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Yeah, that's how I felt, brother.
He tells the people he's playing with that he's AFK, and logs out of the game.
"Do you know what this is about? It seems strange for Father and Stefano to meet, let alone want to have us involved. Do you think they found out about the warehouse we blew up accidentally last week while drunk off father's scotch?" he asks. I just shrug, trying not to laugh at the memory. I have no idea, but if it is about that, why is Stefano in our house, mostly calm, instead of retaliating against us?
We go down the curved staircase, where famous paintings of shit I don't give a fuck about line the walls. Once at the bottom, we pass the living room where our babushka Mila sits reading one of her books, completely engrossed, not noticing us walk by as we turn left down the hallway to our father's office. We stop outside the massive black door and knock, waiting for the "enter.”
When we enter his office, Father is sitting behind his desk, and Stefano is standing beside him, his hands in his pants pockets. The blinds are open, sending light into his office, the brown walls are dark, and more paintings hang from them. It always seems cold and murky in here, and I fucking hate it. Alexandr greets both men while I stand, looking at my father.
"Boys, take a seat!" Father says. He didn't ask, he was telling. But I stay standing, and he looks at me, raising his right brow, knowing I don't want to be here. He nods to the seat before me, not wanting to repeat himself. He may be a fucking awesome dad, despite being a Pahkan, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't kick our asses if we had to be told to do something more than once. So, I sit next to my bother on the opposite side of my father’s mahogany desk, keeping my eyes locked on my father. I shift my gaze when Stefano speaks.
"Ok, boys, as of this morning, your father and I have signed a contract to unite our families in marriage," he says, looking at me. I look at my father, who is also staring at me. At the same time, my brother squirms in his seat, probably now realizing why we're here, unlike me, who is confused as fuck. Still, you don't need to be a genius to figure out I'm the one they are talking about marrying someone, but why?
My scowl deepens. Seriously, I'm fucking twelve. I don't want to even think about marriage. What the fuck!
My father looks at me. "I understand this won't be easy, but it must be done. The Irish are getting stronger, and Pádraig Murphy is already looking for a bride for his son Noah, who is fifteen. A marriage between one of my boys and Stefano’s daughter, Sofia, would strengthen the alliance between us, and also ensure Murphy cannot try and bargain with Stefano for more territory, which is right next to ours. He's been trying to take out both our organizations for years, and seems to think Noah marrying Sofia will give his son the Irish and Italian Mafia to rule. And with Padraig looking into dabbling in human trafficking, we don't want any part of it." He sighs. "Damian, we have decided that you would be a more appropriate groom because you will be the next Pahkan."
My heart rate quickens. "Why am I the next Pahkan? Alexandr is a year older; he is next in line, not me!" I say frantically, finally losing my cool. This was not the plan! I want to live free and party, not rule!
My father's face hardens, not expecting my outburst. Stefano's eyebrows reach his hairline, and he looks at my brother, who looks at both men and sighs, before turning to me. "I wouldn't make a good leader. I don't have the same focus as you do. Father and I had a meeting last week, and we thought I'd make a better avtorityet as your third, and Sergi your sovietnik, your second. Brother, I'm sorry, but we've spoken a lot about this. You knew this might happen; we've been discussing this for a few years.”
I slump back in my seat, knowing he is right. He’d been diagnosed with ADHD when he was five, and has always struggled with focusing, causing more harm than good most times. I look at my father and then Stefano.
"When?"
Stefano looks at my father with raised eyebrows, obviously surprised that I didn't fight it, but what would be the point? This has been decided, and there's nothing I can say that would change their minds. I have to do this for the Bratva, my family, and, more importantly, my brother. He needs me to do this.
My father looks at Stefano and nods. "The wedding will take place when Sofia turns twenty, so twelve years from now. As soon as you are married, we will both train you, not only to be Pahkan, but also Don of the Italian Mafia." My back straightens at this news. I know they mentioned Padraig Murphy hoping for that for his son, but I didn't expect it for me. I thought my father would let his second take over.
I look to Stefano, and he also sighs. "I want my organization to stay in the famiglia, and my daughter needs a strong man to be her husband, someone who can handle my men. After many meetings, we, your father, and I, believe you are the right choice. This won’t be easy for you, Damian, your mother, and my wife are against this, but know they have no say where business is concerned. However, we came up with a compromise to keep the peace."
Shit, a compromise!
This can't be good for me.
“Both wives were brides of arranged marriage, and I don't want to see our children go through what they did. Your mother, Damian, loved your father before their arrangement. They had to hide it from their parents. They broke the rules and met up behind their parents’ backs, but my wife, well, we hated each other at the start, and as time passed, our love grew. Well, I thought it did, until recently. I have it on good authority that she has strayed several times. I can't kill her because of Sofia. I can't divorce her because it's just not our way, so I've decided to have some mistresses myself, even if it does break my heart that my marriage is a lie."
Well fuck!
Now, I'm no virgin, thanks to my dad taking me and Alexandr to one of his strip clubs last year, which we quite enjoyed, and still do now and then. The mistresses don't surprise me, it's the fact he's being so open about his marriage and the hell his wife is putting him through.
"I'm not saying you must love or be faithful to Sofia, just hide it from her so she doesn't get hurt. She's a good girl, innocent in this world. As a compromise, we need you to befriend her, make her fall for you, court her, and propose as an ordinary man would for his woman. Make her seem special enough that she’ll fall in love with you naturally. Keep whatever women you wish to have behind the scenes—just don't knock them up. And you never know, you may come to the same conclusion as your father and me. You two are right for each other and may fall in love anyway.
This seriously is a joke, right? Me? Fall in love? Is he high? Drunk? I look at my brother. His eyes are wide, his mouth hanging open, so I know I'm not hearing things.
Fuck!
two
Sofia – Age 8
I'm sitting near the pool at some stranger's house with Mamma, while Papa has a meeting. Mamma says they and the strangers are friends, but I've never seen them together. I look at Mamma, and she's laughing at something Mrs. Volkov says. Mrs. Volkov is very pretty, and has long, black hair that goes down to the middle of her back, and her eyes are the brightest blue I have ever seen. She's so tall, and smiles at me every time she looks at me; she's so nice!
As I sit here smiling at the water, a big dog comes running toward me, making me scream, and I nearly fall into the pool. Mamma approaches me and catches me before I do, while Mrs. Volkov shouts, "Bruno, no, sit!"
The dog sits, then lays down, tilting his head and looking at me while I try to scoot back into Mamma's arms. He whines and starts doing some sort of crawl toward me, making me giggle. This makes the dog bark a little, and he crawls quicker, until he's right near me, then licks my face, sending me into more giggles. When I look up at Mamma, she’s smiling. She runs her hand down my back, then gets up to stand next to Mrs. Volkov, who has walked over to us.
Mrs. Volkov kneels next to me, and says, "He's a big softy for children; he won't harm you, sweet girl. Bruno is our Alaskan husky." He is amazing. He is all black, except for his big paws, which are white. He lays his head down on my legs, and I giggle as I pet him.
