Page 28 of Vows of Blood
“I don’t think Pecora will be receptive to those ventures,” says Father, “but he may be convinced if he considers the money that his family could gain.”
I start laying out several other ideas I have to strengthen this connection and each one, my father approves of, giving orders to the other men about what details should be given to their lower ranks. Somewhere in there, I start to think that maybe Father was right all along. This marriage could be a good thing for the brotherhood. Our path to being the biggest and most powerful is fairly clear to me.
It’s not to Pavel, though. He pouts silently as we discuss the particulars. I think that if he had been in on the decision to marry me off, he would have objected and tried to convince our father that striking against the Pecora family is the only logical solution. I doubt he would have gotten very far, though. My father does nothing that he doesn’t want to do and very rarely will he make a decision that he knows will bring us more harm than success.
We discuss a few more things, ongoing business that has been continuing for quite some time. Before long, the meeting is done and everyone files out, leaving me with only my father and brother.
Once the last person has left, my father looks over at Pavel, still pouting in his chair. “You don’t seem very happy with this arrangement,” he says.
“I’m not,” he admits and he looks at me with an icy stare. “And I don’t understand why he is suddenly on board with it. This is how you treat Kira’s memory, Alexei?”
A flash of anger shoots up through me like a volcano and I sit up in my chair. “Watch that shit,” I snarl at him.
He smirks at me and uncrosses his arms. “So you do still care for her. What a shame you were forced to marry someone else?—”
“That is enough.” My father’s voice is low, but stern. “I won’t have you two fighting right now. Not while things are still so fragile with this merger.”
“So, we still do not trust them? Not after all that’s happened?”
“Of course not, but that’s for your brother to address. Not you.” He looks at me carefully. “As long as his bride remains happy, Pecora will bend to our will. It’s as simple as that.”
Pavel says nothing to that. He gets up and says, “I hope that your marriage remains well, then. For all our sakes.”
He leaves and Father sighs heavily. “Excuse your brother,” he says. “His heart is in the right place, but… I wonder about him sometimes. He doesn’t seem to know when diplomacy is the better route.”
I nod slowly. “He just wants to impress you. That’s what it’s always about with him.”
He looks at me with a sudden smirk. “And not with you? My eldest son? I would think that you would be the main one to vie for my approval.”
“Do I not have it?”
He chuckles. “Good point.” He gets up and walks over to the farthest corner of the room where he keeps a cabinet with scotch and vodka and who knows what other liquor stored. “So, tell me about your wedding night,” he says as he makes himself a drink. “Everything went well, I suppose?”
“It went as expected,” I tell him. “The same as any wedding night for any couple in all of the world.”
“Ha,” he says. “A very generic answer for a man who has the prowess of a Mechnikov. I hope you showed her that no other man she’s ever been with will ever be as worthy as you.”
He turns to me, drink in his hand as he comes back to the table. I am uncomfortable with this conversation. I don’t think he would be nearly this invasive if Kira and I had gotten the chance to marry.
“We were intimate,” I say, “if that’s what you’re implying. I don’t know what more you are expecting, given the circumstances.”
He’s staring at me, reading me the way he normally does when he’s trying to detect a lie. “I suppose you’re right,” he says, taking a sip from his glass. “I can’t expect sunshine and roses for a woman you barely know. I can only hope that you, at least, enjoyed yourself with her.”
I did. God help me, I did. What my father doesn’t know is that I’ve been thinking about last night off and on all day. Every quiet moment that I have is filled with visions of my hands on her perfect ass, or the shift of pain and then ecstasy in her eyes during those first thrusts. I’ve been doing my best not to imagine what it might be like if I decided that I wanted to show her more ways to explore her own body. Or maybe show her the ways she could learn to please me.
“It was sex,” I say aloud. “What’s not to enjoy?”
“Fair enough,” he says. “But you know, you must work to keep her happy. Even in these circumstances. She is not a toy you can use and put away when you’re done playing with her. You will need to keep her interest if you want her to comply with this arrangement.”
I’m thinking of Anya now. I told her to go to my place and make sure to keep Isabella occupied while I’m gone. I don’t know for certain if she’ll attempt to disappear as her sister had, but she did try to leave before our wedding. I suppose anything is possible.
I want to tell my father all this. I want him to understand that this is not a normal situation. She’s not likely to comply because she’s trapped in this, just as I am. The difference is that only one of us pledged their life to the brotherhood.
“But don’t be too nice,” Father goes on. “Your mother and I were happily married for ten years before she left, and we stayed that way because she knew that if she ever displeased me, I would leave her in the dirt just as quickly as I found her. You can’t allow them to be spoiled, you see.”
Mother. Now, there’s a subject we rarely even talk about anymore. Seems like as the years go on, any mentions of her become less and less frequent. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was purposeful. Some way to keep me from asking questions about her disappearance.
“Just keep her on a short leash,” he says to me. “Keep her happy, but never let her believe that she would be happier without you.” He pats me on the shoulder. “Now, in light of Pavel’s resistance to this merger, I think it might be a good idea to involve him in this process a little more. I’ve had my eye on one of Tony Pecora’s restaurants downtown. Perhaps if Pavel can speak with him about signing the ownership over to us, he might learn a little diplomacy.”
