Chapter 29
Viktor~
I didn’t want to be here, though I really had no choice. I was also going to have to learn how not to resent my job, especially when you considered how this was my life and how it was only going to get worse once my father passed, leaving me in charge.
Truth be told, I wanted to be at home with my wife.
I wanted to be with her while she picked out a room for her office, and I wanted to watch her decorate it with the pictures of her family that she had finally packed up before leaving her condo last night.
I wanted to watch her turn my house into our house, and I didn’t care if that officially made me a pussy.
However, instead of being with my wife, I was in my father’s office, and I wasn’t the only one.
Kasimir was here, so that I didn’t have to give an account of what had happened yesterday twice.
Plus, despite wanting to do nothing but be with my wife, I knew that it was time to get back to doing my job and leading this family, which was possible now that Aurora wasn’t trying to run at every turn.
After giving them both a recap of all that’d happened at the barn yesterday, my father asked, “How do we prevent this from happening again?”
“Showing a united front is the only thing that I can think of,” I answered, though it was easier said than done.
“Or we just don’t give a shit,” Kasimir chimed in as he shrugged a shoulder. “Now that our arrogance has been knocked down a peg, we’re aware of what can happen now, and so we treat the marriage like we would anything else in our lives that’s ever threatened.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” I retorted. “It’s not your wife that they went after.”
Ignoring that, he said, “Look, normally we’d make examples out of our enemies, but since your wife killed everyone involved, that has left us little options here.”
“I think that we should push her ideas about the working girls faster,” I suggested. “If our people see that she’s actually in charge of something, that’ll prove that she really has us at her back. Plus, it’ll show her doing something for our people in a positive manner.”
“Oh, are you suggesting that kicking their asses and killing slews of them isn’t a good look?” Kasimir drawled out.”
“She’s not killing slews of them,” I argued, though it was a weak argument.
“Your brother has a point,” my father said, shooting Kasimir a reprimanding look that never worked. “She has to show that she’s a Korolev as well as a Marchetti, and putting her in charge of something financially important is a good start.”
“Well, that goes both ways,” I stated, preparing them for what I was about to say next.
“Meaning?” my father asked.
“In exchange for Darya Orlova’s help in luring Decio to the barn, Aurora promised her that no harm would ever come to her daughter at the hands of a Korolev,” I informed them. “So, if we want her to start behaving like a Korolev, then we have to honor her word like she’s one.”
“What else did she promise?” Kasimir huffed. “A car? A new house?”
“Stop being an asshole,” I bit out. “It was a fair exchange.”
“For a woman whose family betrayed us?” Kasimir squawked. “Are you serious?”
I shot him a look as I said, “You’re the one who said that they didn’t know anything.”
“That’s irrelevant, and you know it,” he shot back. “Hell, they’re lucky to still be living in our territory.”
“But they are,” I pointed out. “And as long as they choose to continue to live here, then we leave them alone, and I’m not asking, Kasimir.”
Before my brother could make a run at me, my father said, “If it’s that big of an issue for you, then strongly suggest that they move elsewhere, Kasimir. While we cannot force the issue, we can make things unpleasant enough to encourage them to leave.”
“My wife gave her word that nothing would happen to them,” I reminded them both.
“And nothing will happen to them,” my father replied evenly. “They will remain safe, if a bit uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable for who?” I snapped. “Because if you think that Aurora won’t make me pay for this little stunt, you’re wrong.”
“Armen Orlova tried to kill her,” Kasimir reiterated. “How has she forgotten that very important and crucial fact?”
“The answer is no,” I said, overstepping big time. “The Orlovas will be left alone.”
“So, that’s the way of it, is it?” my father asked, leaning back in his chair, his blue eyes regarding me carefully.
“My wife gave her word,” I bit out, pissed that I was having to fight for such a basic sense of fact.
“She gave her word as a Korolev. If we do not honor that, then what’s stopping Roman Marchetti from questioning just how honorable your word is and pulling out of this deal?
That war that we wanted to avoid will be knocking on our front door, and all because Kasimir is holding a grudge? Are you serious?”
“You don’t know what Roman Marchetti will or won’t do,” my father argued.
“Maybe not,” I conceded. “But I do know what my wife will or won’t do, and what she won’t do is allow anyone to put her honor and reputation at stake.
So, if we don’t back her on this, not only will she leave me, but she’ll do it as she broadcasts it to our enemies that our word means shit.
Never mind that Roman is looking for any reason to dissolve my marriage.
After all, his daughter has already been shot and stabbed under our watch. ”
Because my motives in life were now officially compromised-and my father knew it-he turned to Kasimir, then asked, “So, what do you think?”
“I think that Viktor is in love with his wife and that we’re in trouble,” he answered, chuckling. “However, he’s also not wrong, so I’m not sure how I’m feeling right now. I also think that my sister-in-law is not above slitting our throats on her way out the door, either.”
After a few seconds, my father said, “Very well, we will honor Aurora’s word as a Korolev, though under one condition.”
“Which is?” I asked coolly.
“She begins using her married name,” he stated. “If we are expected to honor her word as a Korolev, then I expect her to be one.”
Taking the win, I said, “I’ll inform her when I get home.”
“You can also inform her that I want a meeting with her tomorrow morning to discuss finalizing her role in this family,” he said, reminding me of who was actually in charge here.
“Of course.”
“Now, is there anything else?” he asked, looking between me and my brother.
“Rumor has it that Dorel Zamfir was seen dealing a little bit too close to our border,” Kasimir announced, and it really was time for me to get my head back in the game.
“Remind me who he is,” my father instructed.
“He’s just a Romanian henchman, but his sighting seems too coincidental,” my brother answered.
“Anything that they, the Chinese, or the Germans do is suspect to me right now. I mean, if you want to talk about people that don’t like the idea of Viktor being married to a Marchetti, they’d be the ones. ”
“I agree,” I said, and it was hard not to feel like the entire world was against me and my wife. “They’ve never taken the risk of being too close to our territory before.”
My father sat up straighter as he let out a deep sigh.
“Though we are related by marriage, Roman Marchetti and I are not friends. However, in order for us to ward off any possible threats against our mutual union, we will need to know if the others are broaching their territory as well. So, Aurora can act as a liaison-”
I immediately shook my head at what he was suggesting. “She made it clear that she’d never share any Marchetti business with me, and she demanded that I do the same when it came to any Korolev business. That’s her line in the sand, and she was very adamant about it.”
“She said that?”
I nodded. “Apart from the prostitution, she doesn’t want me sharing anything with her about what we do withing the organization.”
“Her integrity continues to impress me,” he murmured quietly, almost thinking aloud.
“Looks like you and Roman Marchetti are going to have to become BFFs after all,” Kasimir quipped, a huge grin on his face.
My father shot him a look. “Be careful, or else I’ll replace you with my new daughter-in-law.”
Kasimir just kept grinning. “I’d be offended if I didn’t think that she could do it.”
I just shook my head as my father said, “Get comfortable as we have a lot more things to discuss, and I promised your mother that I’d take her to lunch.”
“Why on earth did you do that?” Kasimir asked, sounding truly horrified by the idea.
“Perhaps Viktor is rubbing off on me,” he quipped. “Now, shut up.”