by Bella King
“Maybe you should ditch the rifle if you don’t want to be arrested,” I warn.
Viktor frowns. “It’s legal to open carry in this state.”
“Yeah, but we just crawled out of the sewer. I’m pretty sure any normal cop would see that as I reason to question us.”
“Perhaps,” Viktor says with a shrug, stepping back as he connects to the person on the other end of the phone.
“Perhaps we shoot the cops,” Dimitri says with a goofy grin.
I roll my eyes, crossing my arms and walking away from the road. “You both are too much.”
Dimitri lets out a hearty laugh while Viktor barks orders through the phone in Russian. He snaps the phone shut and turns to me. “Five minutes.”
“Until our ride gets here?” I ask.
Viktor nods.
“That’s too long,” Dimitri says, stepping in. “The Malaugurio will skin us alive.”
“Give it a break,” Viktor says. “They’re not going to come up that fast. They have no idea which exit we took.”
“They’ll split up and come through every one of them in a moment. We won’t stand a chance out here,” Dimitri shoots back.
“Just shut your mouth and keep watch. Our ride will be here soon.”
“I will not shut my mouth. I’ve been through over fifteen years of shutting my mouth and letting you take the lead. This is your last mistake,” Dimitri growls. “I’m carjacking the next motherfucker who crosses our path.”
“Listen to me,” Viktor demands, but it’s no use.
Dimitri jumps into the road, waving his hands at the car that’s driving toward him. All Viktor and I can do is watch as the car slows to a stop, and the window rolls down, only for Dimitri to pull out a gun and yank the driver out of their seat, commandeering the car.
“Jesus Christ, what a moron,” Viktor says, placing his hand on my shoulder and sinking his fingers into my muscle.
I wince at the excessive force that Viktor puts on my shoulder, but I don’t move away. I understand the stress he’s under right now.
“Get in,” Dimitri calls out to us as the owner of the car runs in the opposite direction, yelling frantically in hopes that the police will hear him.
I look up at Viktor. He’s the one in charge, and I’m going to listen to him before I ever listen to Dimitri. At least Viktor is making an attempt to follow the law, even if it’s a meager attempt.
“Let’s get in the car. The damage has already been done,” Viktor says, finally lifting his hand from my shoulder.
“You’re the boss,” I reply.
“I’m more than the boss, Cora,” Viktor replies as he opens the passenger’s side door for me. “I’m your husband.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Viktor
My masterplan is unfurling faster than a whore’s legs after a goblet of wine. Curse the Malaugurio and curse Cora’s father for charging me so damn much just to arrange a marriage. Cora is priceless, but he put us all in danger with his greed.
Okay, I’ll take some of the blame here, but not all of it. Dimitri is giving me tough love again, but he’s right about the carjacking. I was risking all of our lives just to maintain a fake persona. I’m not a law-abiding political figure. I’m a mafia king, and I always have been. Not even the syrupy sweet love of Cora can change that.
We need to make the journey to the Valivonia mafia headquarters. They’re the only people I still have good relations within the United States. My headquarters is in Russia, far away and unable to provide any assistance to us in these trying times.
“We need to get to the east side of the city. The Valivonia mafia is seated there, in a castle that they’ve repurposed. We’ll find safety there, and we can stay the night so long as I have a chat with their leader,” I say to Dimitri as he barrels down the road at speeds that would certainly flag us as trouble to any cop nearby.
“Could you slow down a bit, Dimitri. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
“I thought we already had,” he replies with a chuckle.
“And that should be the last of it. We’re going covert from now on. We have to keep Cora safe.” I look over at her as I say the last sentence, patting her on her thigh. “We’re going to make it out of this just fine.”
Cora looks upset, but she’s handling this better than I thought she would. This woman has never seen real action before in her life, and I can tell that part of her likes it. I see a younger me in the way she’s processing this, and I don’t know whether that’s good or not.
Cora crosses her arms and purses her lips, glaring at me with her large blue eyes. It’s hard to take a glare like that seriously, but she’s doing her best to seem menacing.
“You’ll be fine, ” I say to her, squeezing her soft thigh.
“I’ll be fine when you take me back to my father,” she replies.
“You know I can’t do that. We’re supposed to get married.”
“Enough with this marriage nonsense,” she says, flinging her arms into the air. “You lied, you broke my trust, and now I don’t know what to think of you.”
“This again,” Dimitri says from the front of the car.
“Quiet,” I snap at him. I’m annoyed with how much Dimitri has been speaking up lately, but maybe I should have listened to him more in the past. Now, he’s at the end of his wits, and at the most inconvenient time that he could have chosen.
I turn back to Cora, who is still glaring at me as though it’s going to make a lick of difference in our current situation. “I’ll do better this time, but you have to give me the chance to explain myself.”
“Sounds a lot like begging,” Cora replies.
“Okay,” I say, adjusting my position in my seat to turn my body toward her. “Then, I’m begging.”
The car grows quiet as Cora mulls over what I’ve said. I hear the quiet scoff from Dimitri as he shuns my inability to be the one in charge right now.
Sure, Cora has made me weak, but she’ll also make me strong if she gives in to my marriage proposal. My success in the United States is hinged on her decision, and if I have to beg, then so be it. I’ll get what I want in the end.
Finally, after what feels like a decade of painful silence, Cora speaks. “You need to tell me everything, and the truth about why you want to marry me. What kind of deal did you make with my father?”
I take a deep breath. “We can talk about it once we get to the Valivonia headquarters.”
“No,” she interjects. “Now, or I’m going to make a scene and alert the police.”
I sigh. “Fine. You win, Cora. I’ll tell you, but you need to understand me when I say that my feelings have changed since I met you. My intentions aren’t the same as when I first started out.”
Cora’s face softens, but her lips stay pressed together.
“Alright,” I say, taking another deep breath. “Here’s goes nothing.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cora
I sit still, trying to be as objective and nonjudgmental as possible as Viktor tells his story. I’m thankful that all of this is coming out before the wedding so that I can decide whether or not I want to actually marry him or not.
I might not have the option to say no anymore, however, because last night, I let him cum inside of me. I’m not an idiot. I know that’s risky, even if it was my first time. I couldn’t help it, though. The emotions and delicious sensations that Viktor gifted me were undeniable. It was heaven, but heaven isn’t without consequence.
I don’t want any potential babies to be born without a proper father, but I need Viktor to be a good man and explain everything to me so that I can look at this from an honest perspective. Limiting the scope of my knowledge doesn’t make for responsible decisions.
Viktor’s face is marred by a deep scowl as he begins his story. Dimitri stays quiet, focused on the open road ahead as we make out was to the Valivonia headquarters. I just pray that we’ll be safe there.
“So,” V
iktor begins, “I never intended to be part of the mafia. The opportunity came to me while I was locked in a prison cell, rotting away from sheer boredom. When I was just eighteen years old, I was given a life sentence.
“Left to rot in a jail cell, my mind turned to ways in which I could gain power and get revenge on the powerful people who put me in that cell. First, however, I would need to escape before I lost my mind and my youth to the cold cell block.
“The solution came to me in the form of a prison gang that was a subset of the Russian mafia that occupied the adjoining city. They tested me and found that I had nothing to lose.”
“How did they test you?” I ask, my fingers gripping the edge of my seat as I soak in every word of Viktor’s story.
“With violence. They pitted me against a man much larger and more powerful than I was. Of course, at this point, I didn’t care if I lived or died. What difference would it make when you were locked away from the outside world for your entire life? That’s barely even living.”
“The point is,” Viktor says, pausing. “I killed him. He was an evil man, anyway. He had killed several innocent women and was only serving a ten-year sentence. I gave justice to the world the day that I snapped his neck with my bare hands.”
I frown, taken aback by the horrors of his story. We haven’t even gotten into the real reason why he’s in the United States trying to marry me, and I already feel bad for him.
Viktor takes a breath. “I was accepted into the mafia after that, but I wanted more. I had to escape from prison, so I organized the men who were willing to help, and I escaped with a few of them through a weak spot in the ceiling. Not everyone made it out alive. I can still hear the deafening sound of the alarm, and gunshots flying by my head as I ran from that place.
“And then I was free. I regrouped with the mafia and worked my way up the ranks, ultimately becoming the man I am today. I borrowed some money from the Malaugurio to pay your father for your hand in marriage so that I could take office in the US without arousing suspicion. That’s I ended up with you.”
I gasp, my hands growing sweaty and itchy as my heart thuds quickly in my chest. “My father took a bribe?”
“Indeed, he did. The man is as crooked as they come, but I can’t blame him too much. Eleven million dollars is a large sum,” Viktor replies.
I’m equally flattered and disgusted that my hand in marriage was valued at eleven million. I’m not a woman who can be bought, but Viktor fought long and hard to get to me, and that must count for something.
“And so, this is for power, not love,” I say, searching Viktor’s face for the truth.
“It was, but now I’m not so sure,” Viktor replies, looking down.
He’s not making eye contact with me, but I want him to. I want to see what the truth is, and the eyes are the windows to the soul. It’s the only way to know the truth.
“Is this something important to you, Viktor? Am I important to you?” I ask.
“Yes,” Viktor says, raising his head and meeting my eyes with such intensity that I jerk my head back in shock.
Once I’m able to recollect myself, I give Viktor a long, hard look. “Then prove it. Stop this political bullshit. It’s a terrible scheme.”
“I’ve been telling him this for years, but he won’t listen,” Dimitri chimes in from the front seat. ”The motherfucker dragged me all the way from my home in Russia to prance around in the so-called country of freedom. I don’t feel very free right now.”
I give Viktor a look, as though to say, “See, I told you so. Listen to us and do the right thing,” but no words actually leave my mouth.
Viktor rubs his chin, the thick stubble making a scratchy sound as he tries to figure out what to say. I don’t think he knows what to do about me, but I doubt he wants to lose me. The choice is his, though. I won’t tolerate the lifestyle he’s living currently, and as much as I hate my father for basically selling me, I would hate it even more if Viktor carried through with his original plan.
“You know what,” Viktor says after a few moments. “I think I’m going to have to reconsider my purpose in the United States.”
“Good,” I begin to say, but Viktor cuts me off with a sudden interjection.
“But,” he says, chopping his hand through the air between us. “I’m not giving up my mafia business.”
I roll my eyes. “Ugh, can’t you do the right thing for once.”
“Does that mean we’re going back to Russia?” Dimitri chimes in from the front again.
Viktor shakes his head. “No. We have some unfinished business to take care of. Russia will still be there when we’re done.”
“I don’t want to be here anymore. This place stinks,” Dimitri says.
Viktor grits his teeth. “Then, you will be on a plane back once you deliver Cora and me to the Valivonia headquarters.”
I squint at Viktor. “I don’t want to be a part of your mafia business.”
“You have no choice, Cora. Like I told you before. They know you. The only way to get out of this is to pay off the debt, and the only way to do that is to expand my reach into the government.”
The gears start turning in my head. “So, if you were to marry me, hypothetically, of course,” I add, not wanting to get ahead of myself. “Then, you would be able to pay off the Malaugurio here and go legit.”
“I don’t know about going legitimate. I’ve never done that before,” Viktor says.
“Do you want to marry me or not?” I ask, reclaiming some of my power over him.
“Yes,” Viktor says, taking my hand in his. “Yes, I do want to marry you, Cora. You have shown me a different way of living that I didn’t think was possible.”
“Why should I believe you?” I ask, but I can already see the truth in his eyes.
Viktor smiles. “I will prove it to you, but first, to Valivonia.” He jabs a finger in the air, a smile spreading across his handsome face. There is a new light in his eyes, a gentle sparkle of a man that has just figured out his purpose.
This won’t be easy, but it can be done. Viktor and I can have a new life together, if only he’s able to get it together and become a law-abiding man.
I lean back into my seat, uncrossing my arms and letting a smile flicker over my mouth. For all that Viktor has done so far, I still like him. He’s a man with ambition, passion, and even though he would like to have me think that he has a heart made of coal, I know how to light his flame and make him mine.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cora
The Valivonia mafia hangs out in an impressive castle that dates back hundreds of years. It’s a grand place, but it’s a bit frightening at the same time. I feel as though this is where a vampire would live. I stick close to Viktor as Dimitri drops us at the entrance and rides off into the sunset.
“I’ll miss him,” Viktor says, watching the stolen car as it disappears around a bend in the road.
“He was strange, but he was also right about a lot of things,” I reply.
“That’s why he was my right-hand man. Maybe I can convince him to return at a later date, but I’ll let him go home and enjoy a liter of vodka with his friends before I bother him again. He hates the alcohol here.”
I laugh. “Even the whiskey?”
Viktor nods. “Especially that. Dimitri likes the sting of flavorless alcohol. The stronger, the better.”
I wrinkle my nose at the thought of going back to vodka. I was under the impression that only reckless youth drank that sort of stuff during parties, and I’m long past those days. I never even quite got into it in the first place because of my sheltered home life.
“You should stay close to me. The Valivonia are suspicious people, and if they think you’re not with me, they’ll shoot first and ask questions later,” Viktor explains, tugging my hand so that I’m walking nearly shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Yessir,” I reply, only half-way mockingly. Truthfully, I feel like I can trust Viktor more now that I’ve heard the t
ruth. It’s a lot to take in, but it feels better than being uninformed. The mystery is gone, and I’m left with decisions to make.
Viktor walks up to the door guard and nods his head. “I’m here to see Mr. Peterson.”
The guard looks back and forth between Viktor and me. “Why aren’t you wearing proper clothes?”
“We ran into a bit of trouble with the Malaugurio a few hours ago. We seek shelter from them,” Viktor explains.
“The Malaugurio? I wasn’t aware they were in the area,” the guard replies.
“They are, and they have quite a few men with them. I need to speak with Mr. Peterson,” Viktor says, driving in his initial request.
“I’m sorry,” the guard answers, tightening his grip on the rifle strapped to his chest. “He’s on in right now.”
“Viktor Kazakov, you sly bastard,” a deep voice rings out from behind the guard. “I thought they would have killed you by now.”
A man emerges from the castle, followed by two heavily armed men. It’s obvious at first glance that this is Mr. Peterson. Viktor’s eyes light up upon seeing him, and the guard that was denying his presence falls silent.
“Jacob Peterson,” Viktor says, a smile spreading across his face. “What makes you think that anyone would kill me? I’m practically immortal at this point.”
“Immortal?” Jacob replies with a laugh, coming to a stop in front of Viktor and me. “Not with a half-million-dollar bounty on your head, you’re not.”
“Motherfuckers,” Viktor exclaims. “They really want their money back, don’t they?”
Jacob smiles calmly. “It would seem to be so. I admit I was a bit worried about you when I heard the news, but it seems you’re fairing alright. You’ve even brought a beautiful woman with you.”
“My fiancé,” Viktor says proudly.
I cling to Viktor’s arm as Jacob looks me up and down. This is the first time I’ve heard Viktor say the word fiancé, but I like the way it sounds.
Jacob smiles at me. “You must be brave, marrying a troublemaker like Viktor.”
I shrug. “I keep him in line.”