Chapter 10
Ten
A vra
I released a deep breath, unsure how to describe my first few weeks as a married woman. I rolled to my side on the bed and gazed out the window of Eli’s estate home in the countryside. The warm weather and the blue sky gave the room a whimsical atmosphere, but life wasn’t exactly that.
Most newlyweds would spend their days on an official honeymoon, except Eli and I weren’t like other couples. This union was a business arrangement, not a marriage in the traditional sense. Honeymoons and time off with one’s significant other weren’t part of the equation.
Thankfully, Eli kept his promise and never forced me to stay a single night under the same roof as Ozias. When the wedding festivities ended, Eli swept me out of the city and took me to one of his other properties.
I watched the birds fly over the water and pulled the sheet tighter to my chest as a breeze filtered through the sheer curtains.
I planned to enjoy these few moments with myself before Eli charged out of the bathroom, expecting me to jump at his order to prepare for our return to Patras.
The man loved to boss me around, and of course, that meant I challenged him. Why I enjoyed doing or saying the opposite of everything he said or wanted made no damn sense. Maybe some twisted, sadistic part of me had decided to emerge and make its presence known.
Whatever it was, I couldn’t get enough of his hands on me, and poking at him in some way or another got me fucked.
This couldn’t be normal.
I winced and rolled to a sitting position before reaching for a glass of water on the side table and drinking the contents.
I studied Eli’s packed suitcases and my open ones and shook my head. We’d barely spent more than a few nights in one place for nearly a month.
Work, work, work. It was all Eli did.
Then again, the family would run itself into the ground if Eli wasn’t in charge. Ozias liked to play leader, but everyone at every estate knew Eli ran the Xenos family, from the controlling lieutenants to the vineyard workers.
The biggest surprise over this past month, outside of his insistence we were never to sleep apart unless absolutely necessary, was that he wasn’t bothered by my presence while he conducted business with his lieutenants.
I kept telling myself it was a mind game to trick me into dropping my guard and trusting him.
Eli ran things in a fashion that reminded me so much of Papa. His methods of managing the Xenos and Vitalis territories garnered respect and a bit of fear. There was no favoritism in his management. He expected results and wanted all under his watch to be thriving.
However, when it came to the private side of things, our relationship made no damn sense. We lived a pattern of arguing and fucking, with a little bit of getting to know each other thrown in on occasion.
Eli still wasn’t over the whole thing about my confronting Cristo, Morisi, and Pello. Every chance possible, he voiced his frustration and irritation about my approach at the wedding. And it was always the same song and dance about taking risks with my life.
Whatever.
He could hold a grudge and judge me about my behavior all he wanted.
I had no plans to back down.
I would not apologize for telling those three they had targets on their backs.
Whenever we argued, Elias quickly tossed my words about consequences back in my face. Which, of course, led to fucking. It wasn’t make-up sex. There wasn’t anything forgiving or sweet about it. Hard and fast, vicious and demanding, and in every torrid way possible.
The fact that every argument led to him filling me with his long, thick cock made me wonder if he picked a fight just to have an excuse to fuck me.
Well, there were a few times all I had to do was scowl at him, and he’d pounce, making me come until I couldn’t think straight.
If I didn’t know better, I’d assume he wanted me and couldn’t get enough of me.
The only explanation was the newness of it all or, perhaps, us succumbing to the heat of our tempers and fucking like rabbits was the only way to calm us down.
On top of it all, my damn traitorous body never resisted him when it knew better.
Shifting, I winced again from the lingering discomfort of my last encounter with Eli.
Marrying him was part of a plan, not to fuck him nonstop.
A wave of guilt hit me.
What were the girls doing? It was strange to be away from them, and it was more challenging to be out of the loop. I couldn’t check on the progress of the plan.
Talking to Vik was out of the question. We needed privacy, which wasn’t possible with Eli’s people always around. Plus, if I shared anything about Eli, it would leave me questioning its rightfulness.
I needed Laya and Cali to talk some sense in me before Eli fucked any little lingering bit out of my head .
Was jumping into this plan the wrong call?
As the eldest, I had to protect them, and it felt like I’d put them in more danger.
This search for revenge was my plan.
Fuck. Eli was correct. I had ignited a fire, boasting to those three assholes that I’d enjoy the last laugh. It was uncertain what tricks they had planned.
Vik was there. It was his job to see to Laya and Cali’s safety.
But I couldn’t shake the new worry that they were now more vulnerable than ever.
The wedding had exposed them to the world, decreeing to Papa’s enemies the Vitalis sisters had survived treachery.
The plan was to return to Patras tomorrow and move into Elias’s penthouse outside the city center. It was small, a bachelor pad where I had no doubt he’d taken former lovers.
At least it wasn’t the Vitalis family home his father had destroyed.
“If you don’t pick one of the properties when we return…” he warned as he stalked out of the bathroom, steam trailing after him.
He grabbed clothes set out on a chair without glancing in my direction.
“Then what?” I challenged.
Now, there was another issue we argued about—compromising on a property.
I wanted a home. He had a list of expectations. Neither of us wanted to budge. He had no objection to living close to my sisters, so at least that was a positive in this whole thing .
Who knew house-hunting was so stressful? Or maybe it was only this way with Eli.
Eventually, we’d figure it out or kill each other.
He paused and turned to give me a long once-over, his eyes heating.
My heart skipped a beat, and my nipples beaded.
What am I doing?
“We don’t have time for this,” he muttered without moving a muscle.
I licked my lips and then swallowed to ease my parched throat. “Then get dressed. I have to shower.”
“You shower when I say you shower.”
Really? He wanted to go there.
I held his gaze, knowing my following words would set him off. “Your cum is leaking out. I need to clean up.”
Something was seriously wrong with me. My desire for Eli never seemed to calm. My ass still tingled from the way his hand had spanked it hard as I rode him earlier.
I couldn’t possibly be this addicted.
As he dropped his towel and stalked closer, my blood fired up hot through my veins, and my skin prickled with goosebumps. The predatory gleam in his eyes never failed to turn me on.
“There is no cleaning up for you. You will carry me on you all day long.”
Instead of protesting, I rose onto my knees, letting the sheet fall and inviting him closer.
“Is this some animalistic way to mark me, Eli? I’m not someone you can easily claim. ”
He smirked, and for a brief second, I felt a sensation deep inside me flutter. I pushed it away and focused on the man before me.
As annoying as he could be, there were times like this when I enjoyed his company, sexy banter in the guise of being a jerk and bossing me around.
Maybe that’s what it was, a game to pick at each other because we gave as good as we got.
He grabbed my nape, jerking me to him. “You’re a pain in the ass, Avra.”
“Considering what you’ve done to me, that statement refers to you.” I held his dark gaze.
He shook his head as his lips twitched, and he tried to keep his frown. “Is this how it will be for the rest of our lives? The only way to win in any conflict is to fuck you senseless?”
“Most likely. And what makes you believe I will concede, even then?”
Before I registered what he planned, he took hold of my thigh and flipped me onto my back, coming over me. Gloriously naked and fully aroused, he was everything I never knew I wanted in a lover—dominant and taking none of my shit.
Until Eli, no one had shown me this type of primal lust. It sometimes frightened me, and I couldn’t get enough of it at others.
I clutched at his shoulder, attempting to draw him closer, wanting to feel his mouth on mine. Instead, he pushed my legs apart with his knees and nudged the head of his cock at my slick opening .
“Pick a property, Avra. Living in the penthouse is temporary. I want a home.”
I furrowed my brow. “You want a home?”
“Yes, a place to start our family. What did you think I wanted?”
“But that checklist?”
“Those are preferences. Something you like will have a majority of them.”
I stared up at him. He wanted a home, not just a place to live.
“You make no sense to me, Eli Xenos. I’m not sure I am ever going to figure you out.”
“Feeling’s mutual.” He pushed into me, making me gasp and arch up. “Now it’s time to fuck. No more talking.”
The next afternoon, I went through the City Center of Patras to meet Vik for lunch before Eli picked me up to see one of the houses on my list. The first night in the penthouse had made it clear Eli was the one who wanted to move as soon as possible.
In his eyes, the place was too small for a married couple. Compared to the tiny apartment that Laya, Cali, and I had shared in Prague, Eli’s place was a luxurious palace.
But I also understood other reasons for finding a place as soon as possible.
Image.
Living in a home we selected together showed the world this wasn’t an Ozias Xenos-type of marriage with affairs starting before the honeymoon ended, but a real one.
As I approached the restaurant, my security lead, Besa, stepped around me to open my door. Eli’s idea of protection and what I’d lived with for over fifteen years were vastly different.
Arguing about it had only led to the typical Eli way of discussion, meaning I was thoroughly fucked and still ended up with a team of no less than six on my security detail wherever I went.
Upon entering, I spotted Vik in a corner where no one could approach from behind, and he had a view of everyone.
Typical Vik.
He rose as I approached, his standard unemotional mask on his face. Until this moment, I hadn’t realized how much I missed him.
“He’s treating you…well?” he asked.
I nodded and hugged him to throw him off balance. Instead of grumbling, he squeezed me back, opposite to what I intended.
“You did that on purpose,” I muttered as I sat.
“I raised you. I know all of your tricks. Be honest—the Xenos men aren’t within earshot.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Since our men are mixed in with his, you’d know if Eli wasn’t.”
My marriage required Vik to increase the units in the area, calling in trusted sources with people available for the work. Many Vitalis soldiers had infiltrated the working ranks of every organization, including Eli’s.
“Yes, I hear things.” He shook his head, picked up his drink, and took a deep gulp.
Of course, he’d learn about that aspect of my marriage. However, it wasn’t his business, and we both knew it.
“We’re here to discuss the next step,” I stated, wanting no more of that conversation.
Not having to say that twice, he launched right into business. “Marrying into the Xenos family was incredibly smart.”
“I told you not to doubt me.” I lifted a brow. “We now have access to information that was once completely out of our reach.”
In a tone only meant for my ears, he said, “What use is this knowledge if it hinders your ability to make decisions? It isn’t my place to make them for you any longer. The orders have to come from you.”
“What decisions would you have me make?” I asked in a cool, almost icy way. “It is too soon to move on any of our enemies, and it is foolish to believe otherwise. We are in a wait-and-see period.”
Vik pursed his lips and then smirked. Was that a test? Oh, he was good. He wanted to rile me up and see how I’d react.
“Then we continue as we have until you say otherwise.”
“Correct.” I nodded. “Right now, we only need to draw suspicion about why Eli and I married. We want everyone to wonder what Ozias is planning.”
Vik leaned back in his seat. “Then you accomplished your goal. Our men say the other family heads don’t trust Ozias’s motives behind your union. Some of them wonder now that your marriage legitimizes his claim to the Vitalis lands, which means he is preparing to extend his reach into their areas.”
“Things are working out better than expected.” I smiled. “The Vitalis sisters are considered royalty in our world, so claiming one of us gives power, whether we come with land or not.”
Vik snorted, then grew serious, his face growing hard. “Making yourselves commodities comes at a price, Avra.”
“Meaning?” I set my hand on the table, knowing he saw something I hadn’t considered.
Vik would always tell me the truth without filters.
“The vultures are circling. You said it yourself, claiming one of you gives power. It’s much clearer to me that Laya and Cali are vulnerable. The Vitalis name represents money, land, and legacy. You gave it to Ozias through Eli. Others will try to follow his example.”
Goosebumps prickled my skin. “Eli has repeatedly brought this to my attention.”
“Explain.” Vik’s command was more father than adviser. “Since when have you trusted your husband?”
“He doesn’t know anything about our objectives. It’s more about safety. He believes confronting Caras, Bella, and Korba at our wedding wasn’t the wisest of actions.”
“In other words, it has caused some friction between you.”
That was an understatement. It got me fucked every time it came up.
Instead of answering his statement, I said, “After considering things, I agree with his assessment. Confronting the three at the wedding may have brought attention to Laya and Cali.”
“Perhaps, but I watched everyone after you left. Ozias garners loyalty only so far. It is one of circumstance and protection, not a true bond of brothers.”
“Getting Laya and Cali into the right families is key. We need ones with power and affluence. They will protect them and become allies.”
“Laya is next,” Vik said, “and I’ve identified three major players who are interested in a match with her. I think only one of them is worth the time.”
“You work fast.”
He nodded, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. “He has enormous power here and connections with the northern Italians.”
Perfect , I immediately decided.
“He’s the one.”
Marrying someone tied to the Italian mafia would be a game-changer, bringing another level of allies and influence. The northern Italians disliked many Greek syndicate heads and questioned their stance on loyalty, especially after what had happened to Papa.
“Your distant cousin Milla married into one of the families,” he reminded me. “She married the syndicate boss of a large territory with significant power. The candidate I have in mind for Laya is a close relative of that husband.”
“What’s his name?”
Vik didn’t hesitate, prepared as ever. “Nikolas Galanis. ”
Knowing Laya wouldn’t question my decision, I said, “Consider it done.”
Laya, Cali, and I had made a pact to do this: to marry, use our name and influence to connect ourselves with suitable families, and take back what was ours.
I’d taken the first step by marrying Eli.
A pang of sadness filled me. All we’d had for fifteen years was each other, and now marriage would change it, separate us. We’d create lives with others.
We would survive it. Our bond was too strong.
I shut down those thoughts, accepting this as our future reality. We would sort out the rest once we’d rightfully reclaimed everything those bastards had stolen from us.