Defiant. Sweet. Alluring.
A business deal gone wrong brought me to her doorstep.
She's everything I shouldn't want; everything I was against after watching my mother's obsession destroy her.
Still, I can't stop myself from craving her.
I should know...
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DINNER WITH MY FATHER WAS a form of pure torture I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
It started with cutlery clinking against fine China before Igor Tarasov decided he'd unnerved his guest enough with just silence.
While some might think it's impossible, it worked wonders.
Growing up, I had gotten a front-row seat to watch grown men piss themselves or drive themselves insane during those long stretches of silence.
He always said human nature made those men desperately want to fill the silence with small talk to make things less uncomfortable. Of course, their efforts went unanswered by Igor, and it only unnerved them all the more.
He'd once told me the best way to win a battle was by unnerving your opposition first.
Once you break their minds, you'll have already won half of the war.
Like him or not, my father was a smart man.
I'd grown up beside him, so I knew all his tips and tricks in the book. They never worked on me, and I could tell he hated that I knew him so well right now from the clench of his jaw.
"What were you thinking when you made that mute girl your bride?" He asked, uncomfortable in the silence he'd initiated.
I chuckled internally, taking my sweet time patting the sides of my lips with a napkin before I replied. "About the wellbeing of the brotherhood."
He arched a brow at me, a permanent scowl etched on his face. "Really?"
"Yes."
"How does a mute serve a purpose to us? I heard about your first proposal from Viktor. We could have ruled the Italians."
"At what cost? We would have had to constantly look over our shoulders for when they'd strike in retaliation. That's not a smart business move. I'd rather spend more time expanding the empire than planning security details to ward off their attacks."
I knew the reason he called me down to Russia, so I'd spent the entire plane ride going over answers to give him. I got this idea during the car ride here, and as I mulled over it myself, I realized I'd made the right choice by taking Ariana as a wife. My main goal was to make more money for the brotherhood, not engage in pesky wars that stomped the growth of our organization.
Viktor cleared his throat cautiously from his seat across from me. I only had to look at his face once to understand what he was trying to say. Be mindful of the things you say.
I rolled my eyes before digging into my food once more. It annoyed me how much he still treated me like a child when he was just a few years older than me.
"I see," Igor said, a weird inflection I couldn't pinpoint in his tone.
I didn't like that.
I continued, "In a way, we're getting the Italians in line. If I can get Ariana under control, we can get access to the inner workings of their business."
