Chapter 21
Leo
M y uncle is getting impatient for news of his bride. There are only so many times I can lie and avoid answering him before he demands I bring her to him. Although the man I killed was sent by Quinn, I don’t doubt he intended to bring her back for my uncle.
Eamonn Quinn sees Nora as an asset, and he’ll want to see a return on his investment soon.
I took a big risk killing his man, but to leave him alive would have alerted Quinn to our surveillance of Nora, which could harm the tentative alliance my uncle is building with him.
But it won’t take him long to realize something happened to his man, and he could send another for Nora again at any time.
Killing more of his men would only alert him to my presence here and my feelings for Nora.
But if I let them take her, I won’t be able to live with the results.
Option one, she’ll be taken to my uncle and married off to him.
I’d have to spend the rest of my life watching her tied to him as his wife.
She’d be miserable and I’d have a front-row seat to her suffering.
I’d also have to resist the temptation to continue our nightly rendezvous or risk my uncle finding out and castrating me for touching his wife.
Option two, my uncle or Quinn calls off the marriage and I never see Nora again.
Both options would be a slow death.
I can’t live without her. I need her. I have to find a way to make Nora truly mine.
After I got rid of the man’s body I returned and sent her a text as Max.
She needed someone, and as much as I wanted to comfort her, I knew I had to keep away.
Holding her as Max while she sobbed was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
I wanted to tell her who I was, that Max was a cover, but I’m in too deep.
That intruder probably saved me, as now I realize if Nora had unmasked me then it would all be over.
As I watch her work from my usual hiding place, an idea starts to formulate in my mind.
Her limp is more pronounced today, either from the cold or because she’s too distracted by the news of Mike’s death and the events of last night to try to hide it.
I hardly notice it now, it’s just part of Nora, another thing that makes her so perfectly imperfect, a fallen angel with a broken wing.
My uncle, however, abhors imperfections, especially in his women.
Where I see strength and beauty, my uncle would see weakness and deformity.
He would be unable to deny that Nora is stunningly beautiful, with her long lashes framing wide, beseeching eyes, slim nose, high cheekbones, and full, plump rosebud lips, but he would also be unable to appreciate the rest of her beauty.
That wouldn’t stop him from marrying her, as this alliance is too important to him.
He would simply punish her for her perceived faults and try to fix them.
He would insist she get breast implants, too big for her petite frame, that she grow out her hair and hide her scars.
I know my uncle is a violent man and that his wives do not escape his wrath.
His past two wives died by his hand, though, of course, that is not the official story.
His aggression never bothered me before.
It was none of my business how he chose to conduct his private life, and in our world, only the strong survive.
But the thought of Dimitri laying his hands on Nora, in both violence and passion, makes me sick.
I couldn’t sit by and watch him beat the light in her eyes into oblivion.
I couldn’t bear to see Nora with any other man.
She belongs to me. We’re perfect for each other.
If I allow this wedding to go ahead, Dimitri will change her. Inside and out. I don’t think she’d survive him long. I cannot allow that to happen.
I need to find a way to keep Nora for myself and keep the alliance with Quinn. If my uncle sees through my lies, or I overplay my hand, I could doom us. Yet I have to try.
I tear my eyes away from Nora, forcing myself to walk outside where I can make what could be the most important call of both our lives.
“Leonid, how is my bride-to-be?” Dimitri asks, getting right to the point.
“Pakhan, the situation is delicate. I need more time,” I hedge.
“No. No more time. It is not a difficult task. Is the girl Quinn’s daughter or not?” he snaps.
“She has a different name. Could be an alias, but I’ve yet to find solid proof,” I lie.
“I can send someone more capable if you cannot handle this simple task, boy,” he growls.
Shit. So I can’t delay him any longer. Not without making him suspicious.
“No, I can handle it,” I quickly insist. Taking a deep breath, I build up the courage to go ahead with my plan. “Look, the thing is, Uncle, I think she is Quinn’s daughter, but there are some… complications.”
“What sort of complications? Is something wrong with the girl?” he asks abruptly.
“Yes,” I choke out the lie. “She’s impure. I have witnessed her with men. There’s one man in particular, a colleague from work, Mike Thomas, that she has had… relations with.”
It kills me to say it, to even pretend that Nora was a voluntary participant with Mike and that they had sex, but if Dimitri thinks Nora isn’t a virgin, it will help my case.
“So the girl is not a virgin as promised? Some other man has touched what is mine?” Dimitri roars in disgust.
“Yes. I killed him for it, but I was too late. The police finally identified his body yesterday.”
“They will not trace this to us?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“There’s one other thing about the girl,” I add, wincing and feeling guilty for what I am about to say, but I have to be sure Dimitri definitely won’t want her and is more amenable to what I am about to suggest. “She’s not the beauty Quinn had you believe.
The girl has a noticeable limp, some sort of disability. She’s very skinny too.”
Though I know it’s for us, I still hate to describe Nora as being anything less than perfect.
“Quinn is trying to sell me some defective limping whore as a bargaining chip? This is outrageous! That bastard Quinn has offered me a sullied, broken bride. I should kill him for the insult,” he hisses.
“Yes, Uncle, but we need this alliance,” I remind him gently.
“Don’t you think I know that? But do you expect me to marry someone like this? I need a woman on my arm who would be the envy of all,” he snaps.
“I have a solution that could keep the alliance intact while leaving you free to marry a woman more suitable for a man such as yourself,” I tentatively suggest.
To my relief, my uncle jumps on the idea immediately. “Well, let’s hear it. Out with it, boy.”
“I could marry her. I may not be as good a prize as you, Pakhan, but I am the current heir. Given the circumstances, Quinn should be grateful that you would be so generous as to keep the alliance and offer him your nephew instead.”
He’s silent for a moment, and I hold my breath, praying he hasn’t seen through my weak ruse. “You want to marry the girl despite her shortcomings? You’re a young man in his prime, you could have the pick of beautiful Russian women, why would you want this pathetic creature?” he asks skeptically.
“It is not that I want her,” I lie. “But I am willing to do this for our family, for the alliance. Many men have married ugly wives for the sake of power and forging alliances, let this be my burden, allow me to do this for you,” I say, praying I haven’t laid it on too thickly.
It’s almost as if I can hear the wheels turning in his head.
Dimitri has resisted arranging a marriage for me before now, most likely because he wants heirs before I start having children of my own.
No doubt he’s thinking it’s unlikely Nora and I would have kids quickly, or if we did, they would be weak and no match for his own should things become volatile in the future.
“Thank you, son, you are doing this family a great service. I will not forget this.”
“Thank you, Pakhan,” I reply, trying to keep the relief from my voice.
“I will speak with Quinn and begin making the arrangements. You are to come home immediately.”
I almost crumple with gratitude. As long as Quinn agrees and Dimitri doesn’t find out my lies, Nora will soon be mine completely.
My wife.