Broken (House of the Mafia #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Sofiya

The devil wears a suit and a handsome smile.

My feet feel like they’re floating as I walk down the aisle. My father’s hand wrapped around mine; my arm hooked with his, making sure I don’t stumble.

Or making sure I don’t run away.

He worked hard to make this marriage happen and he’s going to see it through.

Whereas I’ve worked hard my entire life to make my father happy, so marrying the man I see at the end of the aisle is what I am going to do.

It’s expected of me. It’s my duty. It’s what I’ve been trained for since I was a little girl.

Marriage. It’s the one power play a woman like me has in the mafia world.

Except, it’s not my power play. It’s my father’s. He decided on this. He chose the man for me to marry.

And now, I am marrying that man.

The handsome smile on my soon-to-be-husband’s face makes a chill go down my spine. It’s not a nice smile. Not warm. Only pure coldness.

My dad’s grip on my hand tightens as my feet stumble.

So much for floating. I’ve only met the man I’m about to marry once before.

He’s a stranger to me. He could do anything to me once we’re married and I’d be powerless to stop him.

Physically, he’s much larger than me. Tall and broad shouldered.

Clearly muscular judging from how large his arms are.

How well defined they are under his suit.

And societally, I don’t have a voice in this mafia world. Women never do.

My eyes land on my mom as I walk past her. Polina Smirnov. Her expression is closed off. She doesn’t want to show the worry she’s had for weeks after my father announced I was to marry Dimitri Ivanov, the devil himself.

I’ve heard stories about my husband. How he delights in torture. How he throws women away after he’s done with them. How he’s not exactly a good man.

But he has money. Power. Status.

And my father wants that. He’s willing to use me to get that.

Polina shakes her head, silently begging me not to do this. To run away. I can feel my body ready to sprint. Ready to bolt down the aisle.

But then I look back at Dimitri waiting for me at the end of the aisle and his eyes narrow, like he knows what I’m going to do.

I stop walking right in the middle of the aisle.

The guests in attendance – of which there are at least a hundred – all murmur, wondering what’s going on.

I barely know these people. They’re more of my father’s friends than my own.

My friends consist of the few women I met during high school – an all girl’s high school of course. My father never wanted me around boys. Said they would corrupt me and he needed me as innocent as he could make me. Innocent for the wolf I’m about to marry.

At twenty-one, I’m more than old enough to be on my own. But the power and influence my father holds is enough to keep me in check. I’m used to his money. Used to the way of life he’s given me.

I don’t even have any work skills to use out in the real world. I was given… nothing, except how to be a wife.

Which is why I can’t run. What will that get me? In trouble with my father and future husband, that’s what.

I know my duty and it’s to become a wife.

So with a shaky inhale, I take another step forward and another step forward and another one until I’m standing at the altar, looking up at Dimitri Ivanov. The man about to become my husband.

My father places my hand in Dimitri’s and he wraps his fingers around my much smaller hand, like he’s already claiming me as his. Like he’s binding me to him.

I’m startled by how warm Dimitri’s touch is. I expected ice, like the ice the devil is incased inside in Dante’s Inferno. But no. Dimitri is like all other devils: warm like fire and brimstone.

He pulls me onto the altar with him and the ceremony begins.

A month earlier

I’m tending to my garden filled with so many different flowers that I’ve lost count by now when my father comes find me. Gardening is an acceptable quality to have in a woman, he’s always claimed. It’s feminine but hard working enough to teach discipline and patience.

“Sofiya,” the great Ivan Smirnov says, towering over as me I’m on my knees. His eyes look over my outfit – dirty overalls – and sneers. He may like the act of gardening but he doesn’t agree with what I have to wear to do it. But I don’t want to dirty any of my nice clothes, so dirty overalls it is.

“Dad,” I respond, pushing myself to my feet. When it comes to my father, he demands everyone’s full attention. Heaven forbid you do something else when he’s talking to you.

“It’s time.”

I frown but then realization dawns on me. It’s time for me to be married. I was raised to expect this and now that day has finally come.

“He’s here,” Ivan says. “Your future husband. So get yourself cleaned up before he sees you. This” – he motions to my overalls – “shouldn’t be the first thing he sees of you. I want you to make a good impression on him.”

“He’s here? But I don’t even know his name.”

“Dimitri Ivanov.”

I frown again but for a different reason. I’ve heard Dimitri’s name before, from some of the other mafia ladies my mom invites over for tea every week. How handsome Dimitri is. How charming he is. All good things.

But also how dangerous he can be. There’s rumors about him, rumors that I hope aren’t true. How he likes to hurt people. How he loves to discipline people.

It’s a good thing I’m a respectable woman then. I don’t have a defiant bone in my entire body.

My parents have shown me nothing but love. While my father can be a little strict, he’s never abused me. Never made me feel worthless. Instead, he’s the kind of father who’s always raised me. Made me into the woman I am today.

So, he will expect me to go along with this plan, without complaint, and with a smile on my face. Because that’s how he raised me.

“You look worried,” he comments before gently swiping the back of his hand across my cheek. It’s a quick motion but it’s one I cherish. He’s done that to me for as long as I can remember. “Would I give you to a man who would hurt you?”

“No. Of course not.” But I also know my father. How much he longs for more power. Maybe he doesn’t know about Dimitri’s rumored bad side.

But of course my father knows. He knows everything. He’s just choosing to overlook it or see it as just that: rumors. Not worthy of his consideration.

“You will meet him today and you will impress him like I know you can do. If today goes well, you’ll be marrying Dimitri by the end of the month.”

I suck in a breath. “So soon?”

“Why wait? Arranged marriages are normal in the mafia. Me and your mother have an arranged marriage and look at us now: happy and in love.”

That is true. My parents are always touching each other. Not inappropriately in front of others but subtle touches. A hand on the back. A cup of the face. Always standing so close their shoulders brush.

It’s a love that’s sweet and comfortable. I hope I’ll have that of my own with Dimitri. But something in my gut tells me that that won’t be the case.

“But you and Mom had months to get to know each other before you married. Won’t you offer me the same courtesy?”

“I wish I could, my sweet. But Dimitri doesn’t want to wait for us to make an alliance. He wants it to happen sooner. He’s not exactly a patient man.”

“Do you want a man like him as a business partner then?”

He chuckles. “My sweet, are you trying to stall?”

Yes. “No.”

“You always do as your told. So do it now. For me. For your family. And make me proud.” His eyes flick over my dirty overalls one more time. “And please change before he sees you. I worry a man like Dimitri might be offended by the sight of your overalls.”

“Yes, Father.” I never object. Never complain. I just do as I’m told.

I force my legs to move back into the house.

Meeting my future husband is already nerve wracking.

My father kept me away from boys my entire life.

When I met this boy, Jasper I think his name was, when I was a little girl at a park, my father was adamant that we couldn’t be friends.

I thought it was because my dad just didn’t like Jasper but no, what my dad didn’t like was Jasper’s gender.

No boys. Other than my dad or a few of his associates, I haven’t interacted with much men. Legally, I could move out but where would I go? I have no work experience. And I’m used to the lifestyle my family provides me. It’s a life of comfort and if I’m being honest, I don’t want to change that.

A lot of people would have rebelled against their parents for how sheltered their parents made them.

But not me. I only smiled and nodded whenever my dad told me I couldn’t talk to boys.

Did I yearn to date like some of my friends did back in school?

Yes. But when my dad found out one of my friends, Christina, told me how she gave her virginity up to this boy from the all boy’s school near our school, he didn’t let me be friends with her again, citing that she was a bad influence.

I’m not sure I ever believed that but once again, I smile and nodded because that’s what a good daughter does.

I haven’t seen Christina in years. Would I even recognize her now? Maybe she changed her hair or got a nose job. Who knows? What I do know is that I’ve been kept sheltered and this is my chance to live a life away from my parents.

But do I want that? My parents have made my life easy. Will Dimitri do the same?

I go upstairs and reach my room, pushing the door open without any hesitation. It’s my room after all.

What I’m not prepared for is a man inside my room.