The Don and His Russian Bride

Chapter 9

“This cannot be happening.” I searched through the drawers a second time. Perhaps my eyes had skimmed over a box, missing it. Once again, I came up empty handed.

Now out of options, I folded squares of toilet paper and laid them on the inside of my panties. The entire property was the size of a small Russian village, yet there was not a single pad or tampon in any of the bathrooms I checked. Since the mansion was not accustomed to female occupants, I would make do with what I had in the meantime.

Moving through the kitchen, I waved to Carlotta. When I told her of my dilemma, she said it’s been years since she’s had to worry about needing a tampon. She checked the supplies kept for the maids, only to find the stock empty.

Though frustrated at the inconvenience, this gave me an opportunity to step off the grounds for the first time in weeks. I marched to the garage with purpose.

Despite knowing my way to the garage, I had never been inside it before. There had never been a need to. Each time I arrived or left the mansion, the drivers parked in the driveway, providing me a shorter distance to the entrance.

I entered the garage. Immediately, I faced an exorbitant amount of cars. Days before marrying Luciano, my impression had been that, because of the similar types of business, living with the Italian mafia wouldn’t be much different from being raised in the Russian mafia. However, I soon learned the Martelli family lived a far more luxurious life than my father.

Walking through the aisles, I admired the various expensive sports cars among the few inconspicuous vehicles. With Luciano’s abundance of wealth, it would have been hard not to flaunt it beyond his extraordinary mansion. Even so, the mafia needed access to cars that could go unnoticed on the streets. In addition to this, the garage housed rows upon rows of black suvs. Men in the mafia preferred black suvs for transportation because the tinted windows kept them hidden and the vehicle could withstand bullets better than most.

Seemingly unattended, the cars invited me to get behind the wheel. What would it be like to jump into one and leave this place far behind me? Would there be a high speed chase after me on the way to my father’s house or could I cruise around the island before Luciano’s men caught on to my absence?

It didn’t take long before my visions of each scenario vanquished by my reality. I neither knew where to find the keys nor how to hotwire the cars in order to escape. Requesting for a driver seemed to be my only chance at leaving the compound.

I called out to the first man I located. I recognized him as the driver from my shopping excursion weeks ago. Unfortunately, I had never bothered to learn his name. “Hey, you! I want you to give me a ride.”

The look in his eyes held bewilderment, but he remained otherwise unruffled. “Sig.ra Martelli, you aren’t supposed to be down here.”

“I disagree. My prison chains allow me to wander anywhere on the property. The garage is on the property.”

“Property or not, you have no reason to be here.”

“I actually do have a reason. I would like to go somewhere.” When he showed no signs of accepting my reason, I rolled my eyes for effect. “This requires a car.”

“As far as I’m aware, you have nowhere to go. You are to stay here on the property until Don Martelli tells me otherwise.”

It didn’t matter if he wanted to be stubborn. I would be leaving one way or another. “What’s your name?”

“Mario, Signora.”

“Listen, Mario. As we speak, there is blood dripping out of my v****a. Sooner rather than later, this toilet paper won’t be enough to handle it. The only way I can properly manage it is if you drive me to the store to buy the products I need. Now do you see how urgent this is?”

If I had expected any of my statements to break down his composure, I would have been disappointed. Mario’s obstinance made him as impenetrable as a vault containing precious diamonds.

“I don’t care where you’re bleeding from. I would let every drop of blood leave your body before I go against the orders of Don Martelli.”

I compressed my lips as desperation set in. Through gritted teeth, I demanded to know, “How the f**k am I supposed to take care of my period when I can’t f*****g leave?”

“Ask the boss. If he approves, I will drive you wherever you want to go.”

“Fine.” I held back a huff of frustration. The last thing I needed was to give him satisfaction of seeing me agitated with him. It wasn’t until I went outside that I unbottled a scream.

On my way back through the mansion, my mind began forming the words I would say to Luciano when I saw him. He’s the one who deserved to be on the receiving end of my anger. So many thoughts clouded my head I could hardly sort out which ones would bring me the most gratification. If he wanted to keep all of his body parts intact, he would let me go to the damn store.

When I reached his office, I raised my chin to the man standing outside of his door. “I need to speak with Don Martelli.”

“He’s not in his office.”

“Where is he?” Talking to Luciano’s men was like pulling a mule by the collar— I always had to drag the information out of them. Their loyalty to Luciano would have been admirable if it wasn’t so annoying.

“He’s in his bedroom.”

Without offering any thanks, I marched straight to the hallway where Luciano’s door stood across from mine. My hands itched to bang on the door, but I refrained. At my simple knock, Luciano answered with a forceful, “Come in.”

I shook out the nerves in my hands and took a deep breath, remembering the confidence that brought me to his room. Luciano’s presence always caused me to second guess myself. When I opened the door, it hit me how ill prepared I had been to witness what was going on inside.

In all my time at the mansion, I understood how little the marriage bond meant for Luciano and I. He made it clear at every opportunity that he did not respect me. Even still, it never occurred to me that I would enter the bedroom to find Luciano naked with another woman.

Luciano sat on the edge of bed with his naked body on display. His muscular legs spread apart to allow the woman to place herself in between them as she kneeled. Her head bobbed up and down at the rhythm his body demanded of her. He fisted one of his hands in her dark long curls, flexing his bicep as he did so. His chest tightened and his jaw went slack from the pleasure she gave him.

“Are you f*****g kidding me?” The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop them. The sight alone would have sent me over the edge, but Luciano had the audacity to act confused to see me.

“Katerina?” His brows furrowed as he gestured for the woman to stop.

For a split second, I couldn’t understand the reason why heat crept up to my face. I have hated him since day one. Why should it bother me if he’s sleeping with other women? The answer soon dawned on me. Even if I didn’t want to be married to Luciano, I was still his wife and didn’t deserve to be treated like garbage by him.

“I can’t believe you.” I turned away from him, taking long strides to lengthen the distance between us. I slammed the door to block him from chasing after me. My attempts were all in vain. Before I reached the stairs, my upper arm was grabbed from behind. I tried to yank my arm from his grasp, but it only made him grip it tighter.

“Stop moving away from me. What’s wrong?”

When he finally let go of me, I glared as if the fire in my eyes would be hot enough to burn him. My stare left him unaffected, but one quick glance down told me he threw on a pair of shorts in a scramble to catch up to me. It would’ve been romantic if I wanted him to chase after me. Instead, I wanted him to leave me alone.

“‘What’s wrong?’” I imitated his deep voice, doing my best to sound like a dumb brute before returning to my normal voice. “Are you serious?”

“You have no right to be upset about this. It would have been you in my bedroom if you didn’t make it clear you want nothing to do with me. I needed to find release somehow without you.”

“Your hand seems in perfect working condition to me,” I snapped at him. It wasn’t new information that he only saw me as a source for physical pleasure, yet his comments didn’t lose their sting.

“Says the one who’s f*****g my consigliere.”

“You think I’m sleeping with Armando? Now you’re being delusional.”

Luciano crossed his arms in defense. “Don’t lie to me. I saw you two together outside the other day, having a romantic little picnic and thinking I wouldn’t find out about your secret relationship.”

“There’s nothing going on between Armando and I. We were talking and Carlotta brought us lunch. Just because he and I can have a conversation without accusations and insults does not meaning we’re having s*x with each other.”

“You’ve still probably thought about what it would be like to be with him. Haven’t you?”

“No.” I fell back against the wall to lean on for support. Dealing with this man had me ready to wave dozens of white flags in the air. One second he’s receiving head from another woman, the next he’s jealous and, possibly, insecure.

“Have you ever thought of what it would be like to be with me?” His smirk reminded me the arrogant jerk never strayed.

“s*x is so far from my mind right now that I’m prepared to die alone.”

Luciano scoffed in response. His posture relaxed as he leaned back against the wall opposite of me. “You aren’t going to die alone. ‘Til death do us part,’ remember?”

“How could I forget I’m married to Satan incarnate when I’m literally his prisoner? Why the hell would you even let me in your bedroom when you were with her? You wanted me to see that,” I accused.

“No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t have let you come in had I realized it was you. My associates interrupt me all the time to alert me of business matters. If I kept them waiting every time I f****d someone, the Martelli family wouldn’t be where it is today.”

My mouth turned sour and my stomach twisted inside out. If we ever became intimate with each other, men could be barging in and Luciano wouldn’t even pause. I would be just another task to mark off his to-do list.

I erased the unwelcome thoughts. I didn’t need to worry about it because I had no intention of sleeping with Luciano despite being married to him. If anything, what he said only gave me another reason why I should never let him touch me.

“Good to know,” I mumbled it so low under my breath he likely didn’t hear it.

“Why did you want to see me anyway? You never come to my room.”

It baffled me how distracting a screaming match could be. For a few minutes, I had forgotten about my predicament altogether. I turned back to my earlier irritation with Luciano as it was easier to handle than my lack of control over stopping his infidelity.

“I need to buy tampons from the store, but the big oaf with the keys won’t take me unless I have your permission.”

“No wonder your panties are in a bunch.”

“If you go there now, I will murder you in your sleep.”

Luciano threw his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I was only kidding. I’ll take you to the store.”

“No. That’s not necessary.” I shook my head, hoping he would pick up on the hints. “All you have to do is tell Mario that he can drive me.”

“I’d rather drive you myself. Once I grab a shirt, we can leave.”

He stepped back into his room, leaving me alone in the hallway. While he was likely kissing his mistress goodbye, I asked no one in particular, “What horrible thing did I do to deserve this life?”