The Don and His Russian Bride

Chapter 13

“Would you stop tapping your foot?”

He could’ve said his final goodbyes at the mansion and sent me away without ever seeing me again. Instead, he climbed into the backseat of the car to sit with me during the ride. If this were any other day, I would tap my foot louder. Except I couldn’t. Not when this would be our last day together.

I answered Luciano by resting my foot flat against the floor. Houses passed by the window in a blur as we sped on our way to meet with my father. Having to keep still while riding in the car felt like torture. I began tapping my fingers against my cheek in a steady rhythm.

“Why are you so jittery? I thought this is what you wanted.”

I turned my head to see Luciano’s stony expression, which gave nothing away as he observed me. Feeling as though he could see right through me— to my deepest emotions— I cleared my throat. My voice came out as clear and stern as I hoped for, “It is.”

Luciano nodded his head. He could sense my nerves were bigger than I was letting on, but was willing to drop it. I, on the other hand, couldn’t keep myself quiet.

“Are you really going to let me go?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” His brows furrowed in confusion as if to say, What does it look like I’m doing?

I straightened my back and adjusted my position on the seat to face him. “I’ve been begging you for weeks to take me back home. It doesn’t feel like it should be this easy.”

“I don’t know what else to do. Clearly, the only way I can stop hurting you is by taking you home.”

His words were like a sledgehammer to my heart. I dug my fingernails into my palms to test if my senses were still working. Just yesterday morning, I had wanted nothing more than to get as far away from Luciano as possible. But now that he was trying to do the right thing, I found myself wishing for him to fight harder for me. The unfairness of it all struck me. As soon as Luciano began to show me the kind husband he could be, we would part ways.

My thoughts turned to what would happen after we separated. Would he file for an annulment, as if our marriage never happened? Would he forget about me and choose another woman to be his wife? The questions that came to mind had me hoping I could get one more answer from Luciano before I left him for good.

“Why me?” I asked under my breath.

“What?” He whipped his head to the side to face me. He looked uncertain of whether he heard me correctly or if I said anything at all.

I raised my voice to offer more clarity. “I asked you once before why you chose me, but you never answered. There’s no point in keeping it a secret any longer. Out of all the women you could’ve married, why me?”

Luciano let out a deep exhale and rubbed at his stubbled chin as he considered how to approach the subject. He made his next words concise. “You’re the daughter of a Russian mobster.”

“True. What does that have to do with anything?”

“I explained to you the other day how I never wanted to become Don Martelli, like my father. This life is too dangerous for the family I’ve always desired. I swore to myself I would never drag a person, especially a woman or children, into the mafia the way I was. It’s selfish… but loneliness has been eating away at me for years.”

I ached for the boy with a puppy who turned cold and unreachable all this time to protect innocent people. On the outside, it seemed like he had everything anyone could ever want, from his muscular body to his million dollar mansion. But he didn’t have everything. He sacrificed his family and his dream for a job he never asked for. I pushed down the instinct to reach out to him so I could listen to him further.

“When we began having territorial disputes with your father, I saw my opportunity. I assumed there would be less guilt because you’ve been around this type of business your whole life. Turns out, being under the same roof as me was worse than the threat to your life.”

Luciano’s voice lowered with his last phrase, but I didn’t miss it. In fact, it was all I could focus on. “What do you mean ‘the threat to my life?’”

Luciano’s brows furrowed. “Why do you think your father is in Sicily?”

“There’s better business down here.”

“He lied to you, Katerina. The only reason he started any business in Sicily is because it wasn’t safe for you in Russia. He led a lot of Sicilian families to believe he would be gone after the first deal, and it angered us when we found out he saw his business here as a permanent solution to keeping you safe.”

“I don’t understand. I’m not even involved in the purchase or sale of the drugs. My father doesn’t consult me for any of it. Who would want me dead?” I could hear the pounding of my heart over the hum of the car as it traveled along the rough road.

Luciano sighed. “For the Italian mafia, family and business have always gone hand in hand. Take me, for instance. No matter how hard my mom tried, I couldn’t escape my fate because the familial ties are too strong. New family members are an expansion of our business. For Russians, however, it’s different. They follow the code of thieves. One of the laws states a thief cannot have a wife and children of his own.”

“So they want to punish my father because he broke the rules. Why wouldn’t they try to kill him instead of me? He’s the one at fault.”

Luciano shook his head. “Killing him won’t benefit them much if they don’t have a replacement for his position. But killing you can serve as an effective punishment to put him back in his place. It will set an example for others as well as remind your father that he is not above their law.”

He answered each of my questions with patience, but the creases in his forehead revealed his frustration at my ignorance. How could I have lived my whole life at a Russian mafia’s headquarters and not have basic knowledge of the organization?

But I haven’t been around Bratva my entire life. I barely saw my father while I was growing up. Even when I lived with him he was too busy to raise me. He hired caretakers to do that for him. And when I reached the age requirement, he didn’t hesitate to send me away to boarding school.

My father and I’s relationship was always very distant. Most of the time I let it go because I figured he wasn’t the fatherly type. A lot of men with his kind of job weren’t. I often wondered if things would have been different if my mother were around. As I grew older, I realized he cared about me despite his best efforts to push me away. Keeping me in the dark and leaving me at a distance was one of the best ways to protect me from the men who posed a threat to my life.

“Do you think the men who are after me would follow us to Sicily?”

“There’s a chance. Nothing is stopping them from coming here.” As an afterthought, he added, “But I’m not sure how far they would go to prove a point.”

I scowled at him. “That’s not reassuring.”

Luciano shrugged. “I’m not very good at the whole ‘comforting others’ thing.”

He wasn’t, but he didn’t have to be. It wouldn’t matter after today. I ignored the rising pain in my chest with the reminder of our separation. I told myself the sting of our relationship ending came from my dreams as a young girl to never have a failed marriage— not because I would be leaving Luciano. If anything, it was only the cherry on top of finding out there were people wanting to kill me.

I turned to face the front of the car. Beyond the windshield, large gates opened to a winding path that led to the extravagant cathedral Luciano and I were married in. At first, it seemed an odd venue for the exchange. However, since it was where this mess started, it could only be fitting for it to end here too.

Thick gray clouds crowded the sky. The air placed a weight over us as we stepped out of the parked vehicle. I shivered at the deep sense of foreboding. This type of weather was not uncommon in Russia, but I had become accustomed to Italy’s vibrant sunny days.

The men stepped out of the suvs in the vacant parking lot of the cathedral. They lined up with firm stances and uniform postures.

Only a few minutes passed before a line of five black suvs passed through the same gate we had. Nobody said a word as the cars parked and men flooded out. The cluster of Russians stood across from the group of Italians like a mirror image. The only difference between the two sides was the attire. The Russians wore a mixture of leather and t-shirts revealing their tattoos while the Italians were nothing short of professional in their tailored suits.

The air became even thicker as the tension rose. No one held their gun at the ready, but it didn’t take an experienced mobster to know each man carried a concealed weapon close in case the exchange went south.

My father stood tall with his men at his backside. His hair was graying and his face harbored many wrinkles, but his bare arms proved he hadn’t lost strength with age while his eyes told the stories of many battles won. He looked to the place where I stood at Luciano’s side.

“I’m glad to see her in one piece.”

Luciano nodded. “She’s not as fragile as she looks.”

My mouth soured at his backhanded compliment. I should win a reward for surviving over a month with him, regardless if I spent most of it hiding in my room. Did I really look that fragile or did he assume I would be breakable because I’m a woman? Maybe I could sneak in a punch to his stupidly handsome face before never seeing him again.

I didn’t have any time to act on my thoughts because my father and Luciano had nothing more to say to each other. Luciano gently wrapped his fingers around my elbow and led me across the short space to hand me off to my father. For the thousandth time since meeting Luciano, I felt viewed as nothing more than a piece of property.

My father offered up a deep scowl to Luciano as I was ushered by Dmitri to enter one of the Russians’ suvs. Luciano matched my father’s intensity with a scowl of his own before turning back to his line of men.

I closed my eyes until the sounds of car doors opening and shutting faded to silence. My thoughts went back to my room at Luciano’s mansion. I left everything behind, including the jewelry box on the nightstand. I almost couldn’t bear to leave it there, but it would be more difficult to hold onto a reminder of the kind man I met in the past two days.

Dmitri took his position in the driver’s seat. I wanted so badly to be the only one in the car with him. As my closest friend, I could talk to him more than anyone else. Instead, I turned to my father as he slid into the backseat beside me.

“It’s so good to see you, Лапа. I’ve missed you.”

I pushed down the impulse to cringe at the Russian endearment. He used to call me Лапа, little paw, when I was younger. The only times he said it was when he felt overcome with guilt because the words “I’m sorry” never made it out of his mouth. I heard the endearment when I scraped my knee after he pushed my bike too hard and when he couldn’t come home for Christmas one year because a business deal trumped gift giving.

“Is it true?”

My father searched for the meaning behind my question, “Is what true?”

Ever since the car ride with Luciano, I couldn’t stop thinking about what he told me. He gave me so much information, but there was one thing I wanted him to confirm the most.

“Are there Russian mobsters trying to kill me?” I enunciated each word so he could not pretend to have missed what I said.

“That’s under control now. I don’t answer to those who think I’ve disgraced the organization.”

Heat rose to my forehead. Worse than denying it, he brushed it off in front of me as if it weren’t a serious threat.

“So there is a ridiculous rule about you not being able to have a family?” I leaned back in my seat as if a ton of bricks had been set on top of me. “I’m not supposed to be alive.”

“Technically no. I took the risk because if you were a boy I could’ve kept you off the radar until you were old enough to join Bratva. But when I held you in my arms for the very first time, I couldn’t give you up. I tried my best to keep you safe by sending you away all those times.”

“Of course they could overlook a son, but me and mom—”

Never had a chance.

I couldn’t finish the sentence out loud, remembering how I never met my mom. Slowly, the connections pieced together before me. My father told me she died in childbirth. That didn’t seem like the most plausible cause of death anymore.

“You killed her, didn’t you?”

“That’s a presumptuous accusation.” He didn’t deny it outright.

“A mother and a baby would’ve been too blatant to hide. You killed her so they wouldn’t find out about your secret.” I leaned forward until my lips were by Dmitri’s ear. “Stop the car.”

Without question, he pulled off to the side of the narrow road and the other suvs followed suit. I didn’t hesitate to exit the car. My first breath of the fresh air was a relief from the tightness in my chest. I walked towards the line of small trees on the opposite side of the road. We had traveled far outside of the city onto a path near the rocky cliffs.

Doors slammed shut behind me as my father and Dmitri rushed out of the car.

“I did it to protect you!” My father called out. He strode towards me until I spun on my heels to meet his eye.

“You did it to protect yourself!”

Since he was a man of few words, it didn’t surprise me when he lacked a response. Silence was the only way he wouldn’t dig himself deeper.

Dmitri found his place next to me, an expression of deep concern etched in his rugged features. “Are you alright?”

I opened my mouth to answer him, but closed it when I noticed a movement over his shoulder. Within a split second, he moved his attention to the dark spot perched atop a layer of rock at the base of the cliff.

Before I could even react, Dmitri lurched in front of me. I heard the sound of the shot before I saw his dark gray shirt turn red. The blood from the bullet in his chest blossomed. I couldn’t hold up his weight, but I braced him as he collapsed to the ground.

Every man, including my father, turned towards the rocks with guns in their hands. They unleashed a volley of shots towards the attacker and anyone else near him.

With shaky hands, I pressed my fingers against Dmitri’s neck. Where I should’ve been able to feel the pulse of his heartbeat, there was no movement.

Dust flew up in the air as a bullet pierced the dirt a few meters away from me. I took a deep breath and grabbed Dmitri’s gun from his waistband. I couldn’t save him, but I could save myself. I ran to take cover in the brush behind the line of trees.

Out of nowhere, men in suits closed in on the area, finding rocks to duck behind and firing off their own shots. My pulse raced as bullets shattered car windows and clouded the area by erupting more plumes of dust.

The attackers had a better vantage point with the height of the rocks, but the Russians combined with the Italians outnumbered them. Men fell from both sides, but there were too many bullets flying to keep track of who and how many. Soon, the attack from the cliff consisted of a single man.

While the firing continued, my eyes narrowed in on the man across the road from me. His back faced me as he shot towards the rocks. He gave me life despite knowing the consequences of his actions could be detrimental. His desire to protect me showed he cared about me, but there was too much sin in his heart to have any room left for love. He killed my mother— the person I needed in my life the most.

I raised Dmitri’s gun with steady hands. Dmitri spent entire days teaching me how to shoot a gun. He always sought to prepare me for situations in which I needed to defend myself. I will never forget his lessons.

Knowing my father could never make up for what he did, I placed my index finger on the trigger and pulled it back.

I averted my eyes after seeing him crumple onto his knees. The brush hid me as I crouched behind it again. I set the gun onto the ground but didn’t let go of it in case I needed to use it again.

The shots went on for another several seconds, but it felt like hours. When the men came across their boss dead in the dirt, they scrambled, replacing the sound of gunfire with the screeching of tires.

There wasn’t even a breath of silence before the brush began to rustle. I raised my gun, ready to shoot or run. Before me, Luciano appeared. He held up his hands in surrender, and I lowered my gun.

“Come with me,” was all he said.

Without a second thought, I reached out and took his hand.