“Leonid, are you listening to me?”
I’ve been listening to Victoria for the past thirty minutes, without paying attention, and my sister doesn’t cope well with being ignored. It’s the reason why she handles the legal side of the family business—she’s the one with the eye for detail, Andrej is the strategist, and I get the job done.
“The warehouse?” Her brown eyes are little more than slits in her beautifully chiseled features.
“Did the cops find anything to pin on us?” I peer at her from across the walnut desk in my office. Even to me, my voice sounds distant.
“You really need to ask?” Victoria places her pen down on the notepad in front of her, measuring its distance from the edges as if her life depends on it being equal. “Is there any point in me being here if you’re not going to be present?”
I sit forward in my seat. I recognize that I’m about five seconds away from her storming out of here and refusing to come back until I resolve the matter of the prisoner in my home.
“No, I don’t need to ask. Yes, there’s every point in you being here. And, yes, I am present.”
“Finally.” She puffs up her cheeks and releases a steady breath. “Would you care to enlighten us? I mean, we’re only family. It’s starting to feel like you think you can do this alone.”
She shoots a glance at Andrej, who leans back in his seat and links his fingers behind his head. “Suits me. I’ll take that vacation to Barbados that I’ve been putting off since forever.”
The truth is, my siblings are as much a part of the family business as I am, but I’ve spent my life carrying the burden alone, and it’s a tough shell to crack. Family always comes first: the golden mantra. Which means that, as the eldest son, it is my duty to protect them. They could sit here and scream until they’re hoarse that I’m not responsible for them, but it won’t alter the way I feel. The responsibility is all mine, just as our father intended.
“I’ve never believed that I can do this alone, Victoria.” The lies spill from my tongue like water. “We all know that I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”
I was four years old when a mafia rival of our father invaded our family home. It was nighttime. Everyone was asleep, apart from Victoria, who has always survived on three or four hours sleep, even as a child. My six-year-old sister was in her room with the curtains open, studying the sky with the telescope that our parents had recently bought her. She wanted to go to the moon. She wanted to be an astronaut, and visit all the planets in our solar system, and bring back souvenirs from each to pin to the ceiling of her bedroom the way other people brought back fridge magnets from vacation.
Catching a glimpse of movement in the corner of her eye, she lowered the telescope to the extensive grounds and realized that the shadows were moving. But what didn’t make sense to her was that there were no guards.
At that age, she didn’t understand that moles could be people who don’t have your best interests at heart. We knew that we never went anywhere without protection. But when armed guards are an intrinsic part of your life, they almost become invisible like the sub-audible hum of the refrigerator or the artwork on the wall or the way the laundry hamper gets emptied and clean clothes reappear in your closet.
But she understood the crushing silence and the missing security lights outside the house. So, she set in motion the process that our mother had instilled in us from the moment we were old enough to walk and talk: If something feels wrong, hide.
She grabbed a flashlight from the desk in her room, tiptoed along the corridor to my bedroom, and woke me up. Andrej wasn’t yet born, so she only had to protect one little brother. Pressing a pale finger to her lips, she whispered, “We’re going to play hide and seek, Leo.” She gripped my hand tightly, led me outside to the unlit hallway, locked my door behind us, and pocketed the key.
Then, we ran back to her room as quickly as we could. We had barely closed the door when we heard a gunshot from somewhere in the house. I still remember the way my heart was hammering inside my chest, but Victoria … she was so cool and calm as she opened the back of her doll’s house wide and made me climb inside with a warning not to make a sound. She messed up her bed and hid inside her closet where I could see her through the crack in the door, a smile on her face so that I wouldn’t be scared.
The bad men, finding my bedroom door locked, used force to open it, alerting our father to their presence. They never made it to Victoria’s room.
It wasn’t until many years later that I understood how my sister’s bravery and quick thinking had saved my life. As always, Victoria accepted the praise with quiet humility. I have often wondered if she understood how her life would be affected if she were the only child of a mafia boss and saved me then to spare her own future.
I wouldn’t blame her if she had.
“Don’t try to deflect the question, Leo.” She finally releases the pen, satisfied that it is precisely where it needs to be. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing is going on that you’re not already aware of.”
Her eyes drift across the table to our brother and back again. “You know the police commissioner didn’t just turn up at the warehouse on a whim because it’s Wednesday, right, or because he’s trying to manipulate the figures to earn himself a big fat bonus.”
I smile. We all know that the police commissioner has enough handouts from the mafia families to make his legitimate bonus look like a child’s monthly allowance.
“I can handle Xander Amory.”
“That’s good to hear,” Andrej chimes in. “Because from where I’m sitting, it’s starting to look as if he’s the one in control.”
“Good.” I spread my hands wide. “That’s exactly what we want him to believe.”
They both wait for me to elaborate.
“I couldn’t bring our operations to a complete halt. It would’ve been too obvious. I needed to give him just enough to allow him the upper hand while he tried to figure out what the Irish were doing with his sister-in-law.”
“Ah, the printzessa.” Victoria blinks slowly and tucks an imaginary stray lock of immaculate hair behind her ear. “What is happening with her? She’s a little like our mother’s Faberge eggs, Leo. Untouchable.”
An image of Gianna on all fours with her pussy in my face pops into my head, and my pulse picks up speed. If they only knew what Gianna does to me whenever we’re alone together, they would drag her onto the back of my brother’s motorcycle and deliver her back to her father before I could blink.
Andrej chuckles. “You fucked her, didn’t you?”
The tension in the room is as thick as soup. Victoria turns accusing eyes my way and draws in a deep slow breath. “Please tell me you didn’t, Leo.” Mentally, she is already preparing the paperwork for the legal battle of the century while measuring me up for my coffin.
Andrej scratches his jaw, his mouth twisted into a lopsided grin. “So, this was the great plan? Fuck her before you send her back?”
“Not exactly.”
“Not exactly?” Victoria’s voice has risen a notch. “Give me something I can work with, Leo, because not exactly doesn’t cut it in a court of law.”
“She was engaged to be married to Seamus Mulligan.”
“Was? Your use of past tense isn’t lost on me, Leo. So, what, we have the Irish on our case as well as the Sicilians now?”
“I don’t see the Irish clamoring for my blood, do you?”
“No, because they have Xander Amory offering to deliver your head to them on a silver platter.” Andrej’s tone is serious. “What’s the plan, Leo? We need to know what we’re dealing with here.”
“We invade Amory territory. Hit them where it hurts along with a ransom note for the printzessa.”
Andrej shakes his head. “Then what? We send her back reeking of your cologne and with a signed affidavit that you didn’t touch her pinned to her back. You think they’re going to believe that their printzessa lost her cherry in Montenegro?”
“I don’t care what they believe.”
This is an absolute fucking lie. The thought of anyone else touching Gianna makes me want to tear down buildings with my bare hands. It occurs to me then that her family might force her into a medical examination to prove that she’s still intact, and that makes me want to ride straight through Xander Amory’s front door in an armor-plated vehicle and rip him apart limb by fucking limb.
“Oh, my fucking God.” Victoria’s face is pale. “You do care.”
A smile lights up Andrej’s face. “You’ve let the printzessa get to you, brother. What did she do, promise to be a good girl if you didn’t hurt her?” He wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. “No, you’d need a heart to fall for something like that.”
“We’re done here.” I stand up, ending the meeting.
“Leo, sit down.” Victoria’s voice is calm. “Please.” She knows that she is the only person in the world apart from my parents who can give me an order and expect me to comply, but she still softens it with a please. “What have you done?” she asks when I’m seated again.
Where do I begin? I took the printzessa’s virginity because there’s something about her that I’m powerless to resist?
I refuse to acknowledge Gianna’s power over me, even to my siblings. Weakness is like toxic gas, spreading and seeping through walls and underneath floors, unnoticed until it is too late.
“You fucked her, didn’t you?” Victoria’s glittering eyes hold mine.
I ignore Andrej’s chuckles. “It was consensual if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I don’t give a fuck if she swung from a chandelier and fucked you upside down, Leonid. You know what this means.”
“Hopefully our brother had the good sense to use protection.” Andrej shrugs. “He can throw in a few threats and maybe she’ll keep her mouth shut. No harm done.”
“No harm done?” Victoria sucks in a deep breath and stares at the window as if she can’t bear to look at her two foolish brothers. “It would be no harm done if this was one of our escorts we’re talking about. This is Gianna Sedric. Xander Amory’s sister-in-law. Daughter of—”
“I know who she is.” I cut her off.
I know exactly where Victoria is going with this, but she can’t tell me anything I haven’t already thought about. What worries me is that she’s already figured out that I won’t want to let Gianna go when this is all over.
“Okay, so perhaps you would care to explain what you intend to do about it, Leonid?” Victoria sits back and folds her arms across her chest. “I mean, we’re only your brother and sister, but we can’t protect you if we have no idea what’s going on.”
“Hold up.” Andrej tilts his head backwards, closes his eyes, and raises his palms to the ceiling. “Maybe we can consult with the spirits. They probably know more about our brother’s intentions than we do.”
“She will return to her family as planned.”
The words stick in my throat like dry pasta. Putting Gianna into a car and sending her home is the furthest thing from what I want right now, when all I can picture is her curled up in my bed asleep when I left this morning. Her hair tumbling over her naked shoulders. Her lips plump and moist.
“Okay.” Victoria pauses, choosing her words carefully. “Let’s assume for now that you’re happy to send her back when you’re finished with her.” She arches a perfectly groomed eyebrow, daring me to protest, and I remain silent. “What do you think will happen to Gianna then?”
“Her family will increase her security detail. She will get married as planned and lead the life that was chosen for her when she was born into a mafia family.” Even to my own ears it sounds like I’m reading from a script.
Victoria picks up the pen and taps it on the file in front of her as if the click-click-click is helping her to assemble her thoughts. “You don’t believe this, Leonid. You know how it works. You have stolen from her the only thing that a mafia printzessa has to offer. Even if her fiancé agrees to go through with the marriage, and she can convince him that she is still a virgin, she will have to live with that lie for the rest of her life.”
For once, even Andrej is quiet.
Victoria has always been the voice of reason, the family member who views our business as a game of chess, the game at which she excelled even as a child, with all our moves mapped out inside her head. The reason she is the best at what she does is because she can see both sides of the coin. But in this instance, she knows firsthand what it means to be a mafia daughter.
Her marriage to Aleksei was arranged by our father. Her husband treats her well, and she has never complained about having the choice taken away from her, but I’ve always known that something is missing from her life. There is no glimmer of excitement in her eyes whenever she looks at her husband. No sparks fly between them when they touch. I’m sure that she loves him, but it’s the kind of love that exists between friends who know each other well. It isn’t the love of two people who are unable to resist the magnetic pull of the other.
She’s right. I knew what I was taking from Gianna last night even when I gave her the choice. Because I’d made sure that she wouldn’t be able to refuse.
“What do you suggest?”
“You could always marry her.” Andrej gives our sister a sideways glance, gauging her reaction. “Kill two birds with one stone. Save her reputation and seal an alliance with the Sicilians.”
“No.” I’m back on my feet.
“Why not?” Victoria asks. “It isn’t such a bad suggestion.” She pointedly ignores Andrej’s wide grin. “Unless you would rather wait to find out who father has chosen for you.”
“I have no intention of getting married.”
“Ever?”
I can’t answer that. I only know that I vowed when I was a teenager never to drag the woman I love into this way of life. If I’m being honest with myself right now, I always envisaged married life as two people madly in love, creating a home with rosy-cheeked children and at least a couple of dogs.
As if reading my mind, Victoria says, “She is already a part of this world, Leonid. She understands the dangers. And you have always prided yourself on being authentic. A man of your word. At least think about it.”
I nod once; it’s all she’s getting. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have somewhere important to be.”
