Chapter 7 #2
Two days of eerie quiet and silence in the streets while the war that’s been waging between the Andriani and Revello families and the Russians cools.
Two days, and now he’s fucking bringing up specifications?
“What the fuck does that mean?” I growl.
Priest shrugs. “Read the contract. You’ll see.”
“Can’t we have Lazaro read it and then give me the rundown?”
Lazaro is the head of the law firm that represents us. He’s shady as fuck and damn good at his job, which is why we have him on permanent retainer.
Priest slides the contract toward me again. “He’s already read it. Your turn.”
I push it away. “Then he can give me a summary.”
His jaw tightens as he shoves it back. “You need to read it yourself. And so help me, if you shove those pages my way again, I’ll chop off your fucking hand. See how much use you are to your new wife without it.”
I glare at the word wife and the threat, but I don’t say shit. “What the fuck are we paying Lazaro for?”
“Many other talents, as you know.”
He’s referring to all the legal binds Lazaro has gotten us out of over the years. The man’s a genius. Thank fuck he’s a corruptible one.
“Fine,” I concede reluctantly. “I’ll read it. But I’m not changing my mind.”
“The wedding is in one week,” he announces flatly.
One week.
My blood goes cold. I was thinking I’d have time. Time to deflect, to turn this shit around, to make Priest see reason, to slit Sidorov’s throat, all of the above. I wasn’t expecting to be fast-tracked into a forced marriage with anyone, let alone her.
For some reason, her eyes on me as I left plays on loop in my mind.
I shake it free. “What does Ekaterina have to say about this?”
“Hell if I know.” Priest rakes a hand through his hair, looking wearier than his years. “That’s for Sidorov to worry about, not us. All that matters is that she’s standing there to say the vows on the appointed day.”
The feisty hellcat I spent two days with wouldn’t just fall in line and accept the fate her brother handed to her.
So if she’s agreed, that means she’s being forced to, and if I know Sidorov, that means a lethal, physical show.
Did he beat her into submission? My gut clenches with revulsion and something else I shouldn’t feel, a white-hot, possessive rage.
I clench my jaw. “Does Sidorov know that if there’s so much as a mark on her, I’ll put a bullet in his brain?”
A frown creases Priest’s features. “If he’s abusing his sister, he’ll have to answer to me too. I don’t do business with woman beaters.”
“And yet, you do business with psychotic Russian bastards who blow up our restaurant and then demand we marry into their ranks.”
“I do what I have to do.” He sighs. “Look, I’m not expecting you to do anything I haven’t already done myself. When I married Luna, it was for the greater good.”
“We’re comparing apples to oranges.”
“No, we’re talking about doing what we have to do, whether we fucking like it or not. Because it’s what the family needs. We’re in a tight place with Sidorov becoming Pakhan, and you know it. Since we united the families, we’ve got double the people relying on us.”
I roll my shoulders, but it doesn’t do shit to ease the tension there.
He’s tightening the screws, casting this whole fucked-up mess in a light I can’t escape.
Because at the end of the day, even if the thought of getting married at all—let alone to Ekaterina Sidorova—makes me want to jump off the nearest skyscraper, my loyalty is to the family.
I’ve sworn an oath, and I have to uphold it.
“Read the contract,” Priest presses me. “Then take the next week to get your personal shit in order. Whatever it takes for your ass to be at the wedding.”
I don’t know what personal shit he’s talking about. My penthouse is spotless because I like order and precision, and I have Carmela, who stops by four times a week to keep everything the way I want it.
“My house is already in order, but the hellcat’s not living with me, even if you force me into marrying her.”
Priest works his jaw, like he’s trying to figure out how to word what he wants to say. “Look, Luna will chop off my balls if she ever hears me say this, but you can keep Chiara on the side. Nothing has to change for you, aside from the legalities of the marriage.”
Fuck. Chiara.
I hadn’t even thought about her. We’ve had a thing going for a while now, based on convenience more than anything. Friends with benefits, not that you can really be friends with a viper. She’s a first-class bitch, but that also makes being with her easy and uncomplicated. I’ll never like her.
“You don’t have to tell me who I can fuck, fratello mio,” I snap. “Even if you do tell me who I have to give my name.”
“Our family name,” he reminds me. “The greater good. It’s what’s best for the Andrianis and the Revellos.”
But not what’s best for me. My brother conveniently leaves that part out.
I’m pissed. At Priest. At Sidorov. At myself. I don’t do well when I’m backed into a corner. Blood is going to spill tonight. I don’t give a fuck if it’s mine or someone else’s.
“Is that all?” I ask, not bothering to keep the bitterness from my voice as I stand and grab the contract.
Priest stands too. “I know you’re angry, and I know this isn’t what you want.”
“You’re goddamn right I’m angry.” I crush the stupid papers in my fist. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get the fuck out of here before I do something I’ll regret.”
Like smash my fist into my brother’s nose.
He nods. “Let me know when you’ve read it.”
I give him a mock salute. “You got it, boss.”
I’m being insolent to my don, and I know it. But as I breeze out of his office, I couldn’t care less. I’ve got one week to figure out how the fuck to get out of marrying Ekaterina Sidorova without causing a war between us and the Bratva.