Page 16 of The Pakhan’s Heir

She walks over to one of the chairs next to the wall of mirrors and sits down. The chair has gold-plated arms and crushed velvet upholstery. She crosses her legs and sits like a queen as she gazes up at me.

“That said,” she goes on, “one has to wonder if this marriage implodes, whose house will you run to?”

I stiffen my back, determined to look strong in front of her. “Where would you go if you were me?”

“I’m not the one under the glass, am I?” she retorts. “Here’s the bottom line, Nona. Whatever happens with this marriage to my brother or with our Bratvas, you should remember who’s going to catch you if it all falls apart. Because if my brother is hurt in any way and you’re to blame, there won’t be anywhere on earth you’ll be able to hide from me.”

I’m doing my best to appear strong, but my knees are shaking. She stares me down for about fifteen seconds before standing up. “In the meantime, I’ll see you at the wedding?”

I nod stiffly, and she smiles as she leaves. As soon as she’s gone, I get off the block and look at the four reflections of myself.

I need to play things smart… if I’m going to survive.

6

ALEX

“Another round?” It’s Gedeon asking, and personally, I think he’s already had enough. I’m not sure whose idea this was, but here we are, sitting in the VIP booth at the club.

Rikki. I think this was Rikki’s idea. Everyone here knows that my marriage tomorrow is bullshit, but for some reason, we have to have a traditional ‘one last night of freedom’. It’s ironic. Any of these girls in this club could be my future wife. They're all young and half-naked with nothing more to offer the world but their bodies. Nothing to offer me except a night of sex, something I could get anywhere if I wanted.

The longer I watch the dance floor, the less I want to stick around. But I’m sucking it up. For Rikki’s sake. He wanted to do this thing for me and I’m going to let him. It’s the very least that I can do.

I’ve been sitting here like a lump on a log, though, nursing my drink and just… I don’t know. I wasn’t much of a club kind of guy before this. Not sure why Rikki thought I’d be one now.

Kostya nudges me and says, “Hey. You want another drink or what?”

I look over at the three of them, looking back at me from their places around the table. Gedeon is sitting directly opposite of me and has a big smile on his face. He’s about a drink or two away from being drunk off his ass. You’d think this was his bachelor party.

“I’m good,” I say, pushing my glass out of my reach.

“Come on,” Gedeon says. “One more round. You’ve been over there sulking all night, man.”

I sigh and say, “Fine.”

I don’t think I get the word all the way out before he’s waving down the waitress.

Rikki says, “You don’t seem like you’re enjoying this very much, Alex.”

“Probably because I’m not,” I say.

“You know, I thought about taking you to a strip bar instead.”

Gedeon scowls. “Seriously? We could have been seeing tits and ass right now?”

“It’s not my thing.” I say that more to Gedeon than my brother. Rikki knows that already.

“Maybe if you drank more,” Kostya says with a smile. “Come on, it’s not the end of the world. Nona Sokolov is a beautiful girl. Really beautiful, actually. Way too pretty to have come from Slavik.”

“Seriously,” Gedeon says. He hiccups and burps before adding, “Her mother must have been a supermodel.”

“Well, gentlemen, that’s kind of the problem. I’m fairly sure that’s all she is,” I say. They all give me three versions of the same skeptical look. “It would just be nice if I had something in common with her since we’re both obligated to do this marriage thing. Or, I don’t know, maybe if I were able to get more time to get to know her.”

“Sounds to me like that wouldn’t make much of a difference,” Rikki says.

“You’re doing your job,” Kostya interjects. “Her level of intelligence doesn’t matter, does it? If a can of paint was the key to peace between the Irkutsks and us and you had to marry it, would it really be any different?” I shrug and he rolls his eyes. “Alex, this is a job. That’s all. That’s never been a problem before and it isn’t a problem now. That’s the way you have to look at this. It’s a contract. A deal that needs to be made. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

“A deal,” I say. “Right.”