Chapter 2 - Anya

Pulling my long hair up into a bun can sometimes be a mission I am not in the mood for. This morning especially. It doesn’t seem to be behaving the way I want it to behave and it keeps softly falling back into my face.

I throw my head forward, gather it up and twist it into a bun it can’t negotiate its way out of.

There.

That’s better.

This weekend, my brother and his wife, who is also my friend, announced their new baby on the way and I’m super happy for them—but it sent me on a bit of a thought spiral about what the hell I’m doing with my life.

Ever since I was little, my brothers have protected me from everything and I mean everything. I didn’t date. I didn’t get to go out and have too much fun. They were always watching and always keeping me out of trouble and a girl needs to get into a little trouble every now and then.

Not like last year, though. Getting kidnapped is not the kind of trouble I’m after.

My life just feels a bit empty and I’m bored with doing the same things over and over.

That’s why I informed Leon and Oleg that I will be attending the next Bratva meeting. Which happens to be today. They were both pretty confused because I’ve never been interested in the business before—but I want to learn. I think I might be pretty good at it and it’ll make me feel a lot better about my life if I have something meaningful to do every day.

I can only go on so many shopping sprees before it’s boring as hell.

I want more than that.

And that is why I need my hair to behave today. So that I can arrive there, look professional and then they won’t take me for a joke.

I glance in the mirror. The bun seems to be holding. My dark grey, perfectly tailored suite looks immaculate. I definitely belong in a boardroom.

I grab my Louis Vuitton handbag and march out of the door with confident strides. My high heels click loudly down the passage outside my penthouse apartment, all the way to the elevator.

All of the time my brothers spent shielding me from the business and the risks of being involved—and it didn’t help anything—I still got kidnapped. So, I need them to stop doing that and let me be a part of it all. Leon has promised he will talk to all of them and give me a chance to prove myself.

I drive to one of the many buildings our family owns in this city, parking outside of the high glass-walled skyrise, I climb out of the car and walk into the building as though I have been here a hundred times. I haven’t. This is the first time but nobody else needs to know that. We all start somewhere.

A glass elevator takes me up to the second highest floor and when the numbers above the door shine thirty-two, the doors slide open and I step out, walking towards the boardroom.

Oleg, Yefim, and Alexei are there already.

I smile as I walk inside and they all grin at me. Alexei shakes his head, “You are going to be bored out of your mind, little sister.”

“Don’t make assumptions,” I snap back. “It’s a whole new me and I’m willing to accept any challenge.”

Alexei lifts his hands, “Ok, ok, but it’s not all fun and games.”

I pull out a chair for myself and take a seat, waiting for Leon to arrive.

When he walks in alongside Rodion Kuznetsov I am shocked to my core. I had no idea he was going to be here today and I feel unprepared for that.

I force my mouth to stay closed because my jaw is threatening to drop open in surprise. Dammit. I don’t want him here.

He smiles that dark smile of his from across the table, sitting opposite me.

“Anya, what a pleasant surprise.” His voice is deep, and it rumbles through me sending shivers down my spine. I sit up straighter. I haven’t worked out what it is about this man yet, but he makes me feel—weird.

“Good morning, Rodion,” I say, business like and professional.

Leon kicks off the meeting by going through stock and shipment schedules. I listen, but I find myself continuously glancing at Rodion. His eyes are so blue, and his dark blonde hair is cut short and neat. There isn’t a thing out of place in his appearance. The angular shape of his jaw makes him look dangerous and serious. When he looks at me, his eyes look dark despite being so bright.

I can never figure out what he’s thinking.

He glances across the table at me and our eyes meet.

I shift in my seat.

I both like and dislike having his eyes on me. They are so beautiful but so intense.

I turn my attention back to Leon.

Yefim is asking something and I wasn’t listening. I have to listen if I want to do well here and learn the ropes.

“Rodion’s dock might be a better option to ship from with Thursday’s outgoing stock. Just because of the inspections we’ve had twice last week.”

Rodion nods. “You are welcome to use my dock. I wanted to ask if I could borrow one of your trucks for a delivery I have to make just outside of town on Friday.”

Rodion’s deep voice is like dark, rich caramel. It’s easy to focus on what he’s saying when he talks.

My blood runs a little faster as I listen to him and I can’t figure out why it is that he makes me feel this way. My body is tingly, and my heartbeat has sped up.

I clear my voice softly, trying to calm my weird reaction to him.

“Was there something you wanted to add, Anya?” he asks, his eyes piercing into me. I feel as though we are suddenly the only two people in the room.

I clear my throat again, more boldly, then tilt my chin up and lock eyes with him. Show no fear. Business is about confidence.

“No, carry on,” I say, calm and clear.

He smirks. “Thanks.” Turning back to Leon he asks, “how many trucks do you have? Is there perhaps one you could park in my warehouse for me to use as needed?”

Leon turns to Oleg, “Do we have enough trucks to leave one with Rodion?”

Oleg shakes his head. “We can easily lend you one for Friday, but until the two that were taken down in the shootout a month ago are replaced, we don’t have enough to spare permanently. It might take another few weeks and then we can come back to that request.”

Rodion nods, his mouth tight, but he doesn’t say anything more.

He is so present and so controlled in everything that he does. He seems to be aware and alert to every little thing around him.

His eyes drift to the side again, towards me.

I quickly look away.

Since we allied with the Kuznetsovs, Rodion has been a bit of a thorn in my brothers' sides. He doesn’t play nice with others and tends to make things more complicated than they need to be. This meeting is going smoothly from what I can tell—but I’ve heard my brothers talking about how difficult he has been in past meetings.

You’d think that for his sister's sake, he would want to put an effort in to make life easier for our alliance.

Maybe he’s just too arrogant. His family is not as strong as ours. My brothers have helped his business a huge amount, but he doesn’t seem grateful in the least bit.

I wish I could figure out what would make him more of a team player so that my family didn’t have to suffer his annoying attitude.

“Alright, so stock is good. We do have a big order arriving in two weeks. Rodion you also have goods on that shipment, so we’ll have them sent to your warehouse. We’re saving a lot by putting our deliveries in one boat.”

Everyone nods in agreement. Yefim lifts a piece of paper. “What about the client who got the wrong order?”

Oleg lifts his chin. “It was sorted out already. He’s happy. He wasn’t a difficult client, so it got settled quickly. We did lose a bit on that deal, but in the long run, we keep the client, and the business will grow with him.”

“Good. That’s good to hear.”

Everyone is silent for a moment and I close my notebook, sensing that the meeting is coming to an end.

“Anya? Did you have any questions?” Leon asks, including me, which I’m grateful for. “Nothing yet. Just getting the hang of things and learning. I’m sure I’ll have questions soon and then you can find a way for me to be more involved so that I can contribute.”

“You and I can meet later this week to chat about what you might be interested in doing.” He nods, “I think that’s everything then. Guys? Rodion? Anything to add before we close off?”

Rodion shifts, flexing his shoulders back. His jaw clenches for a second and I watch the muscle ripple across his skin. “There was one more thing.”

His eyes lock with me for a moment, causing me to take a sharp breath in, then he looks at Leon.

Rodion speaks a little louder than before. His voice holds weight.

“I think things are going well, but the balance of our alliance is still favored to your family. I feel that we need to make an effort to even this out.”

My brothers are all watching him closely. Oleg and Alexei sit with their arms folded across their chests. “Well, what did you have in mind?” Alexei asks.

“I believe there is only one way to properly even things out. Since Oleg married someone from my family—I should marry someone from your family.”

There is a crashing silence in the boardroom and my brothers look from one to the other. None of them says a word. Leon looks horrified.

I bite my lip, wondering who in the world he wants to marry. My cousin is already married. I’m the only girl amongst my siblings and—

Oh.

No.

That can’t be right.

Is he suggesting that we get married?

My heart pulls so tight in my chest that I have to press my hand against my ribs to stop the weird pain that is building there.

Rodion—as a husband?

My skin tingles, heating and sending shivers through my body.

I take a deep breath.

Still, no one has said a word.

Rodion looks at each one of my brothers in turn but not at me. “Don’t you think that it is the fair thing to do?” he asks, waiting for their answer.

Leon stands up abruptly.

“You want to marry Anya?” he asks, already angry because he knows the answer.

“Yes. I want to marry your sister, just like Oleg married my sister,” Rodion says calmly.

“Is this a joke?” Yefim asks and Alexei starts laughing, sarcastic and rude.

I huff, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. They are all discussing me like I’m not in the room. Not one of them has turned to look at me and ask me what I think.

Leon and Yefim start talking about how this is not going to happen. Oleg is the only one who is quiet but looks disgusted by the idea. But he married Rodion’s sister. They are having a baby together. He can’t say much about this request without sounding like a hypocrite.

Rodion starts to get really annoyed and he stands as well.

He demands to know what the problem is and Leon and him are now throwing insults at each other. This is getting worse by the second.

I stand up, my hands shaking because my adrenalin is pumping through me.

“Stop,” I say, but no one hears me.

“Stop this!” I shout loudly, but again, I am completely ignored.

It looks as though Rodion and Leon are about to start throwing punches at each other and the table between them is the only thing stopping that from happening.

I pick up my notebook and slam it down hard against the table. A loud snap resounds through the air and all of them freeze, staring at me.

“You are all behaving like complete animals. Stop yelling at each other,” I snap angrily.

I see each of them swallow hard and clench their jaws tightly. Leon is breathing heavily, and Rodion is leaning against the table with his fists knotted in a tight ball.

“You heard what he said,” Leon huffs, throwing his hands in the air.

“I did. And I agree with him,” I sigh.

“You what?” my brothers say in unison.

“I agree with him.”

I don’t want to marry Rodion. He’s the last person on earth I would choose to marry. But for my family’s sake, to get him to actually co-operate and be a part of the alliance without causing shit all the time—and for Raisas’ sake—because she is my friend, and she is constantly stressing about our families getting along and how it will affect her baby—for them—I will marry him.

I feel like maybe I am not cut out to contribute to the business, but I can make life easier for everyone by contributing to the alliance.

“No,” Leon says, angrily.