Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Anastasia
M y heart was in my mouth as I sat beside Sergei in the back of the car. The tension had been thick since we left the cabin this morning with my bags all packed in the trunk.
Sergei was not happy with my brother’s decision to have me stay with Savina. I wasn’t overly thrilled about it either, but if I had to pick between the two devils, I would pick the Valdez manor any day.
Sergei reminded me of Lucifer. In his beauty, he drew you in. He would fool you into thinking that his angelic beauty was a representation of what lied in his heart.
Spoiler alert: it was simply a cover up. The man was as cold as the glaciers in his eyes, and as calloused as an extremist terrorist. He didn’t care whose blood he split as long as he got to his ultimate goal.
Yes, that was the man my brother wanted me to marry.
“She should stay with me,” Sergei spoke into the thick silence of the room.
My brother, who sat in the front of the car, looked at Sergei through the rearview mirror. “We have already discussed this. If she is to remain pure, we cannot risk you being in the same house as her until she is married. That was the agreement.”
I heard the grinding of his teeth as he bit back, “And I told you to let me marry her now.”
“And I told you no . We agreed that you are to marry in the next six months. I need to attend to some things in Russia to ensure that this union holds. Surely you are not that desperate to fuck that you want my sister now?”
I hated how my brother spoke about me like I wasn’t sitting in the car with him. But this was the life of a woman in this world—seen and never heard.
“You know that I have no problem getting someone to fuck. My issue is that she will be under the care of other men when her husband is here and able.”
My stomach turned when he said the word husband.
“You are not her husband yet. And besides, she will be under Savina’s ward, not Andres or Valerio.”
In my peripheral vision, I watched his jaw clench at the mention of Valerio’s name. I saw that there was no love when it came to him. I was sure that he was still holding onto what had happened at the gala that night.
“Do you trust them, Danill?” Sergei asked the question into the car. “Do you trust that they will protect your sister’s virtue better than I could?”
You couldn’t protect something that was no longer there. But no one else knew that my virtue was gone. It was still an obstacle that I needed to overcome when the time came for my wedding night. For now, however, I would simply play along.
The remainder of the ride was spent in silence, until we pulled up to the exquisite Valdez manor. The family had several properties, including a massive penthouse in the Upper East Side, but since having children, Savina preferred to spend her time in the beautiful suburban area of Millbrook. The manor was surrounded by greenery and thick forest land.
I tried to keep from gaping as the manor came into view as we drove up the driveway. I always knew that the Valdez and Baratelli union was powerful financially, but I never imagined they would live this luxuriously. It was like I had stepped into the Great Gatsby Era.
The car drove up to the front door, where two large pillars held up the extended roof to offer shelter from the weather.
Standing at the door were Savina and Andres Valdez. I had last seen them at the gala, and they had been nice and accommodating for the most part.
My door opened, and when I looked at who had opened it for me, I caught a pair of blue-grey eyes. They were just as piercing as I had remembered, and the memory of when I had last stared into them hit me like a two-toned truck.
Fuck .
Valerio offered me his hand. “Welcome to my home, Anastasia.”
And the one thing I had been most worried about when I heard I would be coming here stared me right in the face. If what had happened last time taught me anything, it was that I couldn’t trust myself around Valerio Valdez, and I needed to keep my distance.
We sat in the study; the silence was so loud that I could hear the gentle but uneven thudding of my heart. I was well aware of Valerio’s eyes on me. They pierced right into the center of my skull like he could see into my thoughts.
The last time I had seen him was when he had trespassed on our property. The flashes of that kiss filtered into my mind no matter how hard I tried to push the thoughts back. The last thing that I needed right now was to be blushing at a briefing meeting.
Just as Valerio was watching me, so was my fiancé, who had not let go of my hand since we entered. But what might have looked like a loving gesture to his betrothed, was actually something else. The strength and possession behind his hold told me as much.
He was claiming me as his property to all his opponents. And seeing as I was related to one male and the other was happily married to the Ice Queen herself, that only left one man.
Valerio Valdez .
“She will be safe in my care. You have my word.” Savina’s voice penetrated my busy thoughts.
It was then that I realized that people had been speaking. I shook my head slightly, but unfortunately my fiancé caught on. His grip on my hand tightened and he drew his mouth to my ear.
“Behave yourself,” he hissed in my ear.
I looked to him with a fake loving smile and nodded. I placed my free hand on top of his and patted like he had just told me that I was the apple of his eye.
I hated putting up this charade, but why worry my brother when there was nothing that could be done about this union? The papers had already been signed, and the first instalments made. I just had to suck it up and do my best not to look like I wanted to cry.
“I only request that Valerio stay clear of my sister.” Danill’s eyes cut to Valerio. “He is, after all, a single man, and I cannot have my sister’s virtue be risked.”
“Don’t worry. I would never rape a woman. I have no need to force myself upon someone, unlike other men in this room.” We didn’t need to guess who he was speaking about. His eyes were dead set on Sergei. “Don’t feel threatened, Sergei.”
Sergei growled under his breath. Had I not known that he was sitting next to me, I would have sworn the sound came from an animal.
“You don’t threaten me, pup. I eat men like you for breakfast.” He jutted his chin up, successfully turning his nose up at Valerio. To his credit, Valerio looked unfazed by his insult. In fact, the Spaniard looked rather amused by it all.
As expected, this only angered Sergei.
The two men had been sizing each other from the moment we walked into the room. It was obvious that there was tension, but neither party would admit it.
“Look,” Valerio leaned out of his chair and clapped his hands together, “the truth of the matter is you two combined are dog shit. Sergei, you talk a big game, but we all know you are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to business. You traffic children, and you make a big show of picking on the little girls to make yourself seem more powerful. We all know that your cousin Vladimir is far more competent and successful. You envy the success he has been able to have in Moscow and Boston, and you wish you could replicate that in Los Angeles. News flash, you are failing dismally. And you, Danill… your family is broke. After your father’s assassination, your uncle ran the business into the ground, leaving you with more debt than you can handle. Thus, you are selling your sister off because everyone refuses to do business with you due to the blood you share. But if I’m being quite honest, you aligning yourself with this vermin does your family image no favors.”
“Valerio,” Savina scolded her brother-in-law.
Valerio held his hand up to silence her. From what I knew of Savina, that move alone would have warranted the execution of most men.
He was lucky.
“I’m only speaking the truth, sister.” He gave Savina an overly sweet smile. “They have come into our home, and the only thing they have offered instead of thanks are insults and critiques. Danill, my job is to protect our assets, and while she is in our care, your sister is an asset of ours. We have provided you with the plane, resources and power that you need for your time in Russia, in exchange for easy trading within the Boston area. If I wanted to take your sister from this waste of a match you have given her, I already would have. And you, Sergei, watch your mouth. You are in my territory, not the other way around. I can put a bullet in your body for breathing at me wrong. We are not in the same league, you and I. You do not want to make an enemy out of me.”
The coldness in his voice caused a shiver to run down my spine.
Valerio had a reputation. If his brother was known as the Prince of Death, then he was the Merchant. His brother gave the order, and he followed through. If Andres was hellfire, then Valerio was pure darkness.
There was a reason the Valdez name held so much power. They had cultivated it over six generations. They had only ever gone from strength to strength.
“I think everyone should just put their cocks back in their pants and calm down.” Savina filled the silence that had followed. “Danill, although my brother-in-law was very crass in his words, he is still correct. You garnered this deal with us. You are doing us no real favors. Us working with you to channel product through Moscow is not something that you can only uniquely do for us. There are many Russians looking to align themselves with us. Do not think that you have any right to come into my home and insult my family members. And Sergei, like Valerio said, Valdez is a very, very powerful name, and you are just too early in the game to try and go toe to toe. We respect what you do?—”
“No, we do not,” Valerio quipped.
“—but you would be a fool to think that you are on the same level as us. Danill, you have my word that your sister will be safe. She will be under my care, and you will find her exactly as you left her. Sergei, if you wish to see her while her brother is away, then you are welcome to. But you are to ask for invitation, do not just show up to my house unannounced. My children are here, and I will not have their peace disturbed by chaos. Understood?”
I had heard much of Savina Baratelli, now Valdez. But seeing her in action as the Head of her Family in person was a whole different thing. The way she commanded the room and captivated the attention of all four men… it was impressive.
The world I had grown up in didn’t permit for such power to radiate from a female.
I wanted to have that.
“I said… understood ?” She stared Sergei down. Her eyes levelled him with a cool gaze.
To my shock, Sergei grunted his agreement. It was more than I had expected from him, if I was being honest.
“Good. You can say your goodbyes, now.”
Well, this was an interesting start to day one in the Valdez manor.