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It’s only through sheer force of will that I manage to keep my jaw from dropping open. I understand at that moment that Caterina is not someone to be toyed with, nor someone to underestimate.
But what she needs to understand is neither am I.
She’s not wrong, though. If I force her into my bed and she goes back to Luca crying rape, it could undo the careful peace we’ve brokered, especially if he takes her side. If her father were still Don, I’d expect him to give her a scolding himself and send her right back to me, with a lesson on how to behave as a proper wife should. But Luca is still a wild card, and he has a soft spot for women in need. How he behaved with his own wife is clear evidence of that. I’m not at all certain that he won’t start bloodshed again over her, and while I’m not opposed to war, my men believe we’re at peace. Some of them are happy about that, some would prefer to keep smashing heads and prying off fingernails, but there’s a good many who would see Caterina running back to Luca and breaking the peace asmyweakness,myinability to keep my wife in line,myinability to keep my word. It could undermine everything I’ve worked so hard for.
Not to mention, I don’t have much taste for forcing women. Breaking her to my will, perhaps. But forcing her when she’s made it clear that her answer is no makes me feel sick. I might traffic in flesh during the day, but I have no desire to make my wife into my sex slave.
“What, then, do you propose we do? What is thisstipulationof yours?” I let out a breath, narrowing my eyes. “You’re putting me in a bad position here, Caterina. This is bad faith. You married me—what did you expect would happen? That we’d fuck once to make it legal, and then I’d never touch you again?” I see the look that crosses her face before she can stop it, and I laugh aloud. “Blyad, that is what you thought. And here I’d thought your previous experiences would have taught you better.” I shake my head. “Maybe your Italian gentlemen are willing to suffer a cold bed, but Bratva men expect theirs warm. Although from what I’ve heard, your first husband didn’t, either.”
“Stop talking about him,” Caterina hisses.
“Stop making a scene,” I counter. “The staff can see us, and I guarantee they’re watching. This isn’t the kind of thing I tolerate here. So if you have something to say to me, say it. Or come inside with me, and I’ll show you your new home.”
Caterina’s mouth tightens. “I understand youneeda son,” she says slowly. “But I don’t want to sleep with you again, Viktor. We’ve made it legal. I knew that much was required. But there are—other ways of conceiving. And I would prefer to explore those.”
It takes me a second to realize what she’s suggesting. “You want to do IVF.” I hadn’t expected that. It’s a creative solution, to be sure, but also an expensive one, which is my first argument against it.
“You’re suggesting you don’t have the money?” Caterina smirks. “I don’t believe that for a second.”
“I’m saying I think these things are better done the old-fashioned way.”
She snorts inelegantly. “Of course you would. You’re a man. Youwantthis.” Caterina folds her arms, the expression on her face still stubbornly defiant. “I didn’t come into this marriage blind, Viktor. I knew there would be things expected of me. I think you could have done a better job letting me know beforehand what they were—or letting Luca know so that he could tell me. But then again, you probably didn’t want me to know everything I was walking into.” She lets out a breath, looking almost as tired now as I feel. “I’ve married you, and there’s no going back on that. I have no desire to have come this far and destroy the peace between our families, either. But I will not go to bed night after night with a man I hate.”
“So—what? You just get what you want?” I feel a stubborn resentment rising up in me, a memory of similar words coming out of my mouth during a fight with Vera. I don’t want my marriage with Caterina to end the same way. But neither do I want to start this off with her feeling she can demand whatever she wants. I rule my household, and I intend for it to remain that way.
“We both get what we want.” Caterina sighs. “I’ll be a mother to your daughters. I’ll care for them, help Olga with them, whatever is necessary. I’ll carry your child and be a good mother to him too. If we have a daughter, I’ll carry another until I give you a son. I’ll be a mother to any and all of your children. But I’ve already fucked one man who couldn’t be a good husband to me and never meant to. I won’t do it again. If that means going back on my word and going to Luca, so be it. But I won’t willingly come to your bed again.”
She means it, I can tell. I can rage and shout and show her just how angry she’s made me, but something deep inside of me knows that she won’t bend.
Is fucking her worth it? Is winning this fight worth it?If I give in, at least for now, it’ll mean letting her win the first real battle between us. A small voice inside my head, however unwelcome, whispers that she’s given up something already to marry me for the sake of peace. Perhaps it’s my turn.
“Fine,” I say angrily, gritting my teeth. “Have it your way. I’ll see that the appointment is made. But I won’t be wasting time. The sooner you’re pregnant, the better.”
“Agreed,” Caterina says with a tight smile. “Shall we go in?”
