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I grit my teeth, I’d prayed it'd never get this far. But desperate times…I find the video and open it for him.
He watches it eagerly, a slow ugly grin spreads across his face. “Send me this video.”
My instincts tell me this is a huge mistake, but what choice do I have if I want his support? “Is that really necessary?”
The color rises in his face. “You want my support, you give me the collateral I need. Who knows what this girl will do? She could be the very weapon used to destroy you!”
“She won’t because there’s more at stake than just her career.”
His eyes narrow as he glares at me. “What else?”
“She’s pregnant, we just found out. Our child will serve as the guarantee on her silence.”
His expression turns a degree more devious. “Yes, yes. This could work.”
I feel like a fucking fiend for even suggesting our child could be used as leverage, but I know it’ll never come to that. This is just a bargaining chip to get what I need right now and that’s Victor Volkov’s backing.
“You’ll get my backing when I get the video and I want you to keep me updated on the arrival of your child.”
Anger surges in me like a tidal wave ready to crash onto the shore. I tap at my phone screen and hit send. My gaze fixes upon Victor with steely determination. “There’ll be no need for your involvement or concern over the baby. Madison will be made to understand that if she ever turned on me, her career will be destroyed, and she’ll never see her child again because it’ll remain with me.”
He smirks. “I gave you an order, Sebastian. This is the price you must pay for flaunting our conventions.” He lifts his chin and stares down at me with his cold gray eyes. “An ambitious career woman like Madison won’t have time to properly care for an infant, so you’ll need a live-in caregiver. As a gift, I’ll send you a good one from Russia.” He must see my face cloud over because he quickly adds, “Oh, don’t worry, Bash. If Madison is all that you say, you’ll be a happy family for a very long time. But if not, it is your little family who will suffer.”
It takes every ounce of self-control not to throw him against the wall and shove the barrel of a gun to his head for even implying that he’d hurt Mads or our baby. But I remember my objective. I need his support. For now.
I’m nearly trembling with rage, but I force a smile to my face. “I accept your terms.”
He extends his hand. “Then you have my blessings, Sebastian. You have one year to show and prove your plans. Don’t make me regret my decision.”
I give his hand a firm shake. “You’ll be too busy counting all the money I’m making you to regret a damn thing, sir.”
He chuckles. “I hope you’re right, Bash. I really do.” He glances out at the corridor. “Our business is concluded, let’s rejoin the women, shall we?”
When we return, Madison and Donna are laughing over something Donna has said. They both turn to look at us. “Ah, I was just about to send out a search party, love,” says Donna. She moves over to Victor’s side and takes his arm. “I was just telling Madison about how we first met.”
He smiles warmly at her. “Really, you must stop boring people with that story.”
She’s not Russian, I think resentfully, but then again, Victor isn’t trying to marry her. Donna’s obviously just something to amuse him for the time being.
Madison catches my eye with a questioning look in hers. She wants to know if all went well and whether I received the elusive blessing from Victor. I give a slight tilt of my head and she smiles in response. But if she only knew what I had to sacrifice to obtain it, she’d skewer me for sure.
Before we depart that evening, Victor offers us his box seats to see the Bolshoi Ballet perform Swan Lake at the internationally renowned theater. He insists that Madison not leave until she’s seen the pinnacle of performing arts majesty.
Much to my pleasant surprise, Ekaterina did call to invite us to dinner. Her icy demeanor remains intact, though there are the occasional glimpses that suggests it’s beginning to thaw. So, on our final night in Moscow, Madison and I dined with her and Ulyan, and together, the four of us watched the breathtaking performance of Swan Lake. At the conclusion, Madison rose to her feet, along with all the others, to join in the thunderous applause. It was a magnificent night.
On the flight back to New York, I contemplated the monumental tasks before me. To accelerate the expansion of my operations into the more respectable aspects of my business while delicately exiting the less savory parts. Those could be spun off to the Albanians or the Irish to help make peace with them, otherwise, as Victor stated, they’d come for my head to take it by force.
In the interim, Victor’s coffers must remain full, in fact, they should be overflowing if I expect him to continue to back me and leave my family in peace. I truly believe he was charmed by Madison and sees the merit in bringing her aboard. But that won’t stop him from putting two bullets in the back of her head if he ever suspected her of betraying us. Nor would it spare our child.
The next few weeks will be critical to all our survival.
Chapter 33 – Married to the Mafia Boss
ThefirstthingthatSebastian wanted to do once we returned from Moscow was to obtain a marriage license. We estimated that I was about six weeks pregnant and a trip to my gynecologist confirmed it. He wants to get me down the aisle well before I start showing, exhibiting his strong desire for his family to adhere to the social norms for a respectable family structure.
With limited time it’s a rather small affair scheduled for the day after I graduate from NYU medical school. Sebastian had joked that this way, he was officially marrying a doctor as opposed to the student.
As we stood in the county courthouse, my head was reeling. Had it only been a matter of six months since the fateful day that I’d met Sebastian during the EMS run? We’d dated, fell in love, got engaged, got pregnant and are about to exchange wedding vows.
