Chapter 17 - Yulian
Katerina has been miserable. She’s clearly struggling with the issues between her brother and herself, and the arranged marriage.
She hasn’t said any more to me about the conversation she had with Artur. The only thing I managed to get out of her was that he’ll come around. But come around to what? I don’t know. Not proceeding with the arrangement? Letting her marry me?
I don’t want to push Katerina because I can see she’s already buried in her thoughts. She needs time to process things for herself.
I told her I’d wait, and I really meant that. I want her to choose me. I want her to marry me, but I won’t do what her brother is doing and force her into it.
I want her to want it.
So I’m waiting. But dammit, it’s driving me crazy.
Every time I’m sitting with her, I want to tell her everything that’s in my heart. That she means the world to me. But I can’t. She must choose based on her wants, needs and dreams.
Not mine.
It’s late afternoon on Thursday, but Katerina is not going to be home for another hour or two.
I’ve been working out my frustration and energy in the workshop.
Now I’m standing at the open doors, staring out into the garden, wondering what I’ll do if Katerina says she wants to leave.
How will I manage things if she tells me she is going to honor her brother’s wish and marry this stranger?
I don’t envision myself taking it very well.
Even now, the thought of her being with another man has my skin burning with anger, and I want to tear the guy apart, even though I have no idea who he is. Maybe I should look into him. Just in case. It’s better to be prepared than not.
My phone rings, and I glance back at the workshop, where it’s lying on the bench.
I can’t see the screen from here, but I walk over to it to answer. It’s not a number I know.
“Yulian,” I answer sharply.
“Yulian, my name is Artur Krolik. I believe you are very well acquainted with my sister, Katerina?”
I let out a surprised chuckle. Acquainted. An amusing way to put it.
“What can I do for you, Artur?” I ask, friendly and professional.
“I want to meet, face to face, to discuss the fact that you married my sister behind my back,” he huffs. “And where we go from here.”
Oh, he thinks we already got married. Is that what she told him, or is he just misunderstanding something she said?
I could correct him. But if he thinks we’re married and it’s making him want to meet with me, this is a good thing.
I wonder what his plan is ‘from here.’ Maybe he wants to discuss an alliance between our families, in which case this can all be over.
We can settle this and be done with the back-and-forth unpleasantries.
“I’d be happy to meet you. Let me know when and where,” I reply curtly.
“Now? I’m free if you are. I don’t see any point in delaying this any longer.” Artur is a confident man. He speaks with authority and pride.
“There is a cafe on the line between our territories. Cafe Lenova, do you know it?” I ask.
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
“I’ll see you there, Artur.”
Katerina might have been right after all. Her brother is coming around. She knows him well enough. I should trust her and see this as a positive move. I glance at my watch and suddenly panic.
Shit. I should have said an hour. I need to shower.
Bolting inside, I take the fastest shower of my life, then throw on a black suit and run out to the car. He might not be a more powerful man than I am, but being late is just plain disrespectful, and I have no intention of disrespecting Artur today.
I drive like a madman and reach the cafe right at the thirty-minute mark. Not bad. By the time I get inside and find Artur, I am all of two minutes late.
He stands to shake my hand with a solemn expression on his face. “You came alone?” he asks in surprise.
“I wasn’t aware I needed backup?” I chuckle.
Artur smiles tightly. I watch every movement, every twitch of his expression.
While I’m here under the assumption that this meeting is going to be positive, I will never let my guard down in situations like this.
Men give a lot of information away without saying one word.
And considering I have no idea what he has planned for me today, it was risky coming here without backup, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take for Katerina’s sake.
I sit down at the dark wood coffee table near a window on a stainless-steel artisan chair.
He has his back to the wall. The position I prefer to sit in, but I can at least see what is going on behind me in the reflection of the giant glass-framed artwork behind him.
As soon as I’m settled in my seat, he gets straight to the point.
“So, you married my sister,” he sighs heavily.
It wasn’t a question, more of an incorrect statement, so I don’t answer him with a yes or a no. I want to first find out how he feels about it.
The waiter comes over, and I order a soda. Artur waves his hand, he’s happy with his black coffee.
When the waiter leaves, Artur stares at me. He’s waiting for me to say something, to explain myself in some way. Fine. I don’t mind taking the lead in a meeting.
“Artur, your sister is a bold, powerful, magnificent woman. She knows what she wants, and if you give her a chance to speak to you from her heart, you might like what she has to offer, for you and for your family. You’re new here, finding your footing, and still learning the ins and outs and how it all works.
She has connections in this city that have value to you if you use them.
” I’m hoping Katerina was right, that Artur will come around, or maybe he already has, and we can discuss an alliance between our families.
My goal is not to discuss marriages, but to discuss possible business relations between us.
Something that will make Katerina’s life easier.
Artur snorts loudly. Bitter laughter spills from him that makes me clench my jaw. I came here hoping for a positive conversation, but already, within the first few minutes, I can see he hasn’t changed his mind at all.
Katerina’s hope for her brother might have been naive.
“Yulian Andreev, you are interfering with my family business, and I suggest you back off. My sister is locked into an arrangement with another family, another man, who will form an alliance with us in exchange for her hand in marriage. This marriage is going to protect the Kroliks from the likes of you. From the Andreevs.”
He spits his words at me, his eyes dark and angry.
“Artur, you don’t need protection from us if you listen to what I’m proposing.
My offer will keep your family safe, and your sister won’t be thrown into some marriage she’s dreading.
You won’t be snuffing out her spirit and her creativity by forcing her to do something she doesn’t want to do.
What I’m offering will benefit both of you,” I argue, my patience slipping.
“Do you think I haven’t heard all of the stories about you, Yulian?
How you and your family trick people into a false sense of security.
You lie about alliances and then stab people in the back.
You lure people into your lives, and the moment they are confident around you, you cut them down.
You act with cruelty and vengeance and malice, and I won’t have any of that anywhere near my sister.
” He has his fists clenched on top of the table.
I let my eyes drift over him. The squared-off frame of his shoulders.
The rigidity of his spine. His jaw set firmly, his eyes dark and piercing.
With all hope lost, I shake my head. “You’re so wrong about us, but you won’t even consider this.
You won’t consider that maybe your uncle fed you bad information.
You are making a mistake, Artur, and it’s not going to end well for you unless you can take off the blindfold your uncle tied so tightly over your eyes. ”
I stare at him, thinking about how Katerina looked, how she was shaking when I found her outside her brother’s house.
How she told me about the arranged marriage, about her fears of being used.
Being a tool. She doesn’t deserve it. But even as I think about her, I can see it in her brother’s eyes.
He’s brainwashed. Whatever Boris Krolik has been feeding him all these years, it’s buried deep inside his brain, and this one, single conversation isn’t going to be enough to break him free from those lies.
Dammit.
Coming here without backup is suddenly not looking like the best idea. I should at least have told someone where I was.
“You started this war, Yulian. Don’t play innocent with me like I don’t know the truth about what your family did to mine.”
“The only version of the truth you know is the one your uncle told you. It doesn’t mean it’s the right one,” I counter.
He snorts. “Sure, and I imagine your truth involves you being the good guys?”
“No one gets to be the good guys in this world, Artur. We are Bratva. But there are people who are better than others. People who operate within a moral code, with respect, with a level head.” I watch Artur while I try to reason with him.
It’s not difficult to see his hand gestures.
A signal of sorts to someone outside, perhaps.
He must think I’m a fool if he believes he can set a trap for me.
I was in this city long before he came.
I watch the reflections in the glass behind him.
“Yulian, you can say whatever you want to say. The words flowing from your lying mouth might sound pretty, but I don’t believe any of it.
” Artur is starting to look smug. In the reflection of the glass, I see three men in suits walk in behind me.
They walk past us, towards the coffee counter, but their eyes are on us. His backup, I presume.
Standing, I take my cue.