Married to the Mafia Boss

Evgenii

As I cruise through the streets the following morning, my mind is thinking of Shirley. My heart ached so much when I upset her, yet I don’t regret it. I was protecting her from that hyena, Mikhail. I don’t understand why she feels I think she’s just going to spill secrets. She wouldn’t do it on purpose, but Mikhail is a slimy snake who will coerce the details out of her.

I pull through the gates and up to Ivan’s house. I shake my head. Women are so difficult to please. I have tons of experience with them, yet I can never seem to get it right.

I walk into the house and down the hall. Just through a door to my right, I see Anastasia checking her makeup in a mirror, so I pause. “Where are you going, little lady?”

She smiles brightly as she smacks her lips and looks at me. “Just going out with a friend.” She slips her lip gloss into her handbag and swings it over her shoulder.

“Is it a male friend?” I ask teasingly.

As she walks past me, she smacks my arm. “No details for you. You’ll run off to my father. See you later.”

I wave her off as I walk to Ivan’s office. Ivan has mainly been working from home because it’s safer and easier to protect. It’s an environment he has more control over. He also doesn’t like missing milestones in his son’s life.

I stroll into Ivan’s office. He’s concentrating on his laptop, so I go to his mini bar and pour myself a drink, sitting down in front of him.

Ivan finishes what he’s doing and settles back away from his desk. “Hello, Cousin.”

“Pakhan,” I say respectfully. “Having a productive morning, I see.”

“Sort of.” He seems worried about something, but I leave it alone. If he wanted me to know, he’d tell me. Instead, his eyes search mine, and he asks, “What happened with Shirley?”

I scoff, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“The charity ball last night. We saw the two of you arguing, and then she left straight after the meal, and you were a grumpy drunk the rest of the night.” Ivan straightens his tie slightly and tilts his head to the side. “It was rather obvious.”

I shake my head. “She was being childish, and she left.”

I don’t want to go into the details, but I know there is something I must bring up. “I mean, did you see how Mikhail just approached her like that? It certainly raises a lot of questions.”

Ivan shakes his head. He knows I’m deflecting, but he doesn’t push the issue, and I’m thankful for that.

“Mikhail will always look for an opportunity to strike, he will always go for who he perceives as the weakest link, and he’s dead wrong this time. Many people tell me Shirley is not someone to be crossed if you like to live.”

I snort, “Unlikely, but I’d like to know what he’s after.”

“He’s probably after the same thing you are: Shirley’s proposal.” Ivan sighs and stretches, his neck clicking into place with a loud, satisfying crack.

I won’t admit to him that I’d love more than Shirley’s proposal. I always put the family first in every way, but why can’t I have Staten Island and Shirley? Why can’t we have our toxic ever-after?

Ivan’s phone rings, and as he answers it, mine does as well. His eyes open wide as one of my soldiers speaks quickly in my ear, “Sir, there’s been an explosion in Lower Manhattan. It’s one of our office spaces that’s been blown apart.”

I look at Ivan, who is frantically pacing up and down now, “Tori… Tori…. Answer…”

“I’ll call you back.” I stand up. “Where is Tori?”

“She’s supposed to be near there with Roman, Kira, and Bella,” he says, his face filled with anguish.

“Oh, thank fucking God, where the fucking hell are you?” he demands, putting her on speakerphone so I can hear.

“Calm down,” she snips, “we’re at Central Park. Why?”

Ivan sits down on an armchair, his hand shaking. “You said you were going to lower Manhattan today.”

“It was a beautiful day, so we changed our minds,” she sounds confused and worried. “Why? Is everything okay?”

Ivan lets out another deep breath, and his hands stop shaking. “Stay clear of there. There was an attack, and one of our buildings was blown up. I’d prefer you get home soon.”

“Kira has guards with her,” Tori says quickly. “I’ll ask them to escort us home.”

“Do that. Keep me posted every step.” Ivan hangs up and glowers at me, his face tight. “I want to know who did this.”

This is the side of Ivan that not many get to see. They always see him as mature and wise, but they don’t realize how deadly he can be when under threat.

While Ivan goes to pour himself another drink, I start making calls from one soldier to the next and through the ranks of our family. No one has any clues, and the cops on the scene aren’t on our payroll.

I turn to Ivan. “I’ll find out who this is, and they will pay. I’ll be in touch.”

Ivan waves me off. I know he has his way of dealing with things. It’s now just a case of who finds the culprit first.

I speed through the streets to La Club and park haphazardly outside the doors. The bouncers are about to say something when I flash them a look, and they back off, recognizing me.

As I walk toward the office, I see two women sitting at a booth, drinking. It’s Shirley and Arianna, and I pause at their booth. “Afternoon, ladies.”

My heart is beating hard in my chest, and I’m not sure if it’s the adrenaline from our territory being attacked or just from being in the vicinity of the woman who is driving me wild.

They both give me quiet hellos, and I lean against the booth. “Shirley, I’d love to get together soon. To make up for what happened at the event.”

Shirley swirls her glass and sips it. “Is that what you drove here to say?”

“No… No, I… I wanted to see Frankie.”

Shirley and Arianna both look up at me, puzzled.

“Is everything okay?” Arianna asks, starting to stand up.

Frankie comes out of his office. “Evgenii, come in.”

I glance at Shirley again. “Let me know.” I hurry into Frankie’s office, and he shuts the door.

“Did you hear about the explosion in Lower Manhattan?” I ask.

“That’s a territory we share with you, so of course I have,” Frankie says. “I assumed that’s what you are here to discuss.”

“Who do you think it could be? Do you think the Golubevs or Pachecos are playing a game with us?”

“Why would you assume the Golubevs are involved?” He pours us each a glass of whiskey. “I doubt it’s the Pachecos. They’re trying to get out of New York.”

“Mikhail. He was targeting Shirley the other night.” I take the whiskey.

“For what? I doubt that, after you, Shirley will ever share so much as the memory of a dream with anyone,” he sits in his chair and watches me. “So if that was Mikhail’s plan, it was a piss poor one.”

I grunt. Talk about a low blow.

Frankie crosses his arms. “I think it’s in everyone’s interests if you and Shirley stay apart.”

“I didn’t know she had a keeper,” I retort, and I can see the muscles in his jaw flex with irritation.

“She’s my younger sister in every way, bar blood. Our alliance won’t stop me from whooping your ass.”

I hold my hands out. “From what I’ve heard, she can more than handle herself. And I’m not looking for a fight. Both our families have been affected by this bombing, so if you hear anything, keep me in the loop, okay?”This is property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

Frankie relaxes slightly and nods. “You do the same. They’re starting to report the deaths, and we’ve lost a lot of good people there.”

I finish my drink and set my glass down before standing up. “I should get going. I want to see the site myself and see what I can find out about the type of bomb used.”

Frankie nods but doesn’t stand. “I’ll be in touch.”

I leave the office and notice Arianna and Shirley are still nursing their drinks. I walk toward their booth, but Arianna holds up a hand. “This is a private conversation. You know the way out, right?”

I chuckle. “I can take a hint.” I look into Shirley’s eyes. “Call me, so I can apologize properly for being a dick.”

She shrugs, and I leave because I don’t know how Frankie will feel if I linger too long near the girls.

I jump into my car and rev the engine to life before pulling into traffic and heading straight toward lower Manhattan. I want to concentrate on what’s going on, but I just keep thinking about how Shirley shrugged me off.