AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s false hope, I’m afraid.
I walk toward him, rubbing my chin as I consider what to do. I know I don’t want to kill him. He’s more useful to me than someone like Mr. Thompson. He’s fit and able to work. He still has a few more good years in him before he’s no longer useful to me.
“Please, sir, I’ll do anything,” he says, breaking my concentration.
“Shut up,” I growl.
Sergei’s pleas become more desperate. “I have a family, Viktor. Think about my wife, my children.”
His children are adults, and his wife no longer loves him. I know this for a fact, so I refuse to take either of those things into consideration.
I lean in closer, my gaze locking onto his. “You will work off your debt, Sergei. Ten years at the casino. You cause trouble, and you’re dead. That’s how this works.”
“Ten years?” he asks, totally stunned.
“Would you prefer a bullet through your head?” I ask, reaching into my suit jacket.
“No,” he yelps, shaking his head so hard that sweat flies in every direction.
I wrinkle my nose, taking a step back. “Ivan, get him out of here. Make sure he’s chipped and tracked. I want him working in the kitchen on a ten year contract.”
Ivan nods, letting out another grunt as he grabs Sergei. He lifts him up, carrying the entire chair out of the room and down the hallway. I chuckle, lighting a cigar and puffing smoke into the room for a moment before leaving. It’s too hot in here.
In the hallway, I lean against the wall, allowing the nicotine to soothe my mind for a moment. Ivan comes back down the hall, dusting his hands and shaking his head.
“Did he give you any trouble?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
I smile. “Good man. Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to talk to you about another special mission I’m on. It involves a woman by the name of Sage. Mr. Thompson’s daughter.”
Ivan perks up, but he doesn’t say anything. He rarely does.
“I’m going to get married,” I say, waving my cigar in front of me. “A quick wedding, but a nice one. I’d like you to arrange everything for me, and make sure you don’t take too long. This weekend would be ideal.”
“That’s tomorrow,” he replies.
“Is it? Time flies. I’d still like it to be this weekend. We can have it on the river. It’s nice this time of year,” I say, puffing smoke into the air. “Sage might not be the biggest fan of the wedding, but she’s agreed to it, and that’s final, as far as I’m concerned.”
Ivan shrugs.
“That’s the spirit,” I say, patting him on his stiff shoulder. “Just don’t make it too gloomy. Women like sunshine and flowers. Get a bunch of roses. Maybe a thousand of them. Maybe two-thousand, if you can.”
He nods obediently.
“Let me know what you come up with,” I say, looking down at my cigar. It’s only a quarter of the way burned, but I really must get back to the limo. I don’t want to leave Sage very long. She might change her mind and try to run off.
I look up at Ivan and smile, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in a while. “I’ll see you later, my friend. Romance awaits me, it seems.”
He grunts, and I walk back down the hall through the double doors into the casino. This is not about romance, of course, but when a woman like Sage comes into your life, you don’t want to pass her up. I’ve been meaning to have children, a possible heir to the Bratva throne, and it’s best not to wait too long.
Sage is… well, she’s fertile and her body is begging for a baby. What more can I say. She might not know it, but she’s the ideal candidate for my heir. That’s why I’m marrying her. She must be sworn into the family before she’s allowed to carry any of my children.
As I step back into the cool night air, the limo waiting just as I left it. The guards open the door, and I slide in beside Sage, who looks up at me with a mixture of mock anger and curiosity. It’s hard for her to remain furious with me when she barely knows who I am.
“What were you doing?” she asks, her voice steady despite the tension between us.
“Business,” I reply, straightening my tie as the limo pulls onto the slick black road.
