Chapter 14 #2
Exhaling, I nodded. “Yes, but sadly true.”
“Maybe you’re right. Although right now, what I know is that we need to eat.
You need your strength. After dinner, I’ll change the bandage and you won’t fight me on that.
Will you?” She lifted her head. Even though it was only a blip, there was a different level to our connection than before.
I sensed she wanted to share things with me or perhaps simply scream about how her father had treated her.
Where the tethering had lingered, now it was gone, replaced by a mask that she’d been an expert at wearing. That was something all women unlucky enough to find themselves in a mafia organization could do with ease.
As she moved about the kitchen, purposely ignoring me, I remained where I was, watching her frustration only continue to grow. Every muscle had stiffened, her mouth pressed into a thin line.
She was opening and closing drawers, yanking out pots and pans then shoving them back into the cabinet. In the minutes of her clanging and banging, I became thoroughly amused.
And utterly and completely famished.
Not only for food but for other… nourishment.
When she slammed a pot onto the granite counter, her head popped up and she glared at me. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Are you going to help me?”
Her tone was entertaining and annoying. but on this late afternoon, I was enjoying the hell out of getting to know her better. In any way I could. “What can I do?” Just to irritate her further, I took a swallow of wine while staring at her.
The move worked and she blew hair from her face while eyeing me as if I’d just field-dressed a cat in front of her. “Do you know how to cook?”
“I’ve been known to find my way around a kitchen.”
She changed her tactic, a slow and sultry smile sliding across her face, her eyes beaming from a form of mischief. “Good, then we’re going to do this together.”
I was certainly no fool. Men were conned all the time by beautiful women, falling into their tightly woven webs of deceit as if the silk strings were dripping with addictive honey. That’s why the greatest threat to an organization, an empire, or even a single man was a woman bent on revenge.
They were also the greatest weakness, especially within the darkened underground world of the Bratva.
Indulgent behavior was typical, perhaps even expected.
Once promoted from a Shestyorka or errand boy to even the low level of Boyeviks, a true soldier, there were perceptions of grandeur that often led to burnout or death.
The smart men learned quickly to stay with controlled use of alcohol while keeping women as playthings and nothing more.
While drugs were frowned upon, the brutality of the work required often led to overdoses.
Even death from indulgence wasn’t nearly the catastrophe of what occurred when men began to think with their dicks.
Worse was allowing lust to control the heart.
Kazimir’s father as Pakhan had been an excellent mentor, laying down the law with regards to women, teaching the top soldiers how to spot a Chornoye vdova.
A black widow. I was damn good at doing so, better than most. Yet with Vivian, I’d already discovered her personality let alone her intelligence was keeping me off kilter.
Not a good place to be.
“What’s first?” She pretended she wasn’t bothered by her past, but a crack had formed in her armor. Had she simply been telling me a wild story? Her lies could be perfected, but the best actresses in the world couldn’t manufacture the pain I’d witnessed earlier. I’d stake my reputation on it.
No. The clues about her life were coming together.
When you put two and two together with her reaction to being in Scarsdale, there was no doubt in my mind the story of her life would be a bestseller. First things first. I needed to gain a portion of her trust. Just enough for her to allow additional details to slip.
I’d only had time for a cursory check, finding mostly benign social media pages, Facebook the only one that had semi regular updates.
That equated to her busy schedule. Her friends’ list was small, fewer than fifty people and some appeared to be those she went to college with, most living in other cities.
And there was no one on her list with the same last name. No family, her story serving as a corroboration as to why.
No pictures to cause issues, few selfies whatsoever. For a young woman, work was her entire life. But there was more. Much more.
Her father was a man of intelligence. And wealth. If the story about the boy was true, her father also had powerful connections. I suspected even more.
“You shouldn’t give up doing what you love. You truly play beautifully.”
“As you noticed, my apartment isn’t big enough for a grand piano. It’s barely large enough for a couch.”
“You refuse to take money from your father.”
The hard slam of the knife on the counter was fraught with rage.
Not entirely geared toward me. “Just stop it. Just… stop trying to figure me out, Kirill. Yes, my father is a wealthy man and I know Scarsdale well. The house I almost burned down? Four away from here. If you’re thinking my father is like you, working for some mafia organization, you’d be wrong.
He buys and sells companies, tearing them apart.
Pick an industry. Ship building. Manufacturing.
Oil and gas. Hell, my father has more money than God. ”
Whether or not she realized what she’d done, she’d put importance onto what Dimitri had insinuated days before. “But you would prefer to build your life your way.”
“Yes, I would. He doesn’t appreciate that.
Thankfully, my family convinced him my being a doctor wasn’t the worst choice.
And yes, he wields enough influence that my guess is he’s more powerful than either you or your Pakhan.
He certainly has brutal men working for him.
But his best feature, you know the one that I’ll never forget is the way he can make you feel about this big. ”
Her thumb and forefinger were together with less than a quarter inch between them.
I could kill the man with my bare hands.
“That’s how he handled my musical aspirations. By ensuring I knew that I’d never be good enough.”
“Men like your father don’t deserve to breathe the same air you do, Vivian, but in foregoing something you love, you’ve allowed him to win. That surprises me. You’re a fighter.”
The tension between us was unexpected and unwanted.
“Maybe I was a few years ago. Not any longer.”
“Untrue. I know what I saw.”
“That’s about life and death for someone else, Kirill. Not my life.”
Vivian’s nostrils flared as she offered an angry yet heated gaze that fell and settled between my legs. Obviously embarrassed, she shook her head as if in disgust and pointed to where two cans and some vegetables had been placed on the counter.
A line had been crossed. The incident wasn’t the only one. Something else had occurred that had been the reason for the bubble she’d placed around herself. Now I needed to know what that was.
But we both needed a reprieve.
“Understood. How can I help?”
She breathed a sigh of relief. The bastard had hurt her terribly. My jaw clicked when I took a deep breath, opting to stay calm.
“We’re making a marinara for pasta. Correction. You’re going to make marinara for pasta. I assume your knife skills are up to par.”
“I do so love a challenge. I guess we’ll see if my… skills meet your approval.”
“You’ll need to note that I am a very tough taskmaster.”
“Even better.” Little did she know how much I adored her treachery. Maybe I allow her to escape so I could initiate a hunt.
My balls tightened from the thought.