Page 17 of The Pakhan’s Heir

“I think you’re all looking at this the wrong way,” Gedeon says. “Yeah, okay, this is a job and all, but this could also be your one great love, Alex. You’re not giving it a real chance.”

We all break up into laughter. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I say. “I don’t know this woman.”

“So? You’ll get to know her,” he says with a shrug. “Look, you two are going to be stuck together for a long, long, long time. At some point, you’re bound to find something about her that you like.”

“He’s got a point.” Rikki chortles. “There has to be something about her that you can tolerate.”

“And not every marriage is perfect, anyway,” Gedeon adds. “Look at me and Liz. We’re about as opposite as you can get and we make it work. There is something about Nona Sokolov that you can get with. I know it.”

I cross my arms, not really wanting to take part in this line of discussion, but I do think about it. “She’s got a nice ass,” I say. “And a great body.”

Kostya snorts a laugh while taking a drink and Rikki just shakes his head. “That’s one up on a can of paint, I guess,” he says, and the two of them start laughing again.

“Here’s a question,” Gedeon jumps in. “Would you rather she be ugly with a great personality or pretty with no personality?”

“Geddy, this is a stupid conversation.”

“Just answer the question, man. If she were butt-ugly but you two had hit it off at that dinner, where would you be right now? Would you be all for this thing?”

“You know,” I say, “you make it sound like I completely ignore beautiful women. I don’t. I’m just old enough to understand that marrying a woman just because she’s pretty is bullshit.”

“And I’m saying that you’re no different from any one of us.” His jovial attitude drops slightly as he narrows his eyes at me. “We all want them to be more than just a nice ass, but you can’t tell me that it doesn’t help if they do have one.”

I sigh heavily. “Fine, then. If I had to choose, I’d rather have both beauty and a great personality.”

“That is a cop out.” Gedeon laughs. “You have to choose one or the other.”

I scowl at him. “That’s not realistic. And anyway, girls who have both are a fantasy. It doesn’t exist.”

“It could,” Gedeon says as the waitress walks up with a tray of drinks. “If you gave it a chance.”

I can’t help but laugh at the sudden stars in Gedeon’s eyes. He and my little brother have been best friends since they were boys and he’s a top brigadier right alongside me. In all these years, I’ve never known him to talk like this about anything.

“What?” Gedeon says as I laugh. “Is it something I said?”

“Yes. Geddy, don’t take this the wrong way, but you sound… well, you sound whipped, my friend. What’s Liz done to you, friend? Are you going to start slapping your Boeviks with rulers when they step out of line?”

“I am not whipped,” he says sorely. “I’m just happily married to the perfect woman, thank you very much. But it didn’t happen naturally. You know it took some time for me to really come around to her.”

Kostya snorts, trying to contain a laugh, and Rikki says, “We’ve all seen your wife, Geddy. How long could it have possibly taken to come around?”

“Maybe he means her,” Kostya says behind another sip of his drink.

“It took me longer than you might think,” he says. “I’m like our dear brother Alex. Looks alone won’t cut it for me. I had to start seeing her for who she really was, and once I did, all I could see was my future. I wouldn’t have one without her.”

Kostya, Rikki, and I exchange glances across the table. “Yeah, he’s whipped,” Rikki says as he takes a drink.

We all laugh, and it feels good. I have my brothers. They are the one constant in my life, at least.

The subject changes and we start sharing a little bit of shop talk across the table. Nothing that could incriminate us if overheard, of course. We’re all veterans in this game at this point and know better than that. As we talk, I notice movement out of the corner of my eye. A second later, two women walk up to our table. They’re both pretty, both blonde. In this light, they kind of look like sisters.

“Having a good time?” one of them asks.

“We are,” says Kostya. “What about you? Having fun tonight?”

“We definitely are,” the one on the right says. “My friend here wants to know if any of you would like to dance.”

Gedeon immediately says, “Sorry, I’m married.”