She turned to her father. “Is this why you’re here? To sell me off so you can have more power to shove up your ass?”
It happened so fast she didn’t see it coming.
The old bull lunged forward and struck a slap so hard across her face that she tumbled with the chair and fell to the ground. I heard gasps of shock and horror from around us as the other patrons reacted to the assault.
“She’s yours,” he said to me, as she lay sprawled on the ground. “Better get your home in order. The sooner the better.”
Her father stepped over her stunned body, and barked out rapid orders in Russian to his men. But before he could leave however, she grabbed his leg, and despite his anger he stopped.
“I'm sorry, Papa,” she apologized in Russian.
I felt him draw in a deep breath. He bent down and easily pulled her up to her feet. He brushed her hair away from her white face, and placed a soft kiss on the cheek he had struck. With that he took his leave. When he was gone it was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. Just as I had expected, Freya glared murderously at me. I lifted my coffee to my lips and took another sip. She grabbed her backpack, and stormed out of the room.
With a sigh I finished my beverage, and thought of how I was going to handle this assignment. Moments later my cellphone lit up. It was the old bull.
“Do you have a way to convince her?” he asked. “She is my flesh and blood and I would prefer if it wasn’t against her will.”
“I will try my best,” I replied.
Chapter Six
Freya
“Freya!”
I jumped at the sudden call and looked up from the desktop screen I had been staring at.
“Are you done with the email?” Britney asked. “They’re like waiting for a response.”
“Uh …” I looked towards the inbox open on my screen and moved to check it. “I’ll do it now.”
“What?” she groaned. “You’ve been staring at your screen since I sent it almost ten minutes ago. Where’s your mind at?”
“Sorry. I’m on it.” I quickly viewed the stone variations for the bracelet in our line and tried my best to focus.
Britney rose from her crowded desk and went over to the window overlooking the busy late afternoon Bronx Park. “I like the emerald, it gives an interesting addition to the charms but the cut of the crescent looks a little too clean, which makes it boring. How about … What in God’s name is going on down there?”
I looked up from the photos. “What is it?”
“Well, it looks like some celebrity is visiting the area …”
I was immediately disinterested and went back to my analysis. “Britney, what if we just go with the sapphire set and—”
“There are men in suits downstairs waiting by two SUVs. They look so vicious. Oh, the door is opening … It’s not a celebrity!”
I looked up then and saw her mouth hanging open.
My heart began to race.
“I don’t know who that is, but by God he looks fucking good. I need a closer look.” I watched my business partner run from our office and begin her sprint down three flights of stairs in the old building to catch the sight of a man.
I jumped up from my chair and rushed over to the window, my heart pounding within my chest. I saw the two black SUV’s she had been referring to and a few suited guards surrounding it, but no demon. My phone began to ring.
I turned and watched it warily as it rang to disconnection. Then I walked back to my desk and picked it up. It had been my father calling. I immediately called him back.
“Printsessa,” he called as if he had not thoroughly humiliated me in a public place just a few hours ago.
“Papa,” I replied, as I touched my cheek. “You haven’t hit me since I was sixteen.”
I could feel his smile. “I loosened my hold on you from then. You were becoming a woman.”
“Then why are you tightening it once again?”
He chuckled softly. “I’m beginning to realize that adult or not you’re still my baby girl. And I have to protect you.”
“How can you then give me to an Ivankov? Have you forgotten what they did to Anna’s family? And ours. They’ve tried to kill you so many times.”
“Freya,” he said to me. “I’m not going to be around forever, and your brother is no more. Beyond us no one else is as strong as they are. I need to be assured of your protection. We are enemies, but with our goals aligned and simple courtesy we will be able to exist just fine. We will be formidable. And there’s no one else in the world beyond Maxim that can even come close to being worthy of you.”
“I want nothing to do with that demon.”
"He is a powerful man. You need a man like that to keep you in line. You are too independent and headstrong.”
“He is a ruthless killer,” I shot back.
“He is dependable,” my father said. “As long as you become his, he will ensure your survival through thick and thin. His sense of honor is without compare.”
“Fuck honor,” I muttered, the tears falling from my eyes.
“I hate it when you talk like a whore in the gutter.”
“I’m upset, Papa.”
“Well, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later, angel.”
But I couldn’t let him go. “Papa, wait … please.”
“It’s for your own good, Printsessa. I’ll call when I get to Moscow,” he said and ended the call. I held the phone to my ears as I stared out of the window at the ugly apartment block across the street. It felt like the very ground had been kicked from under me or a giant vampire squid had wrapped its muscular tentacles around me and was irresistibly dragging me down into the dark deep ocean floor where there would be nothing but the bones of all the poor dead sea creatures. I shivered at the depressing image.
Just then the door to the office swung open and I immediately wiped my face clean of all emotion and turned around to face the man who was playing with my world.
At first all I could do was gaze at him but then Britney’s flailing arms from behind him drew my gaze away from his.
“You freaking know him?” she mouthed shamelessly, her eyes widened with shock, and awe and fright all in one. Pretending to fan herself, she held onto to the door frame for support.
“Here she is,” she finally recovered enough to say. “We work together here. I apologize for the mess, we’re a little short on space. Please go in.”
I immediately declared my stance. “You’re not welcome here,” I said. “Get out.”
Britney stared at me in shock, her gaze moving from mine to his.
Maxim turned around and spoke to her. “Give us a moment, Miss Steans,” he said.
Britney’s mouth hung open. “You know my last name?”
He swung the creaky door shut on her, and turned back around to face me.
I still couldn’t believe he was standing in my office. Neither could I believe that I was about to be tied to him in a way that would be my worst nightmare. No matter what, I was going to bring an end to this. I watched him, breathless with some strange emotion, as he moved across the room over to a waiting chair beside a messy pile of packages that we were yet to get to.
Nothing could ever be between us especially after Anna. I decided to appeal to him directly. If Maxim hated the idea of this union too, there was hope we could somehow hatch a plan to thwart my father. He was known to be hard-headed and even his father was unable to move him when Maxim was not in agreement.
“Maxim,” I began. “Please call this marriage off. It’s an absolutely insane idea. We both know that you and I will never be able to get along … so unless you want a miserable life wouldn’t it be better to call this madness off right now?”
“We don’t need to get along,” he drawled.
His words brought me too close to despair. If he however was on board …
“You want this?” I asked, shocked.
He studied me with eyes that were like blue gems. So beautifu
l and electrifying they enticed you with the promise of being able to see into the man’s soul, but at the same time it frightened you at what destruction and danger lay in the cold, deadly depths.
“This union,” he said with an elegant shrug, “will make our families a formidable force. What’s there not to want about it?”
His answer disappointed me, but it shouldn’t have surprised me. Of course, he would want it. He was like my father. What he already had was not enough. His whole existence was dedicated to acquiring more power and wealth.
“Don’t you want to be happy? Is controlling the horrid underworld the only thing that you truly want?”
“What I want,” he answered, “is protection. We were both born into a world of many sins, so the best we can do is keep those sins from eventually coming back at us.”
Temper blazed in my stomach. “Well I’d rather be happy for one day than protected and miserable for a hundred.”
He cocked his head then to study me. “Is there someone you… care for?”
“Why? So you can go and kill him?” I almost screamed.
He sighed. “Not at all. I was trying to establish the fact that you have no reason for your objection to this union. After we’re married you’ll be able to carry on with your… plans. There will be no restrictions to your activities.”
I had been about to speak but at his words, my mouth shut back closed. “What? You’re proposing an open marriage?”
He frowned. “I meant your business plans.” He waved his hand around the room. “Whatever this is. Our marriage will not be open.”
Burning hot tears of anger stung my eyes. Living in New York and making plans for my future, I thought I had left the past behind for good. I couldn’t believe this was the life I was going to be resigned to. I had to make him see things my way. Appeal to his sense of fairness, if he had one.
“Maxim,” I began, my voice soft and pleading. “I don’t want the same life you want. I don’t want power or millions in the bank or bodyguards everywhere I go. I want an ordinary life. I want to fall in love for real. I want to have a family of my own. I want to have picnics in Central Park with them. I want to take my kids to school and not worry about whether they will be snatched on the way home. Surely you understand this.”
His phone began to ring then and without taking his eyes off me, he pulled it out of his suit jacket and pressed it to his ear. He didn’t say a word and instead listened.
“What time?” he asked in Russian finally. I’ll be there.” Then he put his phone away and refocused his attention on me. “This must have all come as a shock to you. I’ll give you a few days to mull over it so that—”
“There’s nothing to mull over,” I interrupted. Passing by him I marched over to the door and pulled it open. It sent Britney flying into the room almost landing on her face.
“Oh,” she said lamely from the middle of the room. Her face was bright red.
I frowned at her and she immediately hurried away. I turned back to Maxim.
“I am not marrying you, Maxim, and that’s my final response.”
“I’ll be at Tribeca Piers on Friday afternoon at exactly noon. We will conclude this arrangement then.”
Chapter Seven
Freya
“Have you decided what you’re going to do?” Britney asked, as she came into our tiny kitchen where I was cooking dinner for us.
“Nope.” I left the tomato sauce I’d been stirring and headed over to the bottom shelf of the cupboard to get a packet of pasta. The whole time I was aware of Britney’s worried eyes following me across the room. She had been trying her best to pry my situation out of me, but I was actually too upset to even speak about it. The last person I ever wanted to speak about, or even think about was Maxim Ivankov.
“Um …,” she said cautiously, “after you left I received a call from the top buyer at Delaneys. He said, fingers crossed if all goes well then he’ll be able to have us in their branch on Madison Avenue.”
“That’s great news,” I said, but I felt nothing. So I said it again, and this time I put more emotion into it. “That is great news.”
“Yeah, he seemed pretty hot about it,” Britney said, but her voice reflected no real happiness, which made me feel bad because this was our big dream and I was trampling all over it. But I couldn’t help it. How could I be happy about being in Delaneys when my whole life was being turned upside down?
“I need to call my dad, could you please help me watch the water so it doesn’t boil over?”
“Sure,” she said, moving towards the pot.
I went into my room, shut the door, sank to the floor, and thought of how I could make my stance clear to my father. A call would do nothing. He would simply refuse to discuss the matter. I decided to send him a message. It would make it clear that I was willing to fight till the end.
I drafted the letter. It was a long one. I swore to him that I would denounce him as my father if he forced me into a union that I wanted no part of, but after I was done, a solitary tear ran down my face. I knew there was absolutely no point in sending it. I had more chance of changing the mind of a brick wall than my father. Any hope I had of changing my situation did not lie with my father. I had to work on Maxim. There had to be some way for me to convince him that this was a terrible idea not just for me, but for him as well.
I was sure he did not want to be saddled with me. A couple of times when we had ended up at the same parties he was with drop dead gorgeous models. Both those women clung to his every word like he was God. He would never be happy with an independent spirited woman like me. I would never cling to him like that even if my life depended on it. In fact, I believe we would end up killing each other. Maybe that is the way I should go about this. Convince him how bad a marriage with me would be.
A quiet knock came on my door. “Coming,” I said, wiping away the solitary tear. I went back out and saw that she had already placed both of our meals on the coffee table. She had also lit a candle and opened the bottle of champagne we had been saving for the day that a big store agreed to carry our products. Squaring my shoulder, I went and took a seat on the carpet next to her.
“I made it spicy,” she said.
That little consideration made me smile. “You plan to spend the night on the toilet seat?”
“Oh no, I took mine out before I doused yours in chili and pepper,” she said pouring champagne into coffee mugs. If my father could see what she was doing… champagne in coffee mugs.
I smiled and we toasted to our first success. I tried my best to push aside my anxiety enough to eat something. Perhaps things would become clearer to me when I did. We ate quietly, with Britney sneaking looks at me until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“My father wants me to get married,” I blurted.
She was careful with her response. “To the guy that came to the office today?”
“Yeah.” I put my fork down. “Please don’t say he’s hot.”
She bit her lips to hide her smile, but nothing about this situation could even mildly amuse me. “Is there a reason why you’re so against him?”
I took a deep breath. I knew that it would be best for me to be cautious with my words just as I had always been, but today, and at this moment I cared very little about holding my tongue. “He killed my best friend, about eight years ago.”
She froze. “What?”
“He pretended to be in love with her and she trusted him and gave him information lethal enough to get her and her family killed.”
“Jesus Christ, Freya. You’re speaking about death as though it were normal. Who are these people?”
Really, she wanted to say who are you? “I never speak about it, but you must have guessed by now my family is involved with the Russian mafia.”
Her eyes widened. “Actually, I did not guess any such thing. If you’re from… such a family, what on earth are you doing here in this cockroach infested apartment with me? Why are you trying to sell bits of jewelry
when you could be dripping in the stuff?”
“That’s because until now I have done my best to steer myself away from that life.”
“Okay. The worrying part is when you said until now.”
“Well, marrying this … man will shoot all of that to hell. It will keep me a prisoner for the rest of my life. Not to mention that I just might end up killing him myself. Then I’d really be finished.” Even thinking about him made my stomach recoil. I rose with my half-eaten meal and headed into the kitchen. I scraped the food into the bin and began to do the dishes. I needed to keep my hands busy.
Britney followed me into the kitchen. “Any plans to stop this arrangement?”
“Ah, Britney. You have no idea. I cannot cross my father.”
“Why not? You’re not a child.”
“You know how there are fathers in parts of Asia and the middle east who will kill their daughters because they have dishonored them by not wanting to marry the men they have chosen for them? Well, my father was cut from the same cloth.”
“Then let us get this fiancé of yours to call the whole marriage thing off. Surely, he’s not on board with this crazy plan.”
I turned off the faucet and focused my attention on her. “As a matter of fact, he is.”
“Why? He seems like he could have any woman he wants. Er … no insult to you, of course. You’re beautiful, but why can’t he find his own?”
“They are doing it to bind the family together. To ensure there are no more turf wars between us.”
“Right. So what happens next?”
“He told me to meet with him in a few days at Tribeca. To state my terms...”
“Well, how about you make them as outlandish as possible. Ask for things that you know he will never agree to, so that there’s no way in hell he will even consider this arrangement.”
“And if he still does despite all of this?”
She opened her mouth, then closed it again because what could she say?
Chapter Eight
With This ring Page 3