AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 32
Angel
Iwas prepared to hashit out with Nikolai because I thought he wouldn’t include me in the plan. So, it was a good surprise to hear him including me without me having to butt in and fight for a position. For sure I thought he would forgo me because it would be too dangerous or some shit along those lines.
There have been times where I’ve had to remind him I was tougher than I look. He thought he did good by me to keep me out of some of his business, which half the time I didn’t care for as long as it didn’t affect us much. But there were times when I was curious or wanted to be caught up with certain situations, and he wouldn’t indulge me. I’ve had to remind him at times his problems were technically mine as well because I was tied to him by marriage. Which he usually rebutted with “It’s not your problem if I don’t make it so.”
Despite my nagging, he never involved me much in his business much. He didn’t want to expose me to his enemies. Though most people knew he was married at this point, a good majority don’t know the face of his wife. We didn’t exactly post wedding day pictures all over social media. Those who did manage to find out about me would be led to dead ends considering the name on our marriage certificate wasn’t my real name. Granted, I doubt his true enemies would stop at a small mishap.
As much as I hated him not including me in his business, I knew it was probably for the better considering how I want out of the mafia life. I still had no intentions on taking over the triad once we shut down Lady Qing, and I probably would never take up the mantle of head unless my father pleaded with me to. The only involvement I wanted was with Nikolai’s bratva, but just the bare minimum, kind of.
I didn’t want to be the clueless or glorified mob wife. I still wanted to be kept in the loop. Maybe I was being nosey as well. I liked being the back seat observer with the bucket of popcorn.
On the other hand, I also wanted to be somewhat involved to help Nikolai behind the scenes. Did I want to be taken to meetings and shit? Probably not all the time, but I wanted to know all the juicy details and have my two cents put into the pot.
Yeah, I probably sounded very contradictory with saying I wanted out of the mafia life while also saying I don’t. Even if I were to cut all ties and be oblivious and blissfully ignorant to Nikolai’s shady business, it would all come back to bite me in the ass one day. Hell, I was roped into an arranged marriage when I wasn’t even involved in much of the triad. Unfortunately, in this line of business, just being associated in any way, shape, or form was enough to be damned.
I would always have to watch my back wherever I went. Being my father’s daughter was enough to put a target on my back to his enemies who wanted to harm him or use me as leverage. The target only grew enormously the moment I tied myself to Nikolai. He wasn’t much of a liability to me as I was to him. If any of his enemies got their hands on me somehow then they could get Nikolai in a bind.
If my life was going to be damned then I might as well take part in it.
“You’re awfully quiet.” Nikolai stated the obvious in a low voice.
The meeting was well over now, and the two of us had retired to our bed for the night. The rest of the meeting consisted of us working out any kinks in the plan we could see, and Nikolai catching us up on Ivan’s situation. Apparently, the slimeball bit offwaymore than he could chew back in Russia and was forced to flee to America where he was now trying to restart his ashen empire. Though, it seemed he still had his hands dipped in Russia with what little loyal remaining men he had.
Even if he didn’t have a presence in Russia anymore, he was still a thorn in their side. His main cookhouse was in Moscow still, and that’s where he got most of his victims for trafficking as well. Dmitri, Nikolai’s cousin and the head of their bratva branch in Russia, had been looking for more solid evidence to steamroll over Ivan’s operations in Russia. Ivan’s ties were strong enough that if Dmitri acted without solid facts and evidence then it could mean a small war for the Volkov Bratva branch in Moscow.
Sighing heavily, I leaned up on my elbow and used my other hand to push myself off his chest where I had been laying. “Just thinking too much about this whole thing, that’s all. I just can’t believe that it’s finally all going to be over in a few days. I can finally be rid of a headache. The pessimistic side of me is thinking it’s all too good to be true. Maybe it’s just because I’ve dealt with her for so long that something happening this fast and soon just seems unrealistic.”
Sighing softly with a smile, I leaned into Nikolai’s hand when he cupped my face and traced my lips with his thumb. “You and I both know fully well that it’s not something too good to be true. It’s happening, and it will happen, and it will be over. You will have your peace, and I’ll be right there next to you all the way.”
Unable to help the smile on my face, I let the feeling of excitement and happiness control the curling of my lips as I placed my hand over his, stroking the back of it with my thumb. “Still crazy to think that you’re my husband. You’re more than I could ever ask for.” If anyone ever told me I would be the big bad bratva boss’s wife before this, I would have laughed myself to death or sent the person for a psych eval to make sure they weren’t demented.
“Darling, you deserve so much more than me, an actual good man who isn’t a criminal. But you’re stuck with me for life now because I’ll never let you go. The saying of if you love someone then let them go is bullshit. I am never, ever, ever letting you go my little vixen. You belong to me. Now and always. Til death do us part.” Nikolai’s voice dipped lower and lower with his words while his body twisted and towered over me, caging me in with his arms and legs.
Giggling with a playfully devious smirk, I reached up and lightly trailed a finger down the side of his face. “Really now? I belong to you?” This was so going to bite me in the ass—well more like a slap in the ass. “I don’t belong to anyone. I don’t belong to you.”
