Married to the Mafia Boss

Ivan

When I walk into the apartment, the first thing I notice is Evgeni and Leonid talking in hushed voices in the corner of the dining room. The quiet conversation stops immediately when they notice me, and it raises my suspicions. They must be able to tell because Leonid steps forward. “Ivan, we want to talk to you.”

“Has something gone wrong?” I ask curiously, pouring myself a glass of vodka.

“We want to talk about the negotiations with the Sorvino family.” Leonid has always been straight to the point. I do like that about him.

I wave him off. “It’s being handled.”

“I think I would be in a better position to negotiate territories with the Sorvino family,” Leonid says bluntly, “I have the family’s best interests at heart, and I can secure the best possible deal for the family.”

I sip my vodka and unbutton my suit jacket. “Tori is already assigned to sort it out. She knows her family best and will secure a great deal for our family.”

“You would trust a traitorous Sorvino over your own brother?” Leonid snaps.

My eyes meet his, and he goes quiet. “I appreciate your willingness to always help our family, but in this case, you’re not the best person for the job. You are always on the attack, Leonid. You are too aggressive and rash to make these sorts of decisions. You’re playing football instead of chess. We need to think ahead of our opponents, and this gives Tori a chance to prove she has a place in this family. She is being double-checked, so it’s not like I’m giving her free reign. If she does double-cross me, she will regret it.”

Leonid glares at me. I know the comments sting, but that’s not my problem. I also know he knows better than to start with me. I’m not one to easily bow down to someone who thinks they’re an alpha male. Leonid isn’t an alpha, although he likes to pretend he is.

Evgeni steps forward. “We, of course, support all your decisions as the head of our family, Ivan. We just have concerns.”

“Do you both think I’m a blind fool? That I would just let her choose what we get and trust she’ll do the best. No, this is one of many tests to ensure she comes into the fold and learns her place.”

Evgeni nods and falls silent, but I can see Leonid isn’t finished. “Was there something else?”

“The shipment might come in earlier than expected. I don’t think you need to be there when it’s opened, I can handle it.”

“I’ll make time for it, don’t worry.” I wave my hand and down my vodka. “Now leave. I have work to do, and so do you. Unless you’ve sorted all your problems before presenting me with what you think mine are?”

“Tori was attacked,” Evgeni says, “That’s the final news.”

“How? By whom? Was she hurt?” I ask with a frown.

“No, she’s fine. Our men contained the situation. We’re already working on finding out who’s behind the attack.”

“Make sure you find it sooner rather than later. There’s nothing else I need you for, you are free to leave.” I comment, wondering who would attack Tori.

Leonid seems to want to say something, but Evgeni puts a hand on his arm. “We’ll leave. Thank you for hearing us out.”

I watch as they walk out of the apartment. I can see my brother isn’t impressed, but he must remember his place. He is only my brother because his parents, my aunt and uncle, were killed, and my parents took him in and raised him as their own.

I go to the kitchen, get a bottle of orange juice, and take it to my office. I sit down and enter my password, bringing up my work. Before I do anything else, I try not to focus too much on this mysterious event and whether it was planned by the Sorvinos. I start to answer a few emails, and I check our secret messages through reviews on online retailers and respond accordingly. Then I pull up the financials for the last quarter. Everything is cleverly disguised behind a ‘legit’ business. We have perfected this.

I open the bank account and see that my mother had paid for the clothes today. I’m sure she made Tori feel comfortable. It’s why I asked my mother specifically.

An amount on the bank statement catches my eye. A hundred thousand dollars was transferred without any reference of who it was transferred by, to who, or to what account. My family doesn’t generally access this account. This is the business account. They have cards to pay for things but can’t log on and initiate transfers. Only the accountant and I can do that.Têxt © NôvelDrama.Org.

I email Will, the accountant, and ask him to look into it because I feel like something is going on, and if someone is doing something behind my back, they will pay dearly for it.

There’s a light knock on my door, and I glance up from the email I’m drafting to see Tori standing in the doorway. I sit back and rub my beard. “Did you have fun? At least before you were attacked.”

“Your mother is really sweet,” she says, shifting from foot to foot, “She knows her way around a clothes store. The attack was frightening, but I wasn’t hurt.” She looks shaken but gives me a small smile.

I return the smile then it fades quickly. I can’t give in to my emotions on a whim. What I feel for Tori might be physical, but I can’t let it get emotional. She is a business transaction, and that is all.

“I wanted to ask if there’s anything that I can help with. I’m not doing anything at the moment, and I’m kind of bored,” she explains.

I sit up straight. “The contracts will be coming soon, and you’ll be spending a lot of hard hours working on those to secure us the best possible deal. For now, find something to do, relax and watch a movie or something.”

“Well, if it’s okay, I’d like to go see my sister Kira,” she says quietly. “She’s pregnant and planning a wedding, so I want to see if there’s anything I can help with. I mean, I can still help my family like that, can’t I?”

I look at her for what feels like the longest time, our eyes locked onto each other. Finally, I nod. “I don’t like the idea of you going to your family on your own. It’s a trust thing, but I understand how important family is. Take one of my men, and you can go. I won’t have an issue if one of my men escorts you.”

If Tori is annoyed by the accusation, she doesn’t show it. Instead, she gives a small nod. “Thank you, Ivan. I appreciate that. I’ll take Aleks. Is there a specific time you want me to be back?”

“Dinner is at six. Anastasia is eating with us tonight before she goes out,” I explain. “You can then tell me how your day was.”

She nods. “I will be home just before that so I can freshen up a little.”

She turns and leaves, and my eyes glance at her rounded ass. Something twitches inside me as I imagine what it would be like to hold that ass as she rides me, but I shake it off. I am already looking forward to it. Now, I better focus and deal with work matters.

I finished the email to Will and sent it before returning to the financial reports. There’s something not quite right here. It’s as though we’re losing more money than we’re making. This gets my heckles up because I know we’re doing well. I visit sites to make sure of it myself, and I get reports from Evgeni and Leonid regularly. Someone is stealing money from me, and I want to know who it is.

I get up to stretch my legs. I open my bottle of orange juice and take a deep drink before I pace my office for a bit, trying to work out the pins and needles. I think of Tori, her wanting to visit her family so soon. Leonid might be right, she may be plotting to do me in, but at the same time, I know Sorvinos are about integrity. Also, I’m drawn to her like a moth to a flame. If I were an oyster, she would be the pearl I want to hide away from others. She’s beautiful, in a different way from Russian girls. Firstly her olive skin is smooth and tan, and her hair, when down, is even more gorgeous.

I should tell her to wear it down more often. She seems to prefer to have it tied up constantly. I wonder why that is?

She’s so quiet, but I see a confidence in her that I know can shine. She’ll be drawing the attention of many people at the events we attend. Such a beautiful woman on my arm for the first time since…

I push the thoughts back and bury them deep down. I can’t think of her now. It hurts too much. Anastasia used to often ask about her mother until I asked her to stop. I told her the past is in the past, and there’s nothing we can do to change it. She stopped asking, but sometimes I question if that was the right thing to do. To deny my daughter the knowledge of her mother because it felt like my heart was ripped out whenever someone reminded me of her, mentioned her, or we went somewhere that meant something special to us.

I sit back at my desk and pull up the individual reports for each of my businesses to see how much money is going through them. I will figure out who the thief is, and God help them when I do because I won’t let my men deal with this. This is a direct insult to me, and I will deal with whoever this is personally. My father always said you had to start at the bottom and learn everything you could before being the head of the family, so I know many ways to draw out torture with those who cross me.