8. Ivan

CHAPTER 8

Ivan

I n my world, favors and secrets are a means of trade. Negotiations and deals are made with friends and foes alike. I'm especially a master when it comes to getting people to owe me. It's how I've been able to amass so much power. Because there's not a lot of people I wouldn't give a favor if they approached me.

Some people refer to that as me having no loyalty. I don't agree. I do have some loyalty, it's just that it's to myself first and foremost. There's nothing I won't do to possess what I want. A fact the Italians are going to understand in a couple of minutes.

They've been expecting me. As the Pakhan likes to remind me often, it's rude to drop in unannounced to another man's house. Which is why I sent word ahead to the Don, Nicolas Ramirez, that we had an urgent matter to discuss. I'm not here for a fight. I even added a white flag at the end of my message to make that clear.

The atmosphere in the house when I walk in, though, makes it obvious they disregarded that. My men stand behind me, four of my most trusted guards, ready to get me out of here should things turn south. Which if I'm being honest, it can so easily.

But then my eyes find amber ones and nothing else matters. Lucia's still as beautiful as that first night I saw her. She stands in the living room same as everyone else, looking on at the scene with confusion. She quickly drops my gaze, eyes down on the floor.

I feel a little bad that I'm catching her so off guard but I couldn't think of any of other way.

"Volkov," Nicolas Ramirez states. "To what do we owe the pleasure."

He knows why I'm here. I might not have had the chance to say it yet, but it's clear that he's aware exactly what I want. Still, I stand at ease, my eyes meeting the Don's blue ones.

"Sorry to bother you in the middle of breakfast, Ramirez. But we have an urgent matter to discuss."

"If you had something to discuss, the polite thing to do would have been to wait for me to grant you permission of an audience."

I smile at that. He's much younger than me, but he's got balls. Which is admirable. I've always liked him.

"I already apologized, didn't I? I simply figured this couldn't wait any longer."

"What do you want?" he grits out.

My eyes travel across the room. I pause when I meet Lucia's eyes once more. She still looks surprised, maybe a little worried. My gaze also pauses on the man standing in the corner. Adrian Rossi. There's no mistaking the gun he has clenched in his hand or the murder in his eyes.

This situation could turn volatile pretty quickly.

"Why don't we sit?" I ask calmly. "Mrs. Ramirez, it's nice to meet you. If you don't mind, I have something to say that concerns your entire family."

Nico's wife nods slowly before looking at her husband. They communicate silently, trading a few glances back and forth before Aurora Ramirez finally speaks up.

"Of course. You're already here. We might as well hear you out."

I lower myself into a single sofa. Vlad stands behind me and we wait for Ramirez and the Maranzano sisters to sit as well. Lucia sits next to her sister. Nico sits opposite me.

"Now that we're all seated, I'll start by saying that I'm sure we're all aware that most agreements and negotiations in our world are built on promises. Promises and pacts that can't be broken."

"The only promises I've had with the Bratva involves a business deal that's been going well so far," Nico states.

"Of course. I myself was responsible for overseeing that deal and ensuring its success over the past few months," I say easily. "But that's not the deal I'm here to talk about. You all know Sebastian, the late Don's second-in-command?"

"He's dead," Nico says dryly.

"Yes, I'm aware. It's quite unfortunate, really, that he planned that coup against you. But haven't you wondered where he got the funds to hire all those men he made use of? Certainly not from a member of an outfit, that would have been an outright betrayal. So where do you think he got it, Don?"

A muscle in Nicolas's jaw twitches. "I'm going to assume he got it from you."

"Yes, he did."

His blue eyes narrow. "You're admitting to aiding a man that would have killed me. Did you forget that we were already in an alliance back then or you just didn't give a fuck?"

"I never turn anyone down when they request a favor. All I ask in return is that they promise me something of theirs."

There's a tiny scoff before Lucia leans down to whisper something in her sister's ear. Aurora Ramirez smirks at whatever it is her sister says.

"Care to share with the class, milaya ?" I drawl, my gaze meeting hers.

Her eyes widen and I can see she's genuinely shocked that I spoke to her at all. She gets over it pretty quickly, taking the time to glare at me.

There's that fire I remember.

"I said you're starting to sound a lot like Marty Byrde from Ozark ," she says confidently.

"I'm assuming that's some sort of TV show…"

"You'd be assuming correctly."

"Hmm," I say, staring at her for a couple of moments.

It's nice to be speaking to her again. And I'm glad to see that my memory served me well and she's still the same woman I've been unable to get out of my head.

"Can we return to the issue at hand?" Nicolas questions, irritation in his voice. "What deal did you make with Sebastian?"

"It's pretty simple, really. He offered me a wife."

The room falls silent upon that declaration. They all stop to stare at me, wondering exactly where I'm going with this. At least, the two women do. The men, though, Nicolas and Adrian, seem to know exactly what's going on.

"As I'm sure you're aware," Nico starts slowly, "Sebastian was in no position to make that offer. He has no daughters."

"Doesn't he?" I ask meaningfully.

I know all about Sebastian's missing daughter in exile. But that's not why I'm here.

"Honestly, I don't care if he did or not. He's dead now."

"Dead men can't renege on deals. And the terms don't expire simply because he did. You know this as well as I do, Ramirez. I'm owed a wife, and I'm here to collect."

"What the fuck are you saying?"

"Considering what Sebastian offered to me was basically a clean sheet. The terms state I can marry any woman of my choice in the outfit."

When I look at Lucia, she's paler, her eyes wide, meaning she's already caught on to what's going on. Months ago, when Sebastian approached me to make the deal, the terms weren't exactly relevant to me. I knew he was a dead man, but I decided to humor him a little, give him what he wanted. I never had any plans to hold him up to his end of the deal. I certainly never had any reason to want a wife.

Until now.

When I make my pronouncement, I make sure my eyes are fixed on amber ones.

"I want Lucia Maranzano."

Her sister gasps softly. I watch as she grips Lucia's hand tight. Lucia herself seems to be in shock. There's the sound of a gun being cocked.

"Like hell you do, asshole," Adrian Rossi states, pointing the gun in my face.

So dramatic.

Ruslan doesn't waste a second before stepping in front of me, taking me out of the line of fire. I sigh, getting to my feet and rearranging my suit. I pat Ruslan on the back, telling him to stand down.

"I really am sorry to have arrived so early in the morning to drop this bomb on you," I say to Nico, who looks just as furious as Rossi. "I understand it's a lot to think about, so I'll give you forty-eight hours to do so. After they're up, I want to talk to Lucia."

I look at her and she shifts uncomfortably, nerves evident in her expression. Nico stands, and one look at Adrian has the other man dropping his gun albeit unwillingly.

"You're not marrying her, Volkov," he says to me, voice ringing with authority.

"I'm sure my reputation precedes me. You know very well what'll happen if I don't get what I want," I tell him. "Think carefully about your decision, Don."

After one last look at Lucia, I turn around and leave the compound. When we arrive at home, Ruslan dips, heading to the training facilities.

He's not happy with my decision, and in lieu of saying it outright, he's taken to giving me the silent treatment like a little girl. I'm not going to force him to talk to me, especially since nothing he says is going to change my mind.

He thinks I'm insane for trying to marry a Maranzano. From his perspective, I seem to be risking everything over a woman I slept with once, but I'm making an objective decision I came to after a lot of thought. And I have the utmost confidence that it'll all work out.

When I walk into the house, I find my brother awake and rummaging through the kitchen cupboards. He's only wearing gray sweatpants, and his hair's a mess. I don't say a word as I stand at the doorway of the kitchen, watching as he pulls out some cereal and grabs a carton of milk and a bowl.

It takes him way too long to notice me.

"Jesus!" he yells when he finally does, nearly dropping the spoon in his hand in shock.

I arch an eyebrow at that. "You're not even religious, Alexei."

"It's more about the principle of the thing," he mutters. "Make some noise next time, would you? You're not some wraith."

"Noted," I state. "Put the cereal back. I'll make us some breakfast."

He smiles before immediately doing as I asked. He takes a seat on one of the elevated chairs in front of the island and I move about the kitchen, grabbing ingredients for French toast. I can't remember the last time I did something as mundane as cooking. We have cooks for that, but none of them seem to be around at the moment. Plus, I think it's time to inform Alexei about what's going on.

"Where'd you go off to so early, anyway?" he asks before I can bring up the topic on my own.

I don't immediately answer, cracking some eggs into a bowl and mixing in some milk and cinnamon.

"I paid a visit to Nicolas Ramirez and his family."

His eyebrows rise. "The man that's currently leading the Italian outfit?"

"Yes. We had an urgent matter to discuss."

"What urgent matter?"

"I'm not going to bore you with the details. All you need to know is that I'm getting married."

Alexei blinks once before proceeding to stare at me in shock for a few moments. I use the time to pull out the pan and preheat it.

"No, please, bore me with the details. I need to hear everything," he says finally.

I chuckle and begin telling him everything. I leave out the part about meeting Lucia in New York, because he doesn't need to know that. Instead, I tell him all about Sebastian and the deal we made—one I'm hoping to collect on.

"Shit, Ivan. You're going to make this woman marry you because of some deal?" he asks on a frown.

I roll my eyes. "Since when are you the voice of reason?"

"It just seems a little cruel," he says, visibly confused. "You've never been interested in marriage."

"True, but in the past month, I've found myself a little curious."

"About marriage? I can tell you all you need to know. It's a shit show. Would not recommend."

"You can't recommend something you've never tried before, dumbass."

"So that's all this is? You want to try?" he asks. "Do you even like this woman? Do you know her at all?"

"She's a beautiful woman. Young, intelligent. I don't need much else," I answer vaguely.

"How young?" my brother questions.

"Twenty-four."

"Holy fuck, Ivan!"

My eyes narrow at his outburst. "What?" I snap.

"She's, like, twenty years younger than you."

"So?"

My brother stares at me like I've gone crazy. In his defense, it does seem so. He'd probably understand better if I told him I knew Lucia already. That I've fucked her and now she's like a drug that won't leave my system. But I like seeing him like this. This is the first normal conversation we've had in a while.

That is, a conversation where I haven't felt like strangling him and he hasn't blamed me for everything that's gone wrong in his life.

"Damn, you're really going to go through with this?" Alexei questions.

"Of course," I reply simply as I finish the first batch of our breakfast.

"Will her family go for it?"

"They don't have much of a choice. I'm sure Ramirez is going to try, though. But I'll have her in the end."

My brother pauses to really look at me. "There's something else," he concludes. "You seem different. Less like ice than usual. How beautiful is this woman?"

"You'll meet her eventually. And I expect you to conduct yourself with respect. She'll be your sister-in-law. Don't fuck things up."

"Yeah, yeah. I still can't believe you're getting married. I'm the best man, right?"

I roll my eyes. "After your behavior recently, you're lucky I'm inviting you to the wedding at all."

He groans. "You're really shit at letting things go, brother. You realize that?"

"Shut up and eat your food," I tell him, placing a plate of French toast in front of him.

"Thanks," he says with a smile.

The scene is reminiscent of when we were younger, back when we were living in a one-bedroom apartment and I had to prepare his meals for him every morning before school. We've come a long way since then.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Alexei asks after a few minutes of eating.

I shrug, gesturing for him to speak.

"My girl back in New York. I was going to marry that woman," he says on a soft sigh.

I arch an eyebrow. "The same woman that broke your heart?"

"She was pretty special, Ivan. Our story's not over yet. I'm simply biding my time now. Waiting."

"For what?"

"To make something of myself so I can go back to her."

I stare at my little brother for a couple of seconds. The statement has me coming to the realization that he might be a bit more mature than I thought he was.

"Well, I hope it works out for you, Alexei."