Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Luca
Alek Morozov invites me into his home.
“Luca, I wasn’t expecting to see you here today,” he comments as he leads me into his office. Alek is just as tall as I am and just as handsome. It makes the two of us a dangerous combination. Powerful men who can take on the world.
“I came because of something that happened last night. At my club.” I settle into the seat across from his desk.
“What happened?”
“We made an alliance two years ago now. Not many people know about it.”
“That’s because we haven’t needed to use it much. Dimitri has been quiet since I made a temporary truce with him over Katya,” Alek explains.
“Right. But that might change. It’s time we proceed forward on our alliance. Make it go public.”
He shifts around in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. “Are you sure? It could put us both at risk. It could piss Dimitri off. I mean, a Russian and an Italian working together? It’s going to raise a lot of concerns for a lot of different people.”
“Who fucking cares? We’re mafia men. We’ve handled a lot. We can handle this. And the point of an alliance is so no one can touch us.”
“What does this have to do with last night? You didn’t tell me.”
I sigh and check my watch. Time is precious time. Every second counts and last night I was interrupted. When two pretty young women came into my office. Two young women that I later learned who they really are.
“Your surrogate daughters were at my club last night.”
Alek goes eerily still. “What? You must be mistaken. Nina and Susanna –,”
“Were at my club last night. I didn’t know who they were at first. But after they left, I couldn’t stop thinking about them so I looked into them. Lo and behold, they are your surrogate daughters. The ones you promised me in marriage to make this alliance happen.”
“Not both of them. Just one of them.”
“Of course. You said we had to wait until they were of age. Are they of age yet?”
Alek looks like he doesn’t want to answer but he knows he has to. For the sake of our alliance. “Yes. Susanna just turned eighteen this year.”
I remember Susanna from last night. The feisty blonde. But the quieter brunette caught my attention in a way I hadn’t been expecting. “And Nina?”
“She’s nineteen.”
It’s still young. Normally I prefer women a little bit older, seeing as I’m in my thirties.
But this marriage alliance isn’t for the sake of lust. It’s for the sake of making sure I always have Alek on my side.
Since he’s married to Katya Ivanov, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could make a true alliance with Dimitri at some point.
I would much prefer that the two Bratva men stay broken than become good friends. That would only hurt me.
“Are you sure it was them at your club?” Alek asks. “They’re good girls. They don’t sneak out and do things like that.”
“Are you sure they’re good? That Susanna has attitude. That much is obvious.”
“Susanna does, yes. But Nina not as much. She just has a tendency to follow her sister, even to her own detriment.”
“Interesting that she’s the older sister and follows the younger one.”
“Yeah, well, it’s because Susanna is a powerful force. They were really at your club last night?”
“Yes.”
“What were they doing?”
“Just dancing. They didn’t drink. They barged into my office and demanded I fire my bartender for doing a terrible job.”
“That sounds like something Susanna would do.”
“Yes. She led the charge.”
“Damn it,” Alek mutters, running his hand over his face. “What were they thinking? Did they get hurt?”
“No. One of my men saw them leave unscathed. I’m assuming they got home. I didn’t check.”
“I need to make sure.” He grabs his cell off the table and calls someone.
I sit patiently. This is something I am willing to wait on.
“Maria? Are the girls there this morning?” He visibly relaxes when the woman on the other end speaks.
“Thank you. That was all.” He hangs up. “They’re home.
But she said that Nina is coming over here to spend time with my wife, so you should leave before then. ”
“Why should I? It would be a good chance to meet one of my potential wives.”
Alek visibly tenses. “You don’t know which one you’re going to choose?”
“Are you giving me the choice? Or do you want me to marry one of them? I want this alliance to work, so it doesn’t really matter to me.”
“I want this alliance to work as well, so… you can choose. Nina will be nicer than Susanna but Susanna has a very strong will. That will make her a good wife to a mafia boss. Nina will crack more. But like I said, she’s actually pleasant to be around. Susanna… well, she has some growing up to do.”
“I’ll consider that.” I stand up and shake his hand. “Well, I should be going then.”
We leave his office and stop in the foyer to see that Nina has already arrived. Alek’s wife, Katya, is next to her, looking effortlessly beautiful. Alek is a lucky man. I settle my eyes onto Nina. I might be a lucky man soon myself.
Nina’s eyes widen and she practically squeaks when she sees me. “Uh…”
Alek looks between her and me before saving her from having to admit the truth of how she knows me. “Nina, this is Luca. A business associate of mine. He was just leaving.”
“But I’ll be back soon.” There’s a subtle threat to my voice. Nina’s eyes widen even more, making her look like a deer. It’s cute. I can feel her eyes on me even after I leave.
Nina
“Nina,” Alek says, drawing me back to the present. Luca Moretti, the man from the club last night is a business associate of Alek’s? This can’t be good. “I need to talk with you. Katya, give us some space.”
Katya gives me a questioning look before walking away.
I brace myself. “Yes?”
“You and your sister went to Luca’s club last night. Don’t deny it. You know I’m right.”
My shoulders slump. I was never very good at keeping in lies. They always came out eventually. “Yes.”
“Luca came over here to let me know about it. I’m glad that you both were unhurt. But never be that stupid again.”
“You should tell this to Susanna. It was her idea.”
“I plan on it, though we both know Susanna will never listen to me. Now, there’s something else you need to know. The only way for me and Luca to have our alliance is if he marries someone.”
I frown. “Ok?”
He gives me a pointed look that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. “If he marries either you or Susanna.”
All the air is blown out of my body. “What?”
“Yes. It’s time. You knew this day would happen.”
He’s not wrong. I always knew that I would marry a mafia man someday to make my family proud but I just didn’t expect it so soon.
“Susanna won’t like this,” I murmur. “She won’t want to be tied down. Not right when she turned eighteen.”
“He might choose you.”
“He hasn’t made a decision?”
“No. And I’m not going to tell him who to choose. But he’ll make the decision soon. Both you and Susanna should come over tomorrow so he can tell us his choice. It’s better we know sooner rather than later.”
“This isn’t going to go well.”
“I know,” he sighs. “But I need this alliance with Luca to work. So make me proud. You’ve grown a lot in two years. You’ve become friends with Katya and I’m grateful for that. Make me proud in this. And try to keep Susanna in line.”
“You know she never listens to me.”
“Just try.”
“I’m going to have to tell her about this when I get home. She has the right to be prepared too.”
His smile is gentle but there’s a tension around his eyes that tells me this whole thing makes him nervous. “I agree.”
We both know this isn’t going to be easy.
After spending some time with Katya, I go back home, bracing myself to tell Susanna the news. When I enter the house, I find her arguing with our mom in the kitchen.
“This isn’t fair!” Susanna screams. I flinch. What is going on?
“Alek told me that you and Nina snuck out last night. Of course I’m upset and I have the right to ground you for what you did.”
“I am legally an adult. You can’t!”
“You live in my house. I have a say over what you do.”
“Then I’ll move out,” Susanna declares, looking proud of herself.
“Move out where? You have no money yourself.”
“I’ll figure it out!”
“Can we stop arguing?” I ask, tentatively entering the room.
Susanna whips around and throws me an annoyed look. “How did Mom find out we snuck out? How did Alek know? Did you tell him when you went over to his place?”
“Alek knew because of Luca Moretti.”
Susanna frowns. “Who?”
“The man from the club last night. He’s in an alliance with Alek but he needs to marry one of us to secure it. So he’s going to choose tomorrow. Alek wants us to go over to his house for that.”
The room goes quiet. I figured it would be better to just spit it all out than drag it out forever.
Then Susanna speaks. Or rather, screams. “What?!”
“Luca is a mafia man. He wants to marry one of us. I’m not sure which. But we don’t really get a say in the matter. So suck it up, Susanna. This is happening.”
Mom sits down heavily into one of the chairs, like all the air has just left her. “I knew this day would come but I’m not ready for it.”
Instead of screaming more, Susanna goes eerily calm.
“This is the solution to my problem. If I marry, then I won’t have to live here.
I can make my own rules. Live my life for myself.
This is great!” She claps her hands together.
“Luca will obviously pick me. I mean, why wouldn’t he?
Look at me.” She motions at me. “And look at you. It’s no competition. ”
“I’m pretty too,” I mutter.
“Sure but not as pretty as me. Anyone can tell. And Luca is a handsome man. I noticed that right away last night. He’ll pick me and I won’t have to live in this horrible house any longer. I can make my own rules. Go where I want. Do what I want. Live life as a woman for once.”
Mom shakes her head. “Don’t be so sure, Susanna. He could pick Nina.”