Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 147734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 739(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
“Of course not. But what the old man wants, the old man gets.”
“You have someone you love, don’t you? Cy mentioned a Vaughn?”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” I force a grin. “It’s only the two of us. I will protect us, okay?”
“Not okay. I don’t want your protection anymore.”
“Alya…” I step toward her.
She was crying when I got here, holding on to me with all her might, mostly because I was injured, but she’s looked different lately in a way I can’t pinpoint.
“I won’t let you do this,” she announces.
“We can’t run away. Even with Cy’s genius, we’ll be Dad’s targets.”
“I’m not running away.”
“Then what are you suggesting?”
“I’ll marry into Boston.”
My shoulders tense up. “Absolutely not.”
“You know I love you to bits, but you don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“And you don’t get to sacrifice yourself for me, Alya.”
“You don’t get to either!” Her lips tremble. “I know you’ve been feeling guilty since the accident, thinking it was your fault even though I’ve always told you it wasn’t. You feel a responsibility toward me because of that and Mama’s dying wishes, but I’m old enough, Yulik. I can make my own decisions, and I want to move out of your shadow.”
“Alya…” I get on my haunches and take her hand in mine. “Marriage is not a joke.”
“Tell that to yourself, jumping into a marriage with a girl you’ve barely met while your heart is elsewhere.”
I narrow my eyes. “Smart-ass.”
“Always have been.”
“Listen, I have a plan, Alya. I can sacrifice a couple of years in this marriage and then—”
“No.”
“Hear me out.”
“You hear me out.” She lifts her chin, then smiles softly, looking more and more like Mama. “Actually, I’ve wanted to tell you this for a while but was hesitant to.”
“Tell me what?”
“Remember the attack in DC?”
“Yeah…?”
“The guy who saved me, his name is Levian Markov, the youngest brother of the leader of the Boston Bratva. He’s an illegitimate child and was hurt all his life there, so he grew up trying to exact revenge for himself and his mother. Then he rose in the ranks and now rivals his older brother.”
I narrow my eyes. “How do you know all that?”
“I…have been speaking to him, meeting him, actually. He comes to the center when I’m volunteering, and we’ve been sort of dating…”
“What?”
“Anyway, the most important part is that Levian was the one who planned that attack.”
“What?”
“Just listen to the very end.” She exhales a breath of frustration. “He planned that attack to get rid of the rotten opposition at the upper echelon of the Boston Bratva while making Markov look like a weak leader in front of everyone else. It’s working, and he’ll be voted in instead of his brother soon, considering everything he’s done to mend their image since then. It’ll all come together when he secures an alliance with us through marriage and a possible new alliance with New York once he tells Kirill that Markov was the one behind that attack at the summer camp.”
“Boston did that?”
She nods twice. “One of the mentors at the camp was Markov’s spy. He couldn’t bear the idea of Papa and Kirill becoming allies, as that would’ve pushed him out, so he staged that attack to put you and Vaughn in danger in order to make Chicago and New York point fingers at each other. Levian only found out about this recently and wants to make amends.”
“Is that what he told you to make you agree to this?”
“No, I’m saying this so you understand his position and also understand that I love him, and I trust him more than I trust Papa.”
“Alina…”
“I mean it. He might have experienced harsh circumstances, but he’s very warm and caring. We only talked at the reception for a bit, and even after that brief encounter, he didn’t want me to get hurt. Though he confessed that he knocked me out to get me out of there so that I wouldn’t resist or cause a ruckus, but the most important part is that he cares about me.”
I run a hand through my hair. “I don’t know about this.”
“This is my choice, Yulik. Not yours or Papa’s.”
“Have you told Papa this?”
“Yeah. But he wanted me to marry Levian’s older brother, to which I said hell no. I mentioned Levian, and he waved me off and dragged you here instead. Sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Point is. I’m fighting for this. I want to be with Levian no matter what anyone says. Maybe you should be with the person you love instead of looking like a lamb to the slaughter.”
“Very funny.” I stand up, letting her go. “Is there any way I can talk you out of this?”
She shakes her head. “But can you do me a favor?”
“What?”
“Meet Levy and don’t be a dick.”
“Levy?” I repeat incredulously. “And I’m a dick?”