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“Sup,Otets.” I press the phone to my ear as I walk down the hall.
“Adrik. Where the hell have you been? I haven’t been able to get a hold of anyone.”
“Yeah. Bad storm. Power outage.”
“Did Esperanza tell her brothers?”
“About?”
“The power outage?”
“I— I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? You’re supposed to be getting to know one another.”
“Yeah, not going so great for me.”
“Kias would have had her wrapped around his finger by now.”
“Fuck, so sorry I’m not Kias!”
“Me too.”
I grit my teeth, think about hanging up, but don’t. Instead, I let the silence between us settle as I head up the main stairwell.
“Look, Adrik, this is serious. I need you to work very hard to ensure this contract remains.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I close my bedroom door and cross to the window, taking a long drag while he responds, so he doesn’t know I’m smoking.
“It means that if the San Giovanni’s think she is in danger in any way, they will have grounds to make another attempt at dissolving our arrangement.”
“I’m not following… how is she in danger?”
“Adrik, do you ever listen when I’m speaking, or were you just born an idiot? The safe-house power is going out in below freezing weather, that’s dangerous. I need you to order the boys to find somewhere else to stay. If these power outages don’t stop, we could lose this contract. And we can not, under any circumstance, lose this deal.”
“Yep. Got it.”
“And Adrik?” He pauses and I wait for him to continue. “Use any means necessary to ensure Esperanza marries you.”
“Any suggestions?” I think I know exactly what he’s implying, but I just want to hear him say it.
“You’ll figure it out.”
“Such confidence you have in me.”
“Do as I say, and stop fucking around. If the girl hates you, fix it.Nemedlenno!” He hangs up before I can respond, and I toss my phone across the room in aggravation. This entire thing is his fucking fault in the first place. The rebellion, the contract, even Kias’ death. He makes these split decisions, choices that are permanent and hurtful, and then he acts like everyone else is the inconvenience. I’m fucked because of him.
There’s a knock on my door after I send a couple of punches to my dresser, and I don’t respond to it because I would rather not talk to anyone, especially not Espie.
“It’s Barth.” Barth's deep voice calls from the other side of the door.
“Whaddaya want?”
“The boys and I have some questions and concerns about the worsening weather.”
I sigh. “Come in.”
He opens the door and slides in, closing it quietly behind him. “The snow is really picking up.”
