Chapter 9 #2
“I just got it in my inbox,” Dad said.
“Huh, it wasn’t going to be done until Monday.”
I checked my phone. Sure enough, it was there. I texted Kirill.
Me
Just got the prenup. Regardless, we’re not moving up the wedding date.
Kirill
The announcement is going out on Wednesday.
For someone who didn’t want to make an effort to know his bride, he was certainly pushy to get married.
If everything looks okay on my end, then fine.
You got every point you wanted, including continuing to work.
Yes, but working with Sato glued to my side was going to be tricky. It was a good thing I convinced Kirill that I didn’t need the security while I was living with my parents.
Though I wanted to add an infidelity clause, it was a waste of text because New York was a no-fault divorce state and it wouldn’t be enforced.
“Is something the matter?” Mamma asked.
“No, just telling Kirill I saw the prenup.”
“Was that what you two were arguing about?” Dad asked.
“It’s not that. If you must know, I wanted him to come to the cake tasting, and okay…” I took a bite of nazook and then chased it with tea. “To make the public see that this was nothing but the usual arranged marriage.”
Dad dropped his eyes to his teacup and took a contemplative sip. No matter how I tried to reassure the men in my family, they were certain I wasn’t honest about the whole reason for agreeing to marry Kirill.
My mother’s face softened, and she came around to my other side and sat. She picked up both of my hands, and my barstool swiveled her way so she could have my full attention.
“Listen to me, Stellina,” Mamma said. “Remember what I said to you the other night? In arranged marriages, there are times the groom and the bride don’t actually spend time together prior to the ceremony.
In most cases, especially with the mafia, they don’t even meet until the wedding.
Yours is not a typical love match, but it looks like you and Kirill came to this arrangement on your own for whatever reason—”
“That whatever reason still concerns me,” Dad muttered.
Mamma cast Dad a censuring look. “You more than handled those things in the prenup, Paulie.” Her eyes fell back on me.
“What was I saying? The hope in any arranged marriage is that you will learn to love each other. Now, I know Kirill appears to be a hard man to love. But Irina said he used to be a loving, sweet boy.”
I was thankful Mamma still had my hands in hers and I wasn’t sipping tea or I would have spat it out.
But right now, I pulled away because I needed to drink something, preferably with alcohol. “What happened?”
“After he lost his older brother…I forget his name…Ivan sent Kirill to Russia. Irina said she’d been angry at Ivan and took a long time to forgive him for sending Kirill away. Aralina’s birth helped them reconcile, and Kirill came back to the US.”
“Wow. No one is sending any child of mine away,” I said, looking at Dad. “That’s covered, right?”
“Joint custody in case of divorce barring any proven abuse from one party,” Dad said. “And no way in hell is the Russian mafia taking control of any grandchildren of mine. Don’t worry, Lucy, I had Luca’s lawyers, who prepared the prenup of his marriage to Natalya, look at it.”
“So there, Luca is an example. Look at how in love he is with Natalya now. He’s so protective of her, he changed the code of made men.
Putting the core family first. Sure, he messed up at first, but made it up to Natalya, and Natalya couldn’t have asked for a better husband who would move heaven and earth for her and Elias. ”
My uncle was indeed an example of an arranged marriage that went horribly wrong at first, but in the end, his love story with Natalya made me swoon.
Okay, I shouldn’t worry about Kirill not wanting to broadcast our wedding to the public. Mamma was right. This was an arranged marriage with a secretive organization like the bratva. Eventually there might be affection between us, and he seemed to enjoy my company at least.
God, I was talking like a Victorian bride.
But this thing with the Kings bothered me. Maybe Dad knew them and could give me insight since Kirill, once again, was keeping me in the dark about this.
“Dad,” I said tentatively. “Do you know Theodore and Jeremiah King?”
Mamma’s eyes widened, and Dad sat up straight in his chair.
“I guess you both do.”
“What about them?” Dad asked.
“They were there at the funeral, and they seemed to be close to the Davenports. Jeremiah, the younger one, approached me and asked me how I knew Anya. It seemed like a totally innocent question except I’m used to fishing expeditions.”
Dad and Mamma exchanged a strange look.
I sighed. “All right, out with it.”
“The Kings and the Zahkarovs have a murky association. But it was more during the time of Ivan and Duncan King—Theodore and Jeremiah’s father. People weren’t sure whether they were allies or enemies.”
“Is Duncan still involved in King Industries?”
“No. He and his wife, Esther, died in a car accident, and rumor is that it was not an accident, but a hit.”
“Ivan?” I barely had interactions with Kirill’s father.
Dad shrugged. “It was years ago.”
“It was an accident, plain and simple,” Mamma said.
“Maybe they were arguing in the car. Wasn’t it a rainy night?
” She looked at me. “Esther King had psychological problems.” Of course, Mamma would side with the Zahkarovs.
She and Irina were friends and had become closer after organizing the masked ball last year.
Which explained why, after being left out of my wedding preparations other than approving the menu and cake, Mamma was hell-bent on my marriage to Kirill.
“Lottie…” Dad warned.
“I would stay far away from the Kings.” Mamma made the sign of the cross. “There are whispers that the eldest one is a sociopath.”
“Really?” My eyes widened. I could believe that. Especially since his razor-sharp glare across the graveyard was unnerving, like he wanted to chop Kirill to pieces. And that was saying a lot given that Kirill was the one in the bratva.
“Theodore’s first wife divorced him and accused him of mental abuse. It was quite a scandal years ago.”
Suddenly, I was looking forward to getting entrenched in Zahkarov history with the Kings. Covertly, of course.
Scandals and murders were like catnip to me. Looked like I was marrying into both.