hell,” I muttered as we walked into the ballroom of the Plaza hotel. There was enough gold in the room to give a person a migraine, and that was not even counting the jewels that were dripping on the necks, fingers, and wrists of the men and women around us.
“Grandmother loves the Plaza,” Natasha reminded me. “So, I’d be careful about who overhears you.”
I snorted. “Grandmother only likes it because she thinks it is the height of wealth to be seen here.” And while that might have been the case a decade ago, it was not the reality of today. “Our grandmother is nouveau riche. She is desperate for us all to forget that she was the daughter of a miller long before she was the wife of a Pakhan.”
Natasha looked scandalized at my words. They were true, but everyone ignored them. If there was one thing that would set my grandmother off, it was anyone bringing up her humble origins. Personally, I thought that was the most interesting thing about her.
“Do you see him?” Natasha asked.
“Who?” I craned my neck even though I did not know who we were looking for. This was a Bratva party, so a great majority of the people in attendance were family. “I do not think that Henry is here yet, which is weird considering that it is his party.”
Henry Hill, whose real last name was Smirnoff, had just become one of the latest district attorneys in New York. We’d been able to place one in the city, which was a personal coup of my father, and even I had to admit that it was impressive.
Henry was one of the few people that I actually respected. Like me, he marched to the beat of his own drum. The difference was that because he was a man, he was respected for the things he accomplished by coloring outside the lines, and I was vilified.
“I’m not talking about Henry. I’m talking about your future husband.” There was a note of mirth in Natasha’s voice that made me want to punch her in the face. I refrained. My grandmother’s watchful eyes were on me, and I could not afford anything else to draw her attention to me.
“I need a drink,” I groaned out. Natasha laughed, but she did not stop me as I made my way to the bar.
Though I knew that I needed to be on my best behavior, my conversation with my father and grandmother was still too fresh, and I was on edge. One wrong comment from one of my father’s henchmen, and I was likely to shoot one of them.
