Chapter 3 #2
My mother remained near the window in her wheelchair, her hands folded quietly in her lap.
Father occupied Grandfather’s old leather chair as though it had always belonged to him.
He rested one hand on the polished armrest, his piercing gaze moving slowly between Yarina and me before settling on my face.
For several long seconds, no one spoke.
Then I broke the silence first, though my pulse hammered against my ribs.
“Everyone can stop worrying.”
I kept my voice calm, though my heart was anything but.
“I won’t be marrying Romeo Flynn.”
A collective breath seemed to leave the room.
“If refusing the marriage means the inheritance is divided equally among the family, then so be it.”
I looked at my parents before letting my gaze settle on my sister.
“I won’t be the reason this family falls apart over money. Our grandparents spent their lives building this legacy. I won’t allow it to become the cause of its destruction.”
I shook my head.
“And I’m certainly not going to marry a man I’ve never met simply to inherit a fortune.”
Father rose with measured calm. The old leather chair creaked beneath him as he reached for one of the thick legal binders stacked neatly on the table.
Without ceremony, he set it squarely in front of me.
The weight of it landed with a dull thud.
It felt less like paperwork and more like a sentence.
“Read it,” he said.
I stared at the binder but didn’t open it.
“I already heard the lawyer.”
“Read. It.”
His voice remained even, devoid of anger, which somehow made it far more intimidating.
“Do you honestly believe your grandfather and grandmother didn’t know exactly what they were doing when they left you ninety-seven percent of everything they owned?”
My father folded his hands behind his back.
“They were wiser than all of us put together.”
He glanced briefly at my mother and sister before looking back at me.
“Perhaps your grandmother understood that leaving everything directly to me would have torn this family apart. By leaving it to you instead, she also knew it would ultimately benefit me, your mother, and your sister.”
His voice remained calm and measured.
“So don’t concern yourself with your uncles or the rest of the family. They don’t get to dictate what happens in this house.”
He took a step closer.
“Respect is the foundation of this family, Juliet. Your grandparents’ final wishes deserve to be honored.”
His gaze settled firmly on mine.
“Which is why you will marry Romeo Flynn. It’s only for two years. After that, you’re free to divorce him and live whatever life you choose.”
He held my gaze.
“But if you refuse...”
His expression hardened.
“...you will have dishonored the last wishes of the two people who loved you more than anyone else.”
I studied him in silence.
Somehow...
It felt less like he was protecting my grandparents’ legacy and more like he was protecting his own position.
If I accepted the marriage, the inheritance remained within his immediate family.
If I refused, it would be divided among the rest of the Sokolovs, weakening his influence as the newly appointed Capo.
Perhaps I was being unfair.
Or perhaps I wasn’t.
A quiet, humorless laugh escaped me.
“I’m not going to let Grandmother decide the rest of my life from the grave.”
I shook my head.
“Especially when honoring her wishes could destroy this family from within.”
I met his eyes without flinching.
“You’ve just become Capo. The last thing you need is a Bratva filled with angry men waiting for the slightest opportunity to challenge your authority.”
I drew a steady breath.
“And as I told you before...”
“My life has already been planned. It doesn’t include marrying a complete stranger.”
A stranger.
The words echoed inside my mind.
Because I knew I was lying.
Lying to my parents.
Lying to my sister.
Most of all...
Lying to myself.
Romeo Flynn had never been a stranger to me.
He never had been.
He never would be.
“You’ll marry Romeo.”
My father’s voice carried such quiet certainty that it sounded less like an opinion and more like a decision that had already been made.
“As for this family...”
A faint smile touched his lips. “Leave them to me. I am the Capo of this Bratva. I know how to deal with my own people.”
His words were calm and measured.
I searched his face for the slightest crack in his composure.
I found none.
Father wasn’t a cruel man.
He had never been distant or abusive.
He had worked relentlessly to give Yarina and me every opportunity we could have wanted.
When Mother’s stroke stole her speech two years ago, he spared no expense searching for specialists across Europe and the United States, refusing to accept there was nothing more medicine could do.
He loved us.
I had never questioned that.
Which made this hurt even more.
Because today, I couldn’t tell whether he saw me as his daughter...
...or as the key to unlocking an empire.
My gaze drifted toward Mother.
She sat quietly beside the window, sunlight warming one side of her face.
Once, she had been the brightest person in any room, effortlessly commanding attention with her wit and elegance.
Now grief and illness had stolen so much from her.
Her fingers trembled against the armrest of her wheelchair as she struggled to communicate something only she understood. Her eyes darted anxiously between Father and me, pleading without words.
Pain tightened in my chest.
We had insisted she attend because the will required every immediate family member to be present.
Watching her sit there—silent, trapped inside a body that no longer obeyed her—made this entire conversation feel unbearably cruel.
I looked away before the sting behind my eyes became visible.
“I thought you loved us,” I said softly.
Father frowned.
“What makes you think I don’t?”
“Because you’re asking me to sacrifice my future.”
I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest to hide the tremor in my hands.
“You know what this means. I deferred my university program in London because of Mother’s health.
I was finally planning to go back. I had a life mapped out.
Plans. Freedom.” I shook my head. “I’m twenty-four years old, Dad.
I’m not some bargaining chip to be exchanged for hotels, diamonds, and investment portfolios. ”
I held his gaze.
“I understand why the money matters,” I admitted quietly. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t.”
I looked up at him.
“If I could access it without marrying Romeo Medved, I’d share every dollar with this family.”
My voice softened.
“You deserve that more than anyone.”
Father’s expression shifted almost imperceptibly.
“When Mom got sick... when everyone expected you to walk away because she could no longer take care of herself...”
I glanced briefly at my mother before looking back at him.
“You stayed.”
“You never once brought another woman into this house, even though no one would have blamed you if you had.”
“You stood by her. You stood by me. You stood by my sister.”
I smiled faintly through the ache in my chest.
“Most men wouldn’t have had the strength to do that. You’ve carried this family on your shoulders for years.”
I swallowed hard.
“That’s why you deserve everything Grandfather and Grandmother left behind.”
A long silence stretched between us.
“But please...”
“Don’t ask me to repay that by marrying a man I’ve never even met.”
A man I’ve never even met?
Another lie.
Another desperate pretense.
Because I had met Romeo Flynn.
Ten years had passed since that day, yet the memories remained as vivid as though they had happened only yesterday.
He gave a single nod, acknowledging the truth in my words, but his expression remained unchanged.
His jaw stayed locked, his posture rigid.
Yarina shifted beside me, smoothing an invisible crease from her skirt.
She had remained unusually quiet throughout the reading of the will, despite the fact that she had been left with nothing.
Now, at last, she spoke.
Her gaze shifted between Father and me.
“So... are we all going to pretend we don’t remember that Romeo and I were close before he went to prison?”
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
“Some might even say Romeo and I were in a relationship.”
My chest tightened.
Of course I remembered.
Romeo had grown close to Yarina after the incident at the lake.
After the day I pulled him from the water and saved his life...
Only for Yarina to take the credit.
The memory remained painfully clear.
The first time I ever laid eyes on Romeo Flynn.
I was fourteen years old, standing beneath the fading gold of a warm summer evening at the Flynn family’s sprawling dacha.
Father had brought Yarina and me to the annual gathering hosted by the Flynn family—an extravagant affair attended by mafia dynasties from across Europe.
Every year, the Flynns hosted it for one reason: to display their wealth, influence, and power to the underworld.
Yarina, only a year younger than I was, hadn’t originally been invited. She had pleaded with Father until he finally relented and allowed her to accompany us.
While the adults disappeared into the grand ballroom to drink, negotiate, and celebrate, the children scattered across the estate.
Yarina quickly joined a lively group playing games across the gardens.
I wandered off on my own.
Crowds had never been my thing.
I eventually found myself beside the lake, hidden behind a row of blooming lilac bushes. A single white daisy rested between my fingers as I absentmindedly plucked its petals one by one, content to watch the evening unfold from a distance.
That was when I saw him.
A boy dressed entirely in white walked toward the lakeshore.
He looked several years older than I was.
Nineteen, though I wouldn’t learn that until much later.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
His dark hair shifted gently with the evening breeze, while striking green eyes stared across the water with a sadness that seemed entirely out of place for someone so young.
Even then...
There was something about him.
Something quiet.
Something lonely.
I couldn’t explain why, but I found myself unable to look away.
I didn’t know his name.
I didn’t know he was Romeo Flynn.