Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
Victor
The sounds of Anton DeMarco ripping his niece a new place to shit from can be heard all throughout the second level of his enormous house.
It's clear the girl has a habit of sneaking out. She's a slippery one. As if I didn't already fucking know that. I wouldn't need to be here if she wasn't.
I open to the door to my suite, only to sigh when I find my brother already inside and pacing along the windows again.
"Shit, Alexei, not again. I'm tired."
He has an ice pack pressed to his face that he throws halfway across the room when he notices my expression.
He rushes into my face, and I simply raise an eyebrow.
My brother gets more leniency than I'd give any of my other men.
Or that any brother in my position should give another.
I'm still the pakhan, and he is a second son. A spare heir.
Lucky, because the entire city would be ash if it was left in his incapable hands.
"That fucker hit me in the jaw. He deserves a bullet!"
"You might have to settle for the satisfaction of knowing you got under his skin." I side step around my brother and go to the dresser. I don't look back at him, only watching myself in the mirror as I remove my watch and undo my tie.
Alexei's temper has not yet fizzled, and I surrender to the fact I'm going to have to let him run himself out. Though his insolence and tendency to bite at any poke in his side are quickly getting in my way.
"Bull fucking shit, brother." He stomps towards the door, and I check him in my periphery, ready to go after him if he's going to do something stupid. I smirk as I watch his eyes shudder and his pride take a hit as he picks up the ice pack and presses it against his face again.
"You really need to calm down," I stress, turning to him and folding my arms across my chest. "It's like you've forgotten what it is we've come here to do."
The fist holding the ice pack clenches, as does his jaw. "The problem with that is that I do not agree with your reasons for bringing us here."
"Peace versus power. I don't expect you to understand it.
Understanding it isn't your place." I pin him with a meaningful look, reminding him that only one of us is in control here.
Reminding him of the leniency given to him simply because he is my brother.
And, admittedly, warning him not to fucking push it.
"I feel like I'm going insane," Alexei whispers, but I don't respond, because I'm not certain he meant for me to hear it.
I eye myself in the mirror, noting that my beard needs a trim.
I'm a good-looking man, I acknowledge that, so I can't help admiring my form in the reflection for a moment.
It's enough to put me in a better mood when I turn back to my unstable brother.
"They have welcomed us into their home. Be cordial and do not fuck this up for me."
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Alexei says, pulling at his hair. "I hate how willingly you're walking into a trap."
I pinch my nose. Alexei just lacks the forethought to see the bigger picture. He's a ruthless killer and an incredible asset, so it's usually worth tolerating these temper outbursts, but fuck, they really grate on my nerves.
"Drop it before you give me a fucking headache." This time, I let him hear the tightness in my voice. I beg him in the only way I know how and hope he doesn't force me to make it an order.
He drops his hands to the windowsill, looking tortured, before he turns his eyes on me. "She's diabetic, Victor."
I slowly turn my head towards him.
Of all the fucking things to have come out of my brother's mouth. I feel my skin tingle, body hardening. "Careful."
Alexei raises a brow. A calm demeanor settles over him, like his has returned because he can sense he's ruffled mine.
He speaks slowly and deliberately, finding his head.
For a moment I bare my teeth, thinking it may have been better if he'd kept his head firmly up his ass instead of nosing into my business.
"I'm just watching your back, brother. She's not the pretty princess you make her out to be. "
I choose to say nothing. Because it feels like he's getting too close to things he shouldn't know. Not that I don't trust my brother. But it's established he's a loose cannon. He would give away every secret entrusted to him just from the look on his face alone.
"I called Isla here."
It's my turn to lose my shit now. My anger rises to the surface like a wave, crashing into me and taking me under. "You fucking what?!" I barrel towards him from across the room, hands twitching at my sides, begging me to unleash my fury on his fucking face.
He stands up, straightening his back in direct confrontation with me.
"I'm losing my fucking mind here, Vic," he says, giving me an honest, sheepish look. "The way they're trapping us in here feels wrong. I need backup."
"You know how I-"
He cuts off my anger with a wave of his hand. "I don't care what you think about Isla. She's coming. So if I have to stay here with DeMarco trash and their vicious little princess, then Isla comes too. That's final."
Yeah, this is the exact fucking opposite of remembering his place and position. When he leaves the room and closes the door behind him, my glass smashes against the wood behind him.
"You really think letting this girl in here is going to tame your psycho brother?" The hitter, Freddie, laughs as he slaps his cards down. "I've never met a girl with a magic pussy, but I suppose there's a first time for everything."
Cigar smoke fills the air in Anton's library.
We're seated around a green felt-lined table playing twenty-one.
The sun is still up and streaming through the windows.
But in our world deals are rarely made in the darkness.
Here in this room is where chess pieces are shuffled around the board. All in broad daylight.
"Isla is harmless. Just consider her another member of my staff." I chuckle, pasting a bright, friendly smile on my face. I'm putting on all the charm and just hoping they don't see through it.
Not only did my fuckup brother invite his petty little girlfriend here, he's now got me negotiating with the DeMarcos to allow her through the God damn gates. To say I'm pissed off is an understatement.
Isla will most definitely rattle Sage. There's no getting around that. As much as I hate her fucking guts, she's a head-turner. I doubt that Sage, the girl who's used to being the center of attention in every room she's in, will take the competition lightly.
But, Isla will calm Alexei.
And right now my brother is much closer to fucking things up for me than he either knows or cares.
"One girl surely can't do much damage. Just let her in, Anton," Freddie says. "It's not like you haven't let half of them parade through here already."
Freddie sucks his lip. It means he's losing. I can't wait to play him at poker.
"One girl," Anton reluctantly agrees, shuffling his own cards. His tells are a little harder to read, but they're there. In the subtle way he holds his cards between two fingers instead of four when he has a draw he doesn't want. "Unarmed."
I laugh, puffing cigar smoke into the air. "Isla doesn't know how to use a gun."
Despite a decent card game with my soon-to-be in-laws, I can't help but notice the glaring absence in the room. The Prince boy has yet to emerge today. Likely guarding the girl.
"Where's your resident bodyguard today? Sore loser at cards?" I ask, chucking my cards on the table when I realize I, too, am losing.
"Sticking close to my niece. She's refused to leave her room so far today," Anton says, getting a faraway look in his eye. Something about the man screams unprepared. From that simple look in his eye, I know he doesn't have the gut to run this business without Dimitri DeMarco.
"The whole house heard you biting into her last night," Freddie says.
Anton's gaze flicks to me but I shrug. Pretending this is none of my business. Everyone heard the verbal lashing she got from her uncle for sneaking out. It's no surprise she's hiding away to lick at her wounds.
"Don't mind me, Anton. I don't mind a bit of unruly in my woman."
They both curl their lip at me. They might be growing to like me, but they positively hate that their precious daughter is meant to be mine. I can't help but picture how her thick lips will look wrapped tightly around my cock before I fuck her even tighter pussy in every position I can think of.
Anton deals another round. "You really think bringing this girl here will cool off your brother?"
I clench my jaw and I hate that they see it. "Isla is an annoyance, but fortunately, she seems to temper my brother."
Anton nods. "He's aggressive at all the wrong moments. I imagine that's an asset in the right ones."
I smile and chuckle. "You relate to the little bro position, do you, Anton?" I shake at his shoulders, coaxing an exhausted smile from him. "Don't tell me you have some sympathy for the psychotic Rushkoff?"
My tone is playful, making Anton laugh and shove me back. Setting the course of our friendship back on track long enough for him to forget about all the things I'm going to do to his niece.
Isla arrives too quickly for my liking.
It's only that afternoon when Alexei tells me she's here, waiting for us at the front gates.
Him. She's waiting for him. Isla hates my guts as much as I fucking hate hers.
But I am damn well going to be there when she struts her way in here.
If only to remind her who is in charge and who is responsible for allowing her to keep breathing.
I stomp down the gravel path from the mansion's front doors, cigarette at my lips and a scowl firmly on my face as I head for the gates.
Alexei is already well in front of me, playing on his phone as he waits for her.
I see the twitch in his leg, though. He's anxious for her to get here so he can relax, knowing his back is covered.
I throw the cigarette out of my mouth, stopping when I get to his side.
"Thought you said she was here," I quip, hearing the bitterness in my voice.
Alexei rolls his eyes at me. "All cars to be left outside the gates. You know that," he says. "Just another brilliant way for them to trap us in here without escape."
While we're busy scowling at each other, the gates push open just long enough for Isla and the two duffel bags she has slung over her shoulder to slip through.
She drops them on the ground, brushing herself off. Her blonde hair is long and styled straight, her legs are wrapped in black leggings, and she's wearing a crop top that shows off the tan plains of abs on her stomach.
"Miss me that much, hey?" she smirks, looking back and forth between Alexei and me.
"Like a hole in the head," my brother says, giving her a smile that turns into a smirk when he looks at me.
He walks toward her and gives her a quick hug, patting her back loudly before he picks up one of her duffels, leaving her to get the other one.
She hefts it over her shoulder and walks right up to me, Alexei pausing behind her to watch the exchange. "Long time no see, Vic," she says, giving me a tone that is full of icy venom and just a bit of something menacing.
"Don't push your luck, Lenkov," I warn. "The second my brother pulls his brain back into his skull and out of his cock is the second you're fucking gone."
I pin my brother with a glare, telling him he better put his evil ass back in line now.
The ring of Isla's hysterical laughter follows me all the way back to the house.