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Once again confusion swirls inside me. I trust Aleksander with all the ickiness inside me. He doesn’t think it’s icky. He’s offering me everything I need and want with a wicked grin that clearly says hewantsto give me what I need.
Except in order to get what I need I have to give into him. Go sit beside him and smile like I’m not wondering how Milos ordered my uncle killed, if he knew where his body was. If Ray was buried somewhere I could say my final goodbye to him.
Aleksander might be cold-blooded enough to do it, but I’m not.
And if I can’t, then how the hell am I supposed to stay married to Aleksander? Ihaveto leave before I get pulled in too deep, before I never want to leave. Because I can’t imagine sitting down to a family lunch or dinner or whatever the fuck it is with the murderer of my uncle for the rest of my life.
* * *
Aleksander
Exhaling slowly, I pinch the bridge of my nose in an attempt to settle my nerves. How much of this is a threat to Phoenix’s safety? “Very slowly. Don't leave anything out. Why is Manuel Rodriguez going to kill me?”
Vinny is Richie’s second and believes as soon as Richie is dead, he’ll become capo. He throws back his whiskey. Milos poured him a whiskey less than thirty seconds after we walked through the door. It hadn’t helped. He’s started and stopped a half dozen times, each time more confusing than the last. I poured him another two minutes ago. I breathe deep as I remind myself killing him in frustration will get us absolutely nothing.
“Richie knows you want him dead. It's why he didn't show for the meeting you guys set up for him. Not because he's sick the way he's telling everybody, but so he can hide from you. He was trying to find the Fed after the guys lost her and came up with your marriage license with her. When he saw it he freaked. Then, as you know, you disappeared the men who beat your woman. He figured out he was next.”
I fucking knew it.
“So anyways, Luca Sabatini snatched Manuel's fiancée off a truck on account she was running. Manuel didn't know she was forced. He didn't want a forced wife, but he does need a mom for his kids. Like yesterday because his wife died. Luca and Dominic Sabatini went to Richie's daughter and asked her if she was willing, on account of her mom got deported back to Colombia and it's where Manuel lives. Richie is forcing his daughter to marry Manuel. Once the contract is signed off, he's going to have Manuel kill Aleksander. Since Manuel is good at making people disappear, he thinks no one can track the hit to him. He can't go to the Outfit for protection after the heist you guys did. He didn't clear it with Carlo or give his cut.” He gets up and pours another whiskey, throwing it back again in one swallow.
Closing my eyes, I work to keep my anger under control.
“Richie hasn't asked yet,” Milos murmurs.
Vinny shakes his head. “They are negotiating the contract today. Even though Luca intended to pay Richie for the bride price, Manuel refused. Wanted to be the one to settle terms for her. It’s obvious Manuel wants to get between the girl’s legs. Richie wants to give Manuel time to look forward to marrying his daughter—the only way he’s going to fuck her for a few days. He's going to ask Friday in case Manuel wants to make it happen as soon as Saturday when he gets to your engagement party.”
Milos gives him the okay to leave. He’s out of the room in a flash.
The moment the door is closed behind him, Maxim sighs. “Women.”
I open my mouth to tell him to shut up, but Milos gets it out before I do. “Shut the fuck up, Maxim. Unless you have something constructive to add to the discussion, I don't want to hear you bitching. You are not getting out of a marriage. If you don't pick for yourself within the next thirty days, Vasily will do it for you.”
Milos turns to me. “We have four days. It's enough time. Nothing more than a pain in the ass to keep it clean. He has to disappear. No mess left behind the Outfit can tie to us.”
“Why not go to the Outfit? Tell Carlo what Richie did. He is your father-in-law now. Turn Richie's plan around on him,” Damien suggests.
I shake my head. “What he did was bad but doesn't warrant death in the Outfit. Add in we already killed two Outfit members without permission, and Carlo will be pissed.”
“Exactly, it could cause an unnecessary breaking of ties.” Milos sighs.
Guilt hits me. The threat against me is a threat against our entire organization. And it’s because of my unwillingness to let my woman go. Manuel Rodriguez is the classical definition of a psychopath. He doesn't feel any emotions. No fear, anger. Not a damn thing. He admitted once his pain tolerance was so high he'd been shot and hadn't felt anything until the bullet caused him to cough up blood.
“He won't do it.” Milos looks to me. “Manuel might not feel emotion, but his father laid down an honor code to keep him in check. We talk with Manuel and tell him how this started and what's at stake. He won't kill you. But he will probably kill Richie without hesitation, and he might not even hide it.”
I consider his thoughts. I’m thinking of how his first wife chose him over his older brother, who I hear is more handsome, wealthier, and more powerful. I’d met her previously and found her not only beautiful, but also sweet and shrewd in seeing the truth behind the masks men attempted to show her. I agree. “I'll throw the announcement of our marriage into the paper for tomorrow and make sure it gets out over the internet today. Which reminds me I need to get back to her—it's been a few hours.” I check my watch as I stand. Shit, it’s been more than a few. “The announcement will help with her too. She thinks she can walk away.”
Ever the big brother. “I'll handle it for you, get back to her,” Milos orders me.
Outside, Boris’s eyes are constantly sweeping the perimeter.
“What?” I ask as soon as I get in the back of the SUV.
Boris shakes his head. “I got a bad feeling.”
Fuck. His mother saved my father’s, mine, and Milos’s life. Because my father listened to her, he sent another man in his place to a meeting that was a trap. Milos and I listened to her warning of seeing our blood spilled. The attempt on our lives didn’t go off quite the way the men who attempted to kill us hoped. Both Milos and I got shot, Milos in the cheek and me in the side, but we also killed every man there and their family that night. “A dream?”
He nods. “Same as my mother. Your blood spilled.”
