Chapter 8 Episode 8
1649 Words
I smirk. Belle Dowan has no idea the mistake she’s just made.
It’s been over ten years since I’ve had to worry about money,but old habits die hard.
The men around me fold fifties and hundreds into the dancers’g-strings. I sit with my arms crossed.
They throw wads of cash on the table, drunkenly announcing,“The next round is on me,” before they pass out. I sip waterfrom a glass bottle I carried in with me.
I’m struck by the waste of it all.
Arslan would tell me to loosen up. “You’ve earned this life.Might as well enjoy it,” he always says.
But I know all too well how easily things can fall apart. And atthe end of the day, I’d rather be me than any of the drunk fucksdancing around me. Because I’m the one with power.
“You should try the salmon,” Giorgos proclaims.
I roll my eyes. “I’ll pass.”
“Lighten up, have fun!” Giorgos crows. “We’re all friendshere, Nikolai.”
“You know as well as I do that nothing is settled until it’ssettled,” I say. “I need to leave soon, anyway.”
I don’t really think Giorgos Simatou has the guts or motive tomake an attempt on my life, but the Greek mafia is notoriouslyrash.
I mean, Giorgos wants me to marry his sister. The man’sjudgment cannot be trusted.
“You should really eat,” Xena says, leaning across the table soI can see straight down her shirt. With t**s like those, she couldhave any one of the horned-up twenty-year-olds in herbrother’s mafia at her beck and call. But her eyes have beenlocked on me for far too long. “Do I need to feed you?”
“Do I look like a f*****g farm animal?” I ask, loudly enoughthat the attention of the entire table pivots toward us.
Her eyes widen. “No. No, I just… I was—”
“Unless you were going to finalize this deal, then I don’tcare.” I turn to Giorgos. “Are we here to make an alliance orwhat?”
“We are. Which is why we are celebrating.” Giorgos lifts anearly empty glass of wine. “We always celebrate a new deal.”
His men cheer loudly, toasting and drinking.
“You all celebrate anything,” I mutter.
Giorgos stares at me for a moment, tension rippling betweenus, before he leans his head back and cackles. “Because thereis much to celebrate, my friend!”
“Like lukewarm strip club salmon?” I drawl.
“Like being f*****g Poseidon!” he shouts to the room. “Icontrol the water—the ports and the cargo ships. Anything thatcomes in or out of this city comes through me.”
He’s exaggerating, but only just. His family started with onewooden boat and a dream. Now, there are cargo ships threefootball fields long with the Simatou name emblazoned on theside. Seeing s**t like that day in and day out could give anyonea god complex.
“Are you sure?” I ask. “I thought that was your sister.”
Xena understands the barb immediately and inhales sharply,but it takes a second for Giorgos to catch on. When he does, heclaps his sister on the back and grins. “My sister spreads herlegs for the good of us all. And now, she’ll do it one last time
for you. With our new deal, Nikolai Zhukova will be the last tohave the lovely Xena.”
Xena slaps her brother’s arm. “I’m not some b***h you’regiving to a stud, brother.”
“Of course not,” Giorgos says, though he’s still smiling.“You’re the princess of the Simatou mafia, and you’ve servedus well.”
Xena rolls her eyes. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“For once, Xena and I agree on something,” I say.
“She’s impatient,” Giorgos says to me with a wink. “Are youimpatient, too, Nikolai?”
I shake my head. “I’ve never had a need for impatience. I getwhat I want the second I want it.”
Giorgos’s brows rise. “Does that mean you don’t want mysister? She’s beautiful, is she not?”
I study Xena for a moment. She lifts her chin, doing her best toshow off her delicate features. But looking at her is likelooking at a marble statue—I can appreciate the beauty, butthere’s an uncrossable distance between us.
I don’t want her. I wouldn’t follow her into an airplanebathroom, for instance, hoping to get rid of the ache in myballs caused by a simple conversation.
I push thoughts of Belle aside. Arslan already texted to tell mehe took care of our little problem. I don’t need to think abouther again.
Especially not when I’m in the middle of a deal.
“Your sister’s beauty has nothing to do with my interest in thispartnership. It is your control of the ports, as you mentioned,that I’m interested in.”
“A business man through and through,” Giorgos says, lookingfar more pleased about this fact than his sister does. “It’s thatkind of focus that saw Zhukova Inc. triple their profit marginsin the last two years alone. You have a true rags-to-richesstory. It’s inspiring.”
If his intentions weren’t clear enough already, the smirk thatspreads across Giorgos’s face makes them crystal clear.
“You want to talk about where I came from?” I askdangerously.
The Greek’s expression pales. He waves a hand. “No, I onlymeant—”
“You meant to remind me where I’ve come from, as if I couldforget the early years of my life,” I say. “As if the painstakingclimb I made from poverty to prosperity might have somehowmade me weak.”
He shakes his head. “No, Nikolai, I really didn’t intend to—”
“You didn’t intend to anger me, but few people ever intendthat. Because the ones who do, don’t live to try it again.” Themen around us are eerily silent, radiating a nervous energy thatI feed on. The tang of fear never gets old. “If I’m aninspiration, it’s for fear. For respect. It’s the reason you’reselling your sister to me. So I can stand between you and theBattiato mafia.”
Giorgos’s smile slips away. “And you will share control of myports, my brother-in-arms. Any good deal is mutuallybeneficial. I won’t have this made out as some kind of charitytowards me.”
“And I’m not being sold,” Xena butts in.
I smirk. “Then take away the incentive and see if I still want tomarry you.”
Her face flushes a hot, embarrassed red. I turn back toGiorgos. “You may know me best as CEO of ZhukovaIncorporated, but that is only my mask. First and foremost, Iam don of the Zhukova Bratva. And my path to the throne waspaved with the broken bodies of those who thought they couldintervene. I have no trouble adding a few more.”
Giorgos runs his tongue over his teeth a few times before hemanages another smile. “Don’t forget we are allies, DonZhukova. There’s no need for violence.”
“Then let’s make a f*****g deal before I change my mind.”
“Our terms are already set,” Giorgos responds. “You will offerprotection as we claim more territory inland, and I will giveyou access to my ports and cargo ships. Forget tripling—yourprofits will multiply by ten. It’s a very fair deal.”
Xena elbows Giorgos, and he clears his throat. “And you willmarry my sister, of course. It will finalize the agreement and—”
“I understand how a symbolic marriage works,” I interrupt.
Giorgos nods. “Of course. Okay, so now we—”
“It isn’t symbolic,” Xena says, leaning forward. “It will be areal marriage.”
“No one is saying it won’t be real, sister.”
“The two of you just did!”
“Interrupting important meetings hopefully isn’t a habit ofyours,” I drawl. Xena looks like she wants to say something,but her brother nudges her. “Legally, our marriage will bebinding. That is what I agreed to and that is what you’ll get.My word is good.”
The tone in my voice is enough to bow Giorgos’s head. “Noone is suggesting it isn’t. Xena knows you’re an honest man.As honest as any of us mafioso bastards can be, anyway,” helaughs.
“I know your word is good, Don Zhukova,” Xena says in asurprising show of submission. “Which is why I’d like yourword that you’ll remain faithful during our marriage.”
Giorgos snaps his attention physically?”
to his sister. “You mean
“This is between me and my future husband, brother. But yes,I’d like Don Zhukova to be physically and emotionally faithfulto me. Marriage is sacred. I refuse to desecrate it.”
“Bullshit,” I snort. “You don’t think anything is sacred. You’djust be jealous. At least have the courage to be honest aboutthat.”
Before this deal came along, I never once considered gettingmarried. Women are a distraction at best and a hindrance atworst. They want more than a man like me can give. Themoney and lifestyle isn’t enough—they want love andattention. Devotion.
But those things don’t come free. They come at the expense ofeverything else. And I’m not willing to throw away what I’veearned for any woman.
Xena clenches her jaw so tightly I think her teeth might crack.“The two things are not mutually exclusive. Marriage issacred, therefore I would be jealous if you slept with anyoneelse.”
“So you want to put a noose around my c**k?”
“More like a ring on your finger,” she says with a sly smile.“Do you agree?”
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