Chapter Eighteen: Andrei

Checking my calendar of events for the week, I contemplate shuffling a few meetings around. None of them are particularly pressing. Two good things came out of the New York Phantom Charity Gala, and they’re going to ten x our profits over the next five years. It will give us the possibility to open a new operation out of Boston. Our tentacles are slowly creeping into the area anyway, but by securing a meeting for gun sales with the US Secretary of Defense, we are bound to expand.

The Bratva are sitting pretty in other words, and I couldn’t be happier. I have the TV on in the background more so for ambient noise than anything else. Tapping my foot on the floor, a dull thump rings out from one of the many rooms in my house.

“ Let me out! Let me out! ” Sophia has been shouting at the top of her lungs for the last hour intermittently, but I don’t have any plans to let her go. She must have thought I was joking when I told her on the plane we were to be married.

“You must be joking. I’m not going to marry you. We are going to co-parent,” she said, her inner fire driving her mouth. She will make a good lawyer, but also a fierce protector of our child. Perhaps she is the right woman to have a baby with. Having a family is something I’ve thought about, but not wanted to pursue. To me, it seemed to be more of an obligation.

“We are to marry, and there’s nothing you can do. You will collect your things and stay at my house. It’s bigger anyway. You can’t raise a child in that small apartment anyway. It doesn’t make sense. We will be co-parenting, but it will be together, not separately,” I enforced, clear of what was to happen.

Of course, she wouldn’t let it end there. She tried to escape once I brought her home to get her things, but there was no point. I took her keys, one step ahead of her.

“Are you looking for these? ” I asked as she patted down her pockets. Part of the key hung out of her back pocket allowing me to lift it out and keep it. Dangling them in her face, she fought to get them back.

“Give me my keys!” She swiped, jumping to get them, but being much taller than her, there was no point for her to exhaust herself. “You can’t do this. I’m not coming with you,” she shrieked, her ginger hair flying in every direction.

“Yes. You are. If you come quietly this process won’t be so hard, then we can work things out for the ceremony.”

“That’s what you’re calling it? A ceremony? No, it’s called kidnapping against my will!” she yelled, her distress growing, but she did stop jumping.

“Is it? And who will you tell? The cops? It’s likely they’re on my payroll. They will just drive you right to me. Come quietly.”

She stood sulking on the curb as I stood near the car watching the scene play out, until eventually she walked herself over to my SUV getting in of her own accord. I have to hand it to her, she’s willing to fight for herself and that’s an admirable trait.

Picking up my cup of coffee, I wait for her to stop banging. Soon enough she does, bringing a smile to my face. Rita, my housekeeper, starts dusting the shelves behind me, and I feel the feathers on top of my head.

“Rita, I better not have dust in my hair otherwise I’m going to dock your pay,” I warn, skimming a hand over the top of my head, finding no dust particles at all. She’s been with me for a very long time, and her ears have heard many a secret. I’ve never had to worry about her telling them as she’s aided me in many ways. If she ever were to leave, strangely enough, I would trust her to keep all she saw confidential. Besides, she’s a family woman and I would kill her sons if she divulged anything.

“Oh sorry, Andrei. I didn’t mean to. I’m worried.”

“About?” I ask in curiosity, turning to face her as she stops dusting.

“About the young one you have locked in the room. You should let her out. She’s inside your house. What is she going to do to escape?” Her sympathetic tone touches me a little, but my stubbornness prevails.

“It’s a big enough suite. She has everything inside it. There’s no need for her to come out. She can open the windows. She’s even got her own balcony, and the housekeeping staff fed her already. I checked, she hasn’t eaten any of the snacks,” I justify, but Rita isn’t buying it, hitting me on the shoulder with the feather duster.

“This is a new shirt, Rita.”

She is the only person I would let do that to me, and it would only be in private. Not in front of others. “No. She is stressed out, and it’s not good for the baby. Think of the baby.”

Sighing, I put my coffee down. I do care about my baby, whatever we’re having, and she has been in there for half the day without me talking to her. She’s probably still upset about New York as well. “Fine. I’m going to check on her.”

Rita smiles, getting back to her fake dusting. “Thank you.”

“You missed a spot,” I point, scooping up a thin layer of dust at the end of the shelf. She doesn’t look up, but I take the short trip down the hall, creaking the room door open to find a distressed Sophia. She looks up at me as I hold court in the doorway.

“Andrei, I just want to talk.”

This isn’t what I intended, but it is what it is. Entering, I stand just inside the door. As far as I’m concerned, I can handle this one for myself. There’s no need for anyone to stand guard.

“I’m here. What do you want to talk about, Sophia?”

“We can’t get married.” Her frank admission almost brings me to laughter.

“You’re under the impression you have a choice in the matter,” I drawl, her cheeks growing hot making them flush.

“This is my body, my baby, and I have a life. You can’t just drag me here to be a part of a marriage of convenience,” she puts forward, overreaching.

“Hmm. Marriage of convenience. It’s not so bad, and you’re going to have more than you’ve ever had before, so why be upset? You’re only locked up here because you’ve been irritational, and I don’t want you anything bad to happen. I’ve saved you twice already,” I tell her in an even tone.

Her hand runs a circle over the couch arm, but she continues shaking her head. “No. We can’t. We really can’t.”

Snickering, I arch an eyebrow. “Tell me why. Breakdown the reason, Miss-lawyer-to-be.”

“Marriage is about love,” she na?vely states. “We are not in love; my parents were in love with each other. I saw it, and I know what it looks like. It’s nothing like what we have.” She stands, crossing her arms to match my stance. Walking a step towards her, I inch closer, but she steps back. Enjoying the game, I back her down to the wall between the en suite and the main room, until she leans against the wall. Her ginger hair is straight, those smattering of freckles I adore making me want to kiss her nose.

“You will grow to love me. I will make it so you fall in love with me,” I reply, feeling out the buried attraction between us. It’s simmering under the rubble, but I just need time to take the rocks away. She’s going to see, I’m the best man for her.

Sophia closes her eyes opposed to the idea. “No. I will never love you. No chance. It’s criminals like you that killed my parents,” she says coldly, and I begin to understand the reason why she’s so opposed to me.

Chuckling, I know the opposite is true. “No. It’s people like me who can find the Saints of Destruction who killed your parents and bring them to justice,” I reply sarcastically.

A pregnant pause hangs in the air as Sophia glowers at me, her lips pursing together. I dare her with my eyes to dispute it, but she doesn’t, taking her eyes off me, as if she can’t stand the sight. “How about I do you a deal, then,” I level with her, placing a hand above her head, her face neutral, but she’s full of emotion and hormones going awry, I suspect.

“What kind of plea bargain are you offering?”

Grinning at her deadpan delivery, I touch her ginger locks offering her the time to fall for me, because that’s what is going to happen. “How about we stay married until the baby is born. We are not having a baby out of wedlock. It’s a big no for the family.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. And if you still feel the same way about me then, we will get a divorce.”

Sophia pauses her full lips calling me to seal the deal with a kiss. My eyes go to them, and hers are carefully assessing. I have no idea what she will do. She’s unpredictable, and if she decides to knee me in the balls spontaneously, I will have no defense. It’s not something I would put past her.

“You have my word.” Smirking, I flick my tongue out across my mouth, and it’s too close for her to deny. I see her pulse jumping in her neck as her hands lay flat on the wall. Is it fear, or is it a longing? There’s room to explore, I figure. All in good time.

“Good. Then I can handle that deal until the time is up,” she replies methodically.

Snickering, I lean in, cupping her chin. “Once we’re married, we will stay together like any other married couple.”

“And what does that mean?” Oh, she wants the details.

Smiling, I provide her with the marital template that will satisfy my appetite. “You will share a room with me. That means sleeping in the same bed as me, and you will abide by all the responsibilities of a wife, and so will I as your husband. Do we have a deal?” I whisper, putting my hand under her nose to shake. She offers hers up and I kiss the back of it.

“We have a deal.”

The na?ve one doesn’t know she’s playing right into the devil’s hands. You’re going to fall head over heels for me.