36. CONAN
Chapter thirty-six
I buried my face in Angel’s neck, fighting back the turmoil that raged inside me. This girl was wrecking me, and she didn’t even know it. I had to fucking get myself together. If Angel saw me upset, it would hurt her confidence in me. She might worry that I wouldn’t be able to protect her from the mafia’s arranged marriage and those who would harm her if she didn’t comply.
She traced her fingers along my sides and back. “You always make me Jell-O in your arms. I seriously don’t know if I’m going to be able to walk,” she said, breathing heavily. “You all good?” she asked, sensing my angst.
“Yeah, more than good.” I sniffed, cleared my throat, and turned my face from her neck to kiss her cheek. Pulling out of her, I rolled onto my back and heaved her onto my chest, giving me the chance to regain my composure .
“Angel,” I said, giving her a playful squeeze. “I’d love nothing more than to stay in bed and fuck you six ways to Sunday, but we’ve got to get up and face reality. Lucian told me earlier that he and the other guys would meet us at the club, and they’re probably already waiting.”
She focused on me, her icy blue eyes full of sadness and hope and regret and a world of other emotions. “I never want this moment to end,” she whispered. “Conan, you make me feel…safe. More than that, you make me feel valued. You’re the first person who has ever made me feel truly alive. Before I met you, my life was on a course dictated by others. You’ve shown me what it means to be cherished, to matter. Every moment with you is a gift I never thought I’d get. I don’t have the words to express how much you mean to me, but know this: you are my strength and my courage. I trust you with my life—with my heart. I’ve never experienced anything like this, and I never will again. You’re everything I never knew I needed.”
Her words ignited a fire within me, a burn that would forever mark my soul. I pulled her closer, tenderly capturing her lips. Holding her face in my hands, I poured all of myself into that one kiss—my promise to protect her, my desire to worship her body forever, my unwavering commitment to her until the end of our days.
When we finally pulled apart, I pressed my forehead to hers. “I promise you eternity, Angel. I will protect you, no matter what. You’re mine, and I won’t let anyone take you away from me.”
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. She took my face in her hands, planting kisses all over my face. “We may only have today and tomorrow, but I will forever hold you in my heart. You’ve given me a lifetime’s worth of love, and no matter what happens next, I have no regrets. ”
After giving me a final, chaste kiss, she slipped out of bed, leaving me breathless and more determined than ever.
With that, we rushed to shower and dress. As I tugged on my clothes from the previous day, Angel laughed.
“Looks like you could use something clean to wear,” she teased, slipping into a pair of leggings and a flowy yellow top.
“Guess I’ll have to make do.”
“Why don’t you and Braxton stay here? I have an extra bedroom. Don’t you think it’ll be easier for all of us to be together right now?”
“I was just about to tell you I wasn’t going to let you out of my sight,” I said, a smirk tugging at my lips. “I’m glad you suggested it.”
I found my phone lying on the floor and called Braxton. He answered on the first ring.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“For the moment, yes. Angel has invited us both to stay with her while we try to figure things out. Think you could get on over here with all our stuff? I could use a change of clothes.”
“Sure, no problem,” he said before hanging up, not making any effort to linger on the call.
While we waited for him to arrive, we started cleaning up from the night before. A few minutes later, the intercom buzzed repeatedly, interrupting us. Angel buzzed the person in and found a local courier in the vestibule, holding a large box. “Sign here,” the man said, handing Angel a tablet and stylus.
She signed for it and then brought the box into the living room. After dropping it onto the center of the sofa, she untied the strings and opened the lid. Inside was a beautiful wedding gown and a fancy black dress. Angel sat down, pulling the wedding dress partially out of the box, fingering the intricate lace. A sad expression overtook her features .
“What a waste for such an incredible dress,” she lamented. “This whole wedding is such a farce.”
I walked over and stood beside the sofa, lifting her chin with my fingers. “Don’t be sad, my Angel. It’s just a dress. Focus on what your life will be like once you’re out from under your family and the marriage contract.”
She sighed, nodding. “You’re right. I was hardly involved with any of the wedding planning anyway. My aunt Elena took care of everything. I was supposed to help with the arrangements this past month, but instead, I was lost in Tacoma. I’m sure she’s handled it all without me, exactly as she wanted it. Frankie’s family hasn’t even met me yet. Can you believe that? Considering he’s forty-six, his older sisters haven’t been eager to connect with his twenty-seven-year-old contract bride. We were all supposed to have dinner the Thursday after I left for Tacoma. I wonder what Frankie thinks about my disappearance. I bet Aunt Elena has made up a bunch of lies.”
“Who knows and, honestly, who cares?” I said. “One way or another, I’m going to get you out of this mess.”
I moved to sit on the other side of the sofa, where I’d sat last night, the dress box between us. When I stretched my arms out along the back edge, our shenanigans replayed in my mind. Food, wine, and whiskey had opened up possibilities I’d never imagined.
“What are you smirking about over there?” she asked, reading my face. I bet she knew full well what was running through my mind.
I didn’t answer her. I needed to change the subject before I acted on my impulses.
Making a U-turn, I asked, “So, why did you just up and leave Tacoma without saying a word? ”
She sat there, speechless, as though she hadn’t expected me to ask that question. She obviously still didn’t know me that well. I wasn’t one to mince words. I’d always been the type to just say what I was thinking.
“I didn’t want to put you in any more danger than I already had,” she finally answered. “I never dreamed you’d be so bold and follow me here, much less find me in the middle of Manhattan, for Christ’s sake. But you did, and here we are. Now, you pretty much know all my deep, dark, ugly secrets, and you’re still hanging around.” She let out a cleansing breath. “Besides, I did send an email explaining everything.”
“Yeah, to Sam.”
“I had no clue how to contact you. I don’t have access to any souped-up Atticus-fueled tech measures like you do.”
“Well, it had better never happen again.” I said this in jest, but it came out with a sharper edge than I’d intended.
“Oh, my God, don’t be so butthurt. We’re obviously past that already.” She moved the box with the dresses to the coffee table, walked over to the kitchen counter, and grabbed her phone. When she returned to the sofa, she tossed me her phone and sat next to me. “How about you enter your contact info and anyone else’s you can think of?”
Glancing down at the unlocked phone, I hesitated. “Do you think this thing could be hijacked by your uncle…what was his name, Luca?”
Angel’s eyebrows scrunched as she cocked her head. “Hmm, I doubt it. But Nik, on the other hand, he’d definitely be the type to do something like that.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t put my information into it?”
“Honestly, Conan, knowing Nik, if he wanted to know your number, he’d find it. He’s a born-and-bred Volkovi Notchi. I just wish I knew what he was thinking. ”
She was right. If these mafia types wanted someone’s number, they had their ways to find it. I entered my number, as well as Atticus’s and Braxton’s, and handed it back to her. She stared at the phone and frowned.
“I should have already called Aunt Elena. I’m sure Uncle Luca told her I stopped by his office yesterday, and she’d expect that I would call her right away. I just don’t want to talk to her. Ugh.”
“I wouldn’t worry about your aunt,” I said. “She knows how to reach you. Where’s Luca’s office again? And why did you go there first thing?”
“It’s in Tribeca,” Angel replied. “It’s a beautiful building. You’d be surprised by how many ventures Uncle Luca’s involved in. Most of them are legitimate and make good covers for the illegal stuff. Not that I know much about the details. As a girl, I spent most of my time at boarding school, and then, when I was off at college, I lived in a dorm. I was never close to my family except for my brother Nik, and I only saw him once or twice a year. During holidays, I would see my aunt and uncle, but my family would always send me away to camps or summer internships when I got older.”
“That must have been hard on a twelve-year-old girl,” I said. Shaking my head, I tried to piece together what I’d learned about her past. “So, Luca is an intimidating underboss who signed a contract basically selling you to a man, yet he was always warm to you? That’s nuts.”
She chewed on the corner of her mouth, taking a minute before she replied. “It’s hard to explain my relationship with Luca. He’s always good to me, but in a more formal way. He likes the fact that I look him in the eye and speak to him without pretenses though. As a kid, I used to ask him a lot of questions and talk his ear off every holiday. I had no idea he was a stone- cold killer. It wasn’t until after college that I started connecting the dots about who the Genovese family really was.”
Angel explained how she’d uncovered details about the Genoveses and other New York mafia families after she started working at one of the Kennedy University libraries. She’d learned a lot about their history but not much about the modern-day family.
“You see, arranged marriages are very common among mafia families, dating back to the beginning of the organization’s history, when Italian immigrants, especially from Sicily, arrived in the United States. They brought their traditions and criminal organizations with them.”
“But marriage contracts aren’t legal in our country,” I said. “Why would anyone go along with something that’s practically human trafficking? I don’t get it.” I still couldn’t believe she lived in a world where this kind of thing seemed so commonplace.
“They may not be legal, but they are definitely enforceable by mob justice. You see, mafia contracts and disputes are governed by the Commission, which formed after the Castellammarese War consolidated power among the American families.” She paused to gather her thoughts. “I was always raised to live as a daughter of the mafia. I never questioned it, because it was all I’d ever known. That is, until I wrapped a car around a tree and had some sense knocked into me.”
I frowned. “Don’t joke about that. You could have died. But I’m glad you were brought to me for care, because you changed my life.”
Angel’s eyes softened, and she reached for my hand. “You’ve changed mine too, Conan. Thank you. You’ll never know how grateful I am for everything you’ve done for me. You’ve been my rock through all of this. ”
I leaned over and kissed the top of her head. The more I learned about her, the more impressed I was by her toughness.
Just then, the intercom rang again. Angel pushed off the sofa and went to answer it.
It was Braxton with all our luggage.
“Great timing,” Angel said. “Welcome to my place. Let’s get you settled and then head to the club.”
Braxton nodded, taking in his surroundings as he walked in. “Good to see you, Angel. Thanks for letting me crash at your place.”
“No problem. Sorry for the awful circumstances. I never imagined you two would come after me. It’s good to have you here though, even if it kills me knowing it’s putting you in danger.”
“Don’t worry about it, hun,” he said. “We did the same for Samantha. If you can’t stand up for what matters, then you’re not much of a man. It’s always been just us. We might give each other hell, but if anyone comes after one of us, they’re taking on all of us.”
“You Thorin brothers are something else. You’ve got your own brotherhood. Kind of like a mafia family without all the…illegal shit.” Angel smiled and showed Braxton to his room as I took my bag to her room and changed clothes.
When I came back downstairs, they were chatting in the kitchen. I joined them and leaned against the counter next to Angel. “You ready to get to the club and figure out how to deal with all this crazy-ass bullshit?”
She smirked. “I’m sure all my guys will figure it out.”
I mimicked her, “ All your guys , huh? You need more girlfriends and fewer men in your life.”
She rolled her eyes dramatically, shooting back, “Jealous much? ”
I pulled her in for a rough kiss, stroking her throat with my thumb. “When this is all over, I’ll show you just what effect rolling your eyes has on me, my Angel.”
She laughed, but I just shook my head. She really didn’t have a clue about the things I wanted to do to her. “Let’s go,” I said, giving her a playful smack on the ass as we headed for the door.
We took the subway, which wasn’t very busy at this time of day. Once we arrived at Club Xyst, we immediately met up with Lucian, Lachlan, Julian, and Gabriel and went up to the office.
When we were all seated around the conference table, Lachlan leaned forward, his eyes on Angel. “How about we start by you explaining more about how you fit into the Genovese crime family, especially since you have a biological Russian mafia family too. It’s so hard to believe you’re some mafia princess.”
Angel opened her mouth to speak, but her phone rang. She glanced at the screen, groaning. “It’s my aunt Elena. I should have called her yesterday. She’s going to be raging mad.”
She answered the call, putting it on speaker and setting it on the table. “Hello, Aunt Elena.”
Elena’s voice came through, sharp and scathing. “Anastasia, your disrespect is wholly uncalled for. You should have called me the moment you were back in town. Is your memory as bad as your driving? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were intentionally provoking me. Showing up unannounced at Luca’s office and ignoring me for an entire day! Forcing me to shoulder the burden of your entire wedding! Have you forgotten that you are to be wed on Saturday?”
Frowning, Angel reached up to trace the scar on her forehead. “My memories came back in a rush, and I flew to New York that same day from fucking Tacoma, Washington. I met with Uncle Luca first thing the next morning, and I assumed he’d tell you I was back. If you wanted to talk to me, you could have called anytime.”
“Watch your mouth and remember your place,” Elena snapped.
Angel took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Aunt Elena. I’ve had a lot to deal with since I got back.”
“Is that so? And do you think that excuses you from your responsibilities? The wedding is in less than two days, Anastasia! Tonight is the rehearsal dinner. Everyone will be coming over to our house following the rehearsal at the church, even Father Russo.”
Angel glanced around the table. All of us watched her intently. “I know. I’m just trying to figure things out.”
“Figure things out?” Elena snapped. “There’s nothing to figure out. You will get yourself properly dressed and meet us at the church at three p.m. Keep in mind you have a duty to this family.” She let out a huff. “At least you’re no longer a vapid idiot traipsing around Tacoma with a pack of fools that Viktor is out to kill. I see you had enough sense to get yourself home.”
My fists clenched as I started to rise from my seat. Elena’s treatment of Angel was intolerable.
Lucian, ever the diplomat, stretched out his hands and waved for everyone to stay calm. He mouthed to Angel, “ Keep her talking. Let’s get as much information as we can .”
Angel’s jaw tightened. “How did you know I had amnesia?”
“We’ve all known, Anastasia—Luca, Viktor, Valentina, Nik, and I—since the day you so carelessly drove into a tree.”
“Why didn’t you come to help me in the hospital?”
Elena cackled. “Silly girl, why would I risk linking myself to the Volkov matters in Tacoma by going to the hospital? Now, focus. All the wedding arrangements have been made. As you know, the plan is for a small traditional wedding mass, mostly for the families. Tonight, at the rehearsal, just go along with whatever Father Russo directs you to do. I’ve met with Frankie over the last few weeks, explaining your situation and that we had someone ready to retrieve you. He knows you’ve been in Tacoma recovering from a car crash but has no idea you had a brain injury. We didn’t want him to think you might end up being a burden to him. We were just about to remove you from Dr. Thorin’s home when we realized you’d left. We lost track of you for a few hours but then picked back up on your whereabouts when you bought an airline ticket on your credit card. So thank you for taking care of that yourself and not putting us through the unnecessary stress of having to take you by force. I guess I should be thankful for that much at least.” Elena let out an irritated breath. “So I assume you received the dress and will be on time, hmm?”
Angel’s head dropped, and she massaged her temples in frustration. “Yes, ma’am. I received the dress this morning.” Her voice was strained, and the way she kowtowed to her aunt made my skin crawl. It was obvious she’d been browbeaten her entire life, and it took all the self-control I could muster not to react.
Elena continued, “This is an important social event, so be on your best behavior. You’ll meet Frankie’s sisters and his groomsmen this afternoon. Look your best, skip the gaudy makeup, and act like a proper young woman. Remember, only speak when spoken to. I am relieved you’re not a babbling idiot after your little accident. Don’t disappoint us, Anastasia.”
With that, she hung up.
The room was filled with a charged silence as we all fumed. Lucian finally broke the tension and spoke first. “What a fucking piece of work!”
Braxton added, “I’ve never heard someone so arrogant and uncaring.”
Gabriel crossed his arms. “We need a plan, and we need it now. This isn’t just a wedding—it’s a death trap.”
Lachlan nodded. “Agreed. But we’re going to have to be careful to figure out how to get Ana away from all this without setting off a war.”
“Lucky me. I got to go to Tacoma for my bachelorette trip, and slamming into a tree was the highlight of my pre-wedding plans,” Angel joked darkly.
“Hey, at least you got to meet me,” I said, giving her an apologetic grin. Rising to my feet, I went to lean against the table next to her. She looked up at me through her eyelashes and half smiled.
We debated whether Angel could skip the rehearsal dinner, but it quickly became clear that this would tip Elena and the others off. Her family was eager to see her married off, so we figured she was in no immediate danger being around them. Julian, who apparently had experience surveilling people, offered to watch Elena’s house during dinner and keep an eye on Angel. He would be careful to stay just close enough to help her if she needed it. I didn’t like the idea of her going alone, but I wanted some time to investigate a few things on my own, so I went along with it.
As we discussed the rehearsal at the church, tonight’s dinner, and the wedding, Angel grew more anxious, her foot bouncing up and down. She’d been too quiet, so I reached out to her, pulling her to her feet and wrapping her in a big bear hug. She buried her face in my chest. “I’m so grateful to have you in my life,” she whispered.
The guys exchanged looks, and Lucian gave me an approving smile.
Angel pulled away and sighed. “I need to call Nik. I didn’t tell him I was leaving, and I want to know where he stands. His mixed messages have left me unsure if he’s on Viktor’s side or mine.”
Picking up her phone, she scrolled through her contacts and called him, but there was no answer. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked deflated. She shrugged. “I guess I’ll try again later.”
It was after one o’clock, and she needed to go home, get dressed, and head to the church. We agreed to reconvene tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we could make a solid plan after she learned how the wedding was set to go down. There was so much we didn’t know about these people. One thing was clear though—they were all violent assholes who didn’t care about killing people, so we needed to proceed with caution.