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“The contract was between our fathers,” I explain coldly. “My father is dead, and your father’s loyalties are as good as dead, given his track record.”
“Only because your father kept mine at a distance. Once we are married, that will change.”
“There will be no marriage, Talia. I have already compensated your father for the broken contract.”
“What about me?” She raises her voice. “Don’t I get a say in this?”
I’m silent, not that anything she can say will sway me, but I will allow her to have her say.
“Since I was a little girl, I’ve been told that I was destined to marryyou. That I was a princess destined to become a queen. I spent my entire life being told by my mother that my worth came from beingyourwife. And now you do this to me! How dare you, Andrei Vasilyevich!”
“Fine.” I toss my napkin onto my plate. “I will give you the same payment I gave your father.”
“Fuck you!” Talia screams. “Do you think I’m a whore who will be placated by money?”
“Business deals don’t always pan out, and consider your family lucky they can walk away.”
“I’m not a deal to be broken.” She stands up. “And I’m not a whore you can pay off. Fuck you, Andrei Vasilyevich.”
Her hands shake as she snatches her wineglass and chucks it in my face. The guards step out from behind the bushes, but I motion them back.
“I hear you have a whore of your own, so this must be why you are treating me like one.” She points her finger at me. “That’s the truth, isn’t it? Is that who you’re going to marry?”
“And who has told you these lies?” I ask calmly, wiping my face.
“My father heard that you got into a shootout with Igor’s men when you were on your way to visit one of your whores.”
I sit back, folding my arms. “And how does he know this?”
Talia’s face turns pale under her heavy makeup. She sputters, knowing she’s revealed too much.
“If you’re watching me, you should know the truth,” I answer for her. “I don’t chase whores. Or marry them.”
“I swear I will peel the skin from the woman’s face who marries you.”
I open my jacket. “Tell your father if you attack a member of my Bratva, then I will retaliate.”
Talia grabs the empty wine bottle and breaks it against the back of the wrought-iron chair. Swiftly, I grip her wrist and hold the jagged glass aloft. In frustration, she spits in my face.
Dmitri runs at her and grabs her from behind around the waist. Three guards appear, and she struggles against them, screaming and howling. But her yelling brings no one to her rescue, and the staff minds their business.
But I can see a face looking out a window on the second floor.
“You will pay for how you’re treating me, Andrei Barinov!” she shrieks in Russian. “I will make sure of it. I will dance on your grave and then on your father’s. Fuck you and your whores. I will go to my father and tell him how you have treated me. Igor will end you—the same way he ended Vasily.”
I turn my back on her. “If he does come after me, he better not miss.”
I suspected Igor was responsible. Now, thanks to Talia, it’s confirmed. I will never regret my actions today. My instincts will always give me the upper hand. I would’ve had a snake in my bed if I had married Talia.
Talia’s screams continue into the distance as she’s hauled out of sight.
Dmitri orders the men to usher Talia around the house. He motions to the waiter, who rushes over and grabs the edges of the tablecloth. He lifts the cloth and carries the whole thing off to the trash.
I set off down the path as my guards remain in position. Talia doesn’t make idle threats, but I don’t think Igor needs her to tell him to eliminate me.
I continue to a large maze hedge my father had built, but I don’t enter. Memories appear in my mind. As a boy, his soldiers would chase me through the maze, and I learned how to hide from a pursuer. It was my favorite place to play until I discovered my father fucking one of the new maids as tears ran down her face.
“Is his office empty?” I ask Dmitri.
