Chapter 9
Dominic
I take a deep breath then walk into my parents’ sitting room.
It’s our weekly Sunday dinner, and despite holding it in, I know it’s time to share my upcoming nuptials.
I look around the room at their cheery faces. Even Roman is happy. He used to be the other grump, but now I’m alone in my misery.
Matthias and his wife, Margot, sit on a couch with Sebastian next to them.
Roman and Cecilia, his wife, sit on a loveseat that’s too small for both his muscular frame and her petite one, so she’s almost on his lap.
Mom and Dad are in armchairs looking lovingly at their family.
There’s one seat open, but I stay standing.
Everyone’s attention lands on me when I clear my throat.
“I have an announcement.” I keep my voice neutral.
They look at me expectantly, but I’m frozen. I don’t know how to tell my family. I hate their disapproval, and I know that’s the reaction I’ll receive.
“Go on, honey,” Mom tells me kindly as she reaches up and squeezes my hand.
“I’m getting married next month.” I spit it out in one rushed breath.
The room freezes. No one moves a muscle. It’s as if everyone’s too scared to breathe.
“What do you mean?” Mom asks, this time more hesitant.
“I’m marrying Katerina Sokolov next month,” I explain. I run my fingers through my hair and yank at it, needing the prick to set me straight.
“NO! This can’t be happening! Dom, no!” Roman jumps up so quickly, Cecilia tumbles to the floor. He rushes to pick her up and place her back on the seat, then marches up to me.
“There has to be another way.” He’s pleading with me. His eyes hold so much desperation, but I know it’ll fade.
“There’s no other way. It’s the only thing Viktor would agree to,” I explain.
“No! I forbid it!” He exclaims, then shakes me. “Wake up, Dom. This is the last thing you want. You can’t do this to yourself.”
I know this is his guilt talking. He can’t bear knowing that because of his fuckup, I’m now having to enter my worst nightmare. I have to sacrifice everything to fix his mistake.
“Oh fuck,” Bash whispers as realization dawns on him. “Do you really have to?”
“Yeah. It’s all that’s left to do. The war has to end.”
Matthias whispers to his wife, and I see the moment Margot finally understands.
“How could you marry his daughter? After all he’s done!
How could you do this to us? How could you welcome her into our family?
” The look of betrayal on Margot’s face is a punch in the gut.
I never considered what this would mean to her.
Her trauma with Viktor Sokolov runs deep, and here I am, cutting open her barely healed wounds.
A single tear slides down her cheek then she looks at me with such a broken expression that I realize I’d rather be shot than hurt my family.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do this,” she whispers then runs from the room.
Matthias instantly stands and looks at me. “I’ll explain it to her.”
Then he’s gone too. The front door opens, and I realize for the first Sunday in years, the whole family won’t be together. And it’s my fault.
“Honey, it’s going to be okay. What’s she like? Why don’t we have her over for family dinner next week?” Mom offers after Dad explains the situation to her.
“No, that’s not necessary. I’ve barely even met her. She’s just some stranger I’m marrying. It’s just business.” I reach down and pat Mom’s hand comfortingly, but she pulls back and slaps my hand.
What the fuck?
“Absolutely not! You will know your fiancée. Marriage is not business. It may not start out as love, but you never know where it may lead to. Unless you ignore her, then it’ll go nowhere. I’m disappointed in you, Dominic.” She shoots out of her chair mid-scolding and glares at me.
I haven’t been reprimanded by my mother in a decade and a half. What the fuck is happening?
“You don’t understand. This is literally business. It’s for the Syndicate. I–” Before I can finish the sentence, she’s in my face.
“No! YOU don’t understand! This woman is going to be your wife. And you’ll treat her as such. I will not stand for a son of mine to treat a woman poorly, especially not one he’s marrying.” Her eyes narrow as her nostrils flair.
“But–” I start.
“Dominic Daniel Montclair, you listen to me! You may think you’re some big hotshot running the Syndicate, but I’m still your mother.
I don’t care how old you are, you were raised better than this.
I taught you to respect women, and your father and I showed you what a healthy marriage looks like.
I expect you to at least try!” Mom leaves the room, and Dad looks at me sternly before following her.
I stare at the floor in astonishment. I didn’t expect it to go well, but I definitely didn’t foresee it crushing Margot and upsetting Mom too.
I hear someone approach me, then a large hand grabs my arm.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Dom. I don’t even know what to say. Fuck,” I look up and see Roman run his hand over his buzzcut, “I know I messed up. I thought Matthias’s wedding would be the worst of it, but–”
“I don’t want to hear it. What’s done is done.” I cut him off. I don’t care to hear his guilt, let Cecilia deal with that.
The two of them exit the room, leaving me alone with Bash.
He just stares at me for a few minutes then sighs.
“Need a drink? I can make you one,” he offers plainly, and I smile at my sweet younger brother.
While I’m cold and stoic, Matthias is cocky and arrogant, and Roman is hotheaded and wrathful, Bash is unlike us. He’s laid back and calm. Happy. If not a little nerdy.
“I’m good. Let’s get through this dinner sober,” I sigh knowing alcohol won’t help my feelings.
He stands and slaps me on the back.
“If you ever need to run from her, you’re welcome at my house,” he tells me with a grin.
I snort at the idea of running from the porcelain doll. “She’s not that kind of woman. There isn’t anything intimidating about her. Plus, I don’t want to visit your suburban house. Don’t you miss the penthouse?”
Bash unexpectedly moved from his penthouse in the city to some middle-class suburb. None of us know the reason. It’s weird as fuck and such a downgrade, but he seems happy.
“Nope. This house has everything I could ever want.” He has a faraway look in his eyes when he says it and the creepiest grin on his face. He leaves the room looking excited… at the idea of his house? I don’t even have it in me to figure out what the fuck is wrong with him.
…
We’re eating dinner, ignoring the two empty seats that should be occupied by Margot and Matthias. Mom keeps shooting glares at me, and Dad keeps mediating. Bash has been a godsend. He redirects the conversation every time it starts to come back to my marriage.
And Roman and Cecilia seem to be in their own world as usual.
Looking at them laughing together, the way he looks at her… Could Mom be right? Could this marriage amount to something like that?
I’ve never been envious of my brothers and their wives.
I’ve never so much as been tempted by it.
I see the way Bash looks at them longingly, and I know he wants what they have, but I never have.
Maybe there’s something wrong with me, but I just don’t have it in me to care for a woman.
There’s too much risk and not enough reward.
But maybe something good could come from this marriage.
What the fuck am I saying?
No, I’m not like them. I don’t get to marry some woman off the streets. This is Katerina Sokolov. I’m marrying Viktor Sokolov’s daughter. The enemy. There can be no trust there. And there certainly can’t be any love.
On top of it all, I could never feel anything for that fragile, perfect porcelain doll. Just the image of her has me indignant.
Marriage to her is my burden to bear as the leader of the Syndicate, and that’s all there is to it.
I just pray she doesn’t drive me crazy with her saccharinity.
Chapter 9
Katerina
Boxes litter my bedroom floor. They’re full of my possessions. Which are mostly just clothes and cat toys. I don’t have many other things.
I can’t believe I’m moving in with that man in just a couple weeks. I keep praying that I’ll wake from this nightmare, but I know it’s not the case. I’ve succumbed to my new reality.
I’ve been trying to tell myself that this is better than the alternative. But how can I be sure? Sergey is the monster I know. This man is a stranger and the head of a barbaric organization. He’s the enemy. What if he hates me simply because of my relation to Viktor?
I pull another hideous dress off its hanger and fold it. Vova starts scratching a box, so I abandon the dress and pick him up. He hisses at my hold, and I tut at him.
“Hey, buddy. We’re moving to a new house soon. You may even be allowed to roam the whole place instead of just a bedroom. We’ll have to see. But at least we’ll be away from Viktor,” I tell him soothingly.
I’m distracted playing with him, so I don’t hear him approaching until it’s too late.
My bedroom door swings open, and Vova hisses. His hair raise, and he jumps out of my arms. He’s on Viktor in seconds, scratching his legs and biting his pants.
Viktor curls his nose in disgust and kicks my cat away. Vova whines but recovers quickly and is back attacking him.
“Control your pest, or I’ll get rid of him,” he hisses.
“Yes, Отец.” I rush to Vova and pick him up. He’s hissing but stops struggling when I pick him up. He’d never risk hurting me.
I stare at Viktor, waiting for him to tell me why he’s here. I haven’t seen him in a couple days. It’s been peaceful.
“I don’t want any communication between you and Dominic before the wedding.” He glares at me skeptically when he says it.
I just raise a brow. Why on earth would I want to talk to that asshole? How would I even talk to him? It’s not like I have his number.
“Okay,” I say slowly.
“You haven’t spoken to him, have you?” he interrogates me. His distrust is nothing new, but this subject is.