Chapter Eight
Natasha
Maksim’s apartment is in the heart of the city. It’s more of a penthouse really, overlooking central park. It’s classical in its style. Comfy and cozy if this was my home but it’s not. I left my home behind.
“Here’s the bedroom,” he says showing me a large grand room with an even larger grand bed in the middle.
This is the place I’ll be sharing with Maksim every night.
Even though we slept side by side on our wedding night, I don’t think sharing a bed will bring us closer.
I’m worried it’s only going to tear us further apart.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmur.
“Thank you. I personally decorated the entire apartment. It’s the one place I can call my own. And now it’s… yours too.”
“Will I have a place here I can call my own?”
He pauses for a moment. “Do you want a place? There’s a guest bedroom. We could convert it into a room for you.”
“A bedroom?”
“More like a room you can call your own. We should share a bedroom. It’s what married couples do. Or so I think. I’ve never done this before.” He flashes me a charming smile that makes me want to smile in return if only I could trust Maksim. If only I could stop being so afraid of him.
“I would like that,” I answer. “A room of my own.”
“Well, we can do that. I have my own office so it’s fair you have one of your own as well. Now, since we’re back, you should get settled in. I have some business to attend to.”
“Business?”
“Just work.”
Mafia work. I know I shouldn’t want to know but I do. My father kept me in the dark to the point where I’m not sure exactly what happened to my mother. I don’t want to be kept in the dark with Maksim.
“Tell me,” I insist. “If we’re going to make this marriage work, I need to know exactly what you do.”
“The Italians are moving in. Ever since Nikolai – you met him at the wedding remember? – eliminated Alexei, your father’s friend, it opened up space for the Italians to move into.
Now we’re dealing with that. One of the bosses, Enzo Bianchi, is causing problems over these past few weeks.
We’re holding him at bay but it will be best if I get back to work. ”
“Right.” I never expected Maksim to share so much with me. My father never told me a thing about his work. If I ever tried to ask, he’d scold me so badly for it, I would only feel numb.
“I called Kira. She’ll come over later so you don’t have to be here alone.”
“I like my alone time.”
He blinks. “Well… I was just trying to help.”
“I know,” I sigh. Never on the same page.
“Anyway. I have work to deal with. And my father. He won’t be happy we can back early. So I’ll see you later tonight?”
“Yes.” Where else will I be? I don’t know New York and it sounds too terrifying to go exploring on my own. After what happened in Greece… I shudder at the memory.
Maksim’s eyes tighten. “Well… bye. I guess.” He quickly turns and walks away.
Leaving me alone my first day in New York. My first day in my new house. My first day in my new life.
Maksim
Not surprisingly, my father is angry when I show up at Nikolai’s restaurant to discuss business. The restaurant is closed this time of day, giving us ample time to go over a plan on how to deal with the Italians.
But in this moment, I wish other people were around. It would save me from my father’s angry glare.
“What the fuck, Maksim?” he snarls, storming over to me. Nikolai shakes his head but otherwise, doesn’t comment. He knows he can’t fully control me, unlike my dad, who keeps trying.
“I said I was coming home.”
“I was hoping you were lying.”
“What’s the big deal?” I walk past him and slump into the booth across from Nikolai.
“Natasha is with me. We’re still married.
The alliance is going strong. I don’t see how staying a few extra days in Greece would have made a difference.
Natasha and I can’t stand each other anyway.
So it’s just a marriage of convenience.”
“There’s nothing you like about her?” Nikolai asks.
“I mean, she’s beautiful. But she’s closed off and withdrawn. It makes it hard to get to know her. Otherwise, I would try. I have been trying. I just can’t seem to say the right thing.”
“That’s why you needed to stay on your honeymoon longer,” my father snaps. “To work on your marriage. If it’s a success, then we never have to worry about Lev again.”
“It’s not like I’m going to cheat on Natasha. I know better than to do that. I’m not going to ruin this marriage. Have some fucking faith me, Dad.”
He narrows his eyes but doesn’t say a word to that.
“Well, since you’re here,” Nikolai cuts in, “let’s go over some things. In the past few weeks since Alexei died, Enzo Bianchi has taken it upon himself to come after our territory. I think he believes us to be weak right now.”
“How do we deal with him?” I ask, ignoring my dad as he sits down next to me.
“We don’t want another war on our hands. So, we can’t kill Enzo. But we can attack his shipments. He has a gun shipment coming in soon. If we take away his money, it will weaken his claim and hopefully he’ll back off.”
Gregor nods. “It’s a good plan. You were always good for them, Nik.”
I scowl. My father loves complimenting Nik but never me.
“Since you’re back,” Nik says to me, “I’ll put you in charge of going after Enzo’s gun shipment.”
“Great. Put me back in. I’m ready to work.” It was the one thing I was always good at.
“You should be focusing on your wife,” Dad grumbles.
“He can do both,” Nik says. “Maksim has been a loyal friend to me over the years. Give your son more credit, Gregor. He did his job in marrying Natasha. That’s all you can ask of him.
He helped prevent a war with Lev. So we’re good on that front.
Now, let’s take down these fucking Italians before they can come for us. ”
“Sounds like a plan to me.” And if it helps me take my mind off my new wife, even better.
Natasha
Kira barges into the apartment after I open the door for her like she owns the place. I guess in a way she does. She has more of a right to her brother’s apartment than I do. She’s known Maksim all her life whereas I have only known him for a few days.
“We’re going out,” she states.
I blink. “Out where?”
She rolls her eyes. “There’s this ladies’ function happening today. One of my friends, Irina, asked me to join her, so I agreed, even though I hate going to these types of things. I figured you could come with me. You know Irina, right? She was at the wedding.”
“I… don’t remember. It was all a blur.”
“She’s married to Nikolai Volkov, who my brother works for.
We met not that long ago I’ll be honest. She’s only been married to Nikolai for a few months now.
But we became instant friends. So I thought you could join us.
I figured you were probably miserable being married to my brother, since he can be insufferable. So let’s go.”
“I’m good here. I like being alone.”
Kira rolls her eyes once again. “No one likes being along. Come on.” She grabs my hand, not giving me the option. I’m too tired to put up a fight so I follow her.
She takes me to a car parked outside. A man stands beside the back door and opens it for her. “Miss Petrov.”
“Thanks Sam. He’s my driver,” she explains before getting into the car. After a moment, I get in too. “I’m not allowed to go anywhere without him. My father would be upset. But I’m his little princess so he trusts me.”
“Your father treats you well?”
“He dotes on me. It annoys the hell out of Maksim. My brother can’t do anything right in the eyes of my father.”
Neither can I. Once again, I reminded that Maksim and I have things in common. So why is the gap between us so large?
We arrive at a fancy hotel and Kira leads me into a restaurant on the fifth floor filled with women.
“Who are these people?” I whisper.
“Bratva women. Wives and daughters and sisters. It’s a place they can meet up and find common ground. We all know what it’s like to be defined by the men in our lives. Bratva men are especially possessive. My dad will never let me date.”
“Neither did mine.” Not that I wanted to. I always preferred just being on my own.
Kira motions for me to sit down at a table. Other women are present. Across the table is a pretty brunette. Young. Around my age.
“This is Irina.”
She holds out her hand to me. “I was there at your wedding but it’s nice to meet you again.”
“You too,” I whisper.
“Speak up girl,” a woman says. She’s older. Probably in her forties. “You sound like a mouse.”
I have to blink back the tears that threaten to fall.
“Be nice, Margaery,” Kira says. “Natasha is new here. She moved from Chicago like a week ago. Give her a break.”
“I just don’t like quiet little mouses, that’s all,” Margaery fires back.
Kira rolls her eyes. It seems like common practice for her.
“So, you married Maksim, correct?” Another woman asks me. “I’m Sherry. I wasn’t able to attend your wedding.”
“It’s… ok.” I duck my chin, staring hard at the elaborate table cloth.
“Leave her be, girls,” Kira snaps. “She’s shy. And this is all new for her. I thought she could make friends here.”
“You don’t have to be afraid,” Irina says. “I know this is all new and scary. I was in the same shoes you were in not too long ago. I married my husband without knowing him too.”
“You did?” I ask.
“Yes. I’m only eighteen so it was all so new for me.”
“I’m twenty,” I say, embarrassed. If Irina at eighteen could handle this better than me, I have no excuse.
Irina offers me a kind smile. “Age doesn’t matter. This is new for a lot of us.”
“My husband is an ass,” Margaery says. “So I feel your pain.”
“Oh. Maksim isn’t…” Honestly. I don’t know what Maksim is and yet, the fact that I feel the need to defend him is interesting. It’s a feeling I’ve never had before.
“At least he’s handsome,” Sherry says. “My husband is fat and ugly. So you got lucky there.”
My mind flashes back to Maksim, killing that man right before my very eyes. “Yes. Lucky,” I lie.
Kira looks over my shoulder and frowns. “Ugh. What is she doing here?”
I follow her line of sight to see a tall, beautiful brunette enter the restaurant. She smiles at the other women, looking like a goddess more than a human being. “Who is that?”
“That’s Alexandra. She used to date my brother.”
I go stiff. “What?”
Kira flushes. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.
But they’ve been done for years now. They broke up because she cheated on him but everyone assumed they would get married.
My brother could never commit. He has issues that way.
” She shakes her head. “Sorry. Why am I telling you this? You don’t want to hear it. ”
Before I can reply, Alexandra sets her eyes onto me and walks right over. “Who’s this?”
All I feel is small next to her.
And all I can think is that Maksim never chose me, like he chose to be with this woman. And he couldn’t even commit to her. So why would my husband ever commit to me?