9. Yana
Fyodor”s Rules #21 - Every group has cracks. Find the ones to exploit while protecting your own.
As much as I enjoyed the sex—and it was really great—there were more important things to focus on. Nikolai”s plan seemed silly to me, but there was nothing to be done about it now. I had been introduced to the Italians and would meet the Bratva later in the week. I’d suggested we do the Bratva last, but according to Nikolai, they were too impatient to meet Alexei”s fiancée and were being demanding. Even when I made a few digs at him about giving in to people too easily, it wasn”t enough to put the brakes on his plans.
I checked in with Fyodor twice, and each time left me more worried than the last. He’d become very short with me, often snapping when I tried to suggest even the slightest deviation from his plan with Nikolai. It was hard seeing him let Nikolai in on his plans. Knowing the two talked more often than Fyodor and me. And the fact Fyodor trusted my brother again so quickly and more than me, despite our years together, stung every time I thought about it. I tried not to let it affect my actions, but I couldn”t stop from wondering if maybe it was why I pushed back against Nikolai so much.
Whatever the reason, I was still stuck. Both in this hotel and pretending to be someone I was not. I had suggested going out a few times, but all the men had shot down the idea, saying it wasn”t safe. My brothers” interests in the city were still being attacked by someone they could not trace, and no amount of offering to help was doing anything.
Not wanting to go mad with boredom, I convinced Alexei and Lukas to let me go down to the hotel bar. Security still kept a close eye on me, but given my enthralled security guard was the one standing at the door, I wasn”t worried about being spied upon. I had invited Fiorenza”s granddaughter to meet me for lunch, under the guise of discussing both of our upcoming weddings and making sure the themes didn”t clash.
I had watched her as she sat with Nikolai and had never seen two people who looked less interested in each other. Nikolai had been too busy watching Alexei, as though he was worried at any moment he might go on a murder spree. Sure, it was not an impossibility, I will admit, but Alexei knew when to behave. Even if his version of behaving differed from other people”s.
It was the young woman who interested me, though. Her body language had been closed off, and she only spoke when Nikolai asked her something directly, or tried to engage her. Most of her answers had been short and direct. The kind that cut off conversation, rather than encouraged it. After seeing her talk with Fiorenza at the Masquerade, I didn”t have any doubt she was being forced into this engagement. Nikolai probably hadn”t realized how much she was being coerced, but I wasn”t sure he cared. He seemed so determined this was the only way forward.
As she walked into the bar, I took a moment to appreciate her appearance. Olive skin and blonde hair were such a beautiful combination. Her hair looked almost like spun gold, clearly an inheritance of her lineage, along with the large white wings that were folded tightly against her back. I had always been jealous of the Italians growing up. Being the descendant of angels sounded amazing, and having wings would have made a statement in any room.
I stood up, and we kissed each other”s cheeks politely. A server came over, and both of us ordered glasses of wine as we sat. Then they were gone, leaving us to the privacy of the rear booth.
“Anetta, I am so glad you could come today. It’s so nice to have someone else to talk to about all of this. All my family is still in France. I hope they will be here for the wedding, but they aren”t able to travel to help me with any of the preparation. It feels almost like I am being thrown to the wolves.” I laced my voice with just a hint of hypnotic tone. I didn”t want to draw any attention, nor did I want her to become an obedient slave. She just needed to relax and loosen up a little, be a bit more willing to talk. Although judging from her expression, she agreed with my last sentence.
“I still can”t believe someone is marrying Alexei. I mean, out of all the brothers, my nonna always said he would be the last one to wed. And even then, they”d have to pay someone a small fortune.” Her cheeks flushed with a touch of embarrassment as she spoke, but I laughed it off, waving a hand dismissively.
“You know what it is like, I am sure. You grew up in this life, and America cannot be too much different to Europe. Women like us, we don”t get married for love. We marry for power.” I saw the way she looked away from me when I mentioned marrying for love. Curious. Perhaps her issue with Nikolai had nothing to do with who his family was, or what kind of Scion. Maybe it was simply he wasn”t the man she loved. “And he kisses like a demon, you know?”
She shook her head at me in disbelief. “That”s not the only thing he does like a demon.”
Our wine glasses were set down as she leaned forward, cutting off the words she was going to say. I was going to have to have a word with the bar staff. As much as I was a fan of their prompt service, they needed to look for gaps in the conversation.
“I don”t mind a man with a touch of darkness. It is thrilling, as long as it is not turned on me. To be so close to danger, to touch it, it is like touching fire.” They were flowery words I spoke, but they clearly appealed to the romantic side in the young woman. Her smile told me she had some idea of what I was speaking, and that made me curious about the man she was actually in love with. And even more curious to discover the reason she couldn”t be with him. I was sure the answer to that question, though, was Fiorenza.
I took a sip of my wine, happy to see that she did the same. She was slowly relaxing into our conversation, the Siren song doing what I intended. This was always a trickier use of it. Using it to control people directly was easier. I gave them an order, and they obeyed it. But this subtle social dance of luring people in, making them want to be around me, then to become comfortable with me—it was exhausting. I had to be careful to modulate my voice to stop it from being obvious. And to keep the conversation going in a manner that she wouldn”t question why she wanted to remain around me. The mind could be quite tenacious about protecting itself, and I had no desire to take control of hers.
“You haven”t announced your engagement yet, have you? I think I heard your grandmother say that you were still courting?” The face she pulled as I said the word courting helped to cement just how unhappy she was with this whole situation.
“Nonna wants to announce it. She wanted to announce it at the Masquerade. But she can get ahead of herself sometimes. I just want a chance to breathe, you know? I am still a little young to get married.” It sounded like a line she had rehearsed more than once, and to be honest I was surprised Fiorenza had bought it. Although maybe she was giving the young girl time to realize the situation she was in, and that there was no way out.
“Still, once you get married, you will be away from her. You get to come and live in this luxurious hotel. Or I am sure Nikolai has a house somewhere. If he doesn”t, insist he buy one. Hotels are nice, but it is good to have your own space, especially once the children come.” I couldn”t imagine Nikolai as a father, but it was nothing on the defeated expression she was wearing.
“I”m not that lucky. Nonna has already picked out a house for us in the Italian territory. She says it”s about time all the boys stopped playing at this nonsense and settled down into the families. At least I will still get to be with my cousins, so that’s something.” It wasn”t her cousins she wanted to be close to, that much was clear.
But this was interesting information. The idea had been raised that the families were trying to split the Sirota brothers up, and clearly it was the case.
Taking a moment from the conversation, I waved the server over, ordering us each another glass of wine, along with a little plate of sandwiches. I didn”t want to get the poor girl drunk, and she looked like she could use something to do with her hands. The conversation stayed light while we waited for the server to come back. I asked about her family, and she filled me in on all the people I had been introduced to the other night. They were all people I knew from my childhood in Chicago, but she didn”t realize the connection. I was interested in hearing her fresh opinions and perspective on them.
Once we had our drinks, and we each had some finger sandwiches in front of us, I leaned in. I was grateful when she leaned in too, our body language conveyed to any onlookers we were about to share some secrets. “You have such a fascinating family. Your grandmother can be a little overbearing, though I hope you don”t mind me saying it aloud. I am not sure I have ever met a woman like her. And she doesn”t seem to like Alexei at all.”
She gave me a conspiratorial little smile. “Too many people have watched too many mafia movies or television shows. They think the men run everything. But my Nonna, she has a lot of plans. It can be a lot to live with. She”s been talking about marrying me off to Nikolai for as long as I can remember. There used to be this other girl around when we were all teenagers, Yana, they were all in love with her. I remember it used to make Nonna so mad. She always tried to get me to talk to Nikolai at parties and things, but the boys used to stick together a lot more than they do now.”
It was a lot of work to keep my face interested. I didn”t want it to be blank, as I didn”t want her to question what I was thinking. But the thought Fiorenza had been working against us since we were children had me absolutely livid. “What happened to the girl? Yana? You said she used to be around?” I was curious about what rumors were out there about what had happened to me.
She immediately looked down at the table, looking sad. “Oh, she died. The boys were absolutely wrecked when it happened. I wasn”t close to them, but it was painful to watch. I don”t think they ever recovered; you know?” She seemed earnest about what she said, and I wanted to believe her.
It soothed a small piece of my heart to hear from someone else the boys had been wrecked. They had all told me, but there was something far more gratifying about hearing it from someone else. Hearing it spoken made it something more than words, and it gave me greater certainty about the relationship developing between most of us.
“It must be hard to live up to the memory of someone he loved.” Words escaped me and it was all I could think of to utter. She nodded, but didn”t seem to have anything else to say, so I continued, hoping to get her to open up a little more. “At least you don”t have to worry about him expecting too much from you. If he is still pining after a ghost, it means he”s not in this relationship all the way. And I hope you don”t mind me saying so, but you don”t seem to be, either.”
She looked away, and I worried I had pushed things too far. Families would always close ranks against an outside threat, no matter how many fractures there were internally. When she looked back at me though, she was biting her lip, looking a little guilty as she checked to see if there was anyone spying on us before she leaned further across the table, picking up her glass and using it to hide her lips from any onlookers.
“I always thought she would give up on it, you know? I don”t know why I thought so. My nonna has never given up on anything in her life. But I thought that if I told her how much I didn”t want to marry him, she would listen to me, you know? It”s an arranged marriage. All I need to do is smile and appear the dutiful wife, but I never thought I”d have to actually live a lie. You always hear about men and their mistresses. It”s just part of life, you know? I didn”t want to be one of them, but I don”t know what else to do.” The sigh she gave was full of so much sadness it was enough to pull on my heartstrings.
“There”s nothing you can do? Even I can see you don”t seem happy. Have you tried talking to Nikolai? He seems like a powerful man. Maybe he can help you get out from under her thumb? No one should be forced to live a life that makes them truly unhappy. And I can”t see him wanting a wife who is miserable.” I hadn”t planned on trying to rescue her when I’d invited her to this meeting. But I had trapped enough people in lives they didn”t want to be living to know the toll it took on them. She seemed too sweet to go out like that.
She was fiddling with her sandwich, pulling it apart, as if she could tear it into enough pieces, then all her problems would be solved. “The only thing the Sirota brothers care about is each other. Everyone knows it. He won”t listen to someone like me. I can smile on his arm when he needs me to. And do … the other things the wife of a vampire needs to do.” The way she swallowed when she said it, you would have thought she was swallowing razor blades. Resisting the urge to tell her she wouldn”t have to worry about it, I reached out, cupping my hand around the back of hers.
“You will still be able to see the man you love. Running a hotel would keep any man busy, let alone trying to manage a nightclub, and their other interests as well. I am sure you will have a lot of time for yourself. And women who grow up like us, we know how to be discreet.” I knew the words I was offering her were empty. I didn”t mean them, but she was clearly so desperate for any hope at all.
This meeting was more useful than I had hoped. I had gone in wanting to learn more about Fiorenza and what she had planned. Not only did I have the information, but I’d found out some cracks I could exploit as well. And if one of those cracks freed a young woman so she could live the life she wanted with the man she loved, well, it was just icing on the cake.