Married to the Mafia Boss

Evgenii

I haven’t slept at all. I always knew I’d hurt Shirley, but I guess I was blind to how hard she had fallen for me. And now, in hindsight, I see how hard I had fallen for her. I’m still so in love with her.

As I pull into Ivan’s driveway, my mind is groggy with fatigue and jumbles of thoughts and emotions. I get out of my car and glance over my shoulder at the sound of steel grating on steel. Something’s jammed the gates.

I look to my right. Ivan is coming to see what the noise is, and that’s when it happens: A car with dark-tinted windows pulls across the driveway, and the windows roll down far enough to push an assault weapon through the front and back windows.

“Ivan! Get back!” I shout, preparing to dive to safety myself. Bullets start flying, and I feel a sharp pain in my arm. Guards are shouting around me, and I hear Ivan calling my name.

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” I call back, crawling toward the house despite the pain in my arm.

The car speeds off as fast as it pulled up, and we’re left in stunned silence until my men start shouting. Two of our guards are not breathing.

I get up off the floor and stumble forward. Ivan catches me and leads me into the house, barking orders to his guards to send the injured to the hospital and to cover the bodies of those who didn’t make it.

We go to the living room, where Tori is holding a sobbing Roman against her chest. “Oh, Evgenii, are you okay?”

I give her a soft smile. “Flesh wound, barely felt it, Tori.”

Ivan insists I lie on the settee while Tori takes Roman out of the room, probably to one of the staff to watch him.

“I won’t stand for this,” Ivan growls. “No one attacks my men or my house.”

He gets up and takes out his phone. “I’ll get the doctor to give you stitches and something to prevent infection.”

Tori comes back in quickly with a first aid kit and some anti-septic. I shift and pull my shirt up and off, lying back down. “Don’t mind my hairy ass.”

“It’s a chest, not an ass,” she smiles, looking at the wound. She pours some antiseptic onto some gauze and holds it to my injury.

I focus on Ivan as he hangs up the phone. “It was the Golubev family,” I say.

“Why would they attack us?” Ivan asks. “What proof have you got?”

“I pissed Mikhail off last night when I interrupted his dinner with Shirley. He’s clearly making moves on her to get information, and he’s pissed I messed it up for him.” I tilt my head and glance at the blood leaking down my arm that Tori is trying to stem.

She switches gauze as Ivan sits near my head. “Evgenii, I’m only going to say this once. Get your emotions in check. You are acting like a jealous husband. You’re distracted, and it’s dangerous. I want to know who really attacked us, and don’t just say Golubevs. Give me proof. If it is them, they will pay for it dearly. But I’m not declaring war because a girl whose heart you broke doing family business is seeing someone else.”

The words sting and I fall quiet. I look at the ground, considering what he said. He’s always been a leader since we were kids, and I trust his advice wholeheartedly.

“Don’t be such an asshole.”

Tori’s declaration shocks both of us, and I glance at her. She’s glaring at Ivan. “You know for damn sure that you would start a war if the roles were reversed, and it was me instead of Shirley. This is no different.”

Ivan’s eyes softened because Tori was defending me. He leans forward. “My love, I would burn the world for you, but you’re my wife. Not my ex-girlfriend that I can’t get over.”

I put my free hand over Tori’s. “He’s right.”

Ivan looks at me sadly and continues, “Even if Evgenii loves her now, after what he’s done, Shirley will not forgive him, so there’s no point. He should let it go.”

“You forgave me,” Tori said, looking deeply into Ivan’s eyes.

A deep silence hangs about the room when there’s a sudden knock at the door, and we all jump slightly.

“It’s the doctor,” Aleks says, leading the older gentlemen in. Ivan and Tori leave the room as the doctor patches me up before giving me an antibiotic injection in the arm.

I get up, get dressed once he’s done, and go into the hallway where Ivan is. I don’t see Tori, she must have gone back to Roman.

“I’m going to see if the Sorvinos know anything of the attack or if they’ve also been targeted. I’ll report back as soon as I have something,” I say, standing straight and emotionless.

Ivan looks into my eyes. “Don’t go near Shirley. Ask one of the other brothers like Dominic.”

“Of course,” I say, giving him a small smile. “Be safe, Pakhan.”

“Also, take Aleks and Gregori,” Ivan demands. “I don’t want anyone getting to you once you’re off the property.”

I nod and leave. I groan as I see the bullet-ridden body of my car but turn to the left to where Aleks is waiting for me with one of Ivan’s bulletproof sedans.

The trip to Dominic takes a while, and I think about what Ivan said about me having to let go of Shirley because she won’t forgive me.

But Ivan forgave Tori.

Maybe there is a chance…

I shake my head. I can’t be distracted now that I have a job to do. We lost young guards today, men who just wanted to provide for their families as we provide for ours.

Once we’re let onto Dominic’s property, I’m escorted with my guards to the back of the house, where Dominic is assembling a table.

“Evgenii, I’m surprised you’ve come here.” He glances up at me and sees my bloody shirt. “What’s happened?”

“An attack at Ivan’s home. I have some questions. Firstly if you or your family were attacked?”

“Not that I’ve been informed.” Dominic sets down the screwdriver he’s holding. “Do you have any leads?’

“What do you know of the Golubev family? How are they toward your men?” I ask, sitting nearby Dominic.

Dominic motions for one guard to get us drinks. “I know Alessandro doesn’t like them, but there’s a truce in place so that our families aren’t at war. I don’t trust them at all. Other than that, they’ve been very quiet, which is always suspicious.”

I nod my head. “They’ve also made a truce with Ivan, but I have a very good reason to think they are going to betray both our families.”

“What’s that reason?” I have Dominic’s full attention now, and it makes me uncomfortable. Obviously, he knows what I did to Shirley years ago, so bringing this up now might be a sore point.This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

There’s nothing for it.

“Last night, I interrupted a dinner date between Mikhail and Shirley,” I say quietly. “Mikhail wasn’t happy.”

Dominic studies my face. “My sister Shirley?” I can hear the threat in his tone.

“Yes, but she left shortly afterward. I don’t think she was giving….”

“She wouldn’t. She learned the hard way after you took advantage of her,” his words are laced with venom, and I know I deserve them. “But that’s history, and although I wanted to kill you then, I have forgiven you and promised Alessandro I wouldn’t cut your dick off.”

I give him a strained smile. “It won’t happen again, I can assure you.”

“You’re right, it won’t. Keep your dick away from all of my sisters.” He sighs and looks away. “Okay, Shirley was probably just trying to get information from him. She’s brilliant and charming, and I bet she probably would have got a lot out of him if you hadn’t interrupted.”

I swallow back the rage I feel, thinking of what might have been between the two of them last night. Dominic seems to read my mind. “Don’t worry. I would have interrupted too.”

They bring us some lemonade, and I sip mine as Dominic turns back to the table he’s assembling. “I’ll speak to Shirley. I’ll see what she found out and if Mikhail dropped any interesting hints that might assist us in figuring out who attacked Ivan’s house.”

I finish my lemonade. “Rather you than me, she’s made it clear that she never wants to speak to me again unless it’s to deal with family business.”

It’s clear Dominic approves of this decision, and I stand up. “Be safe.”

“I’ll let Alessandro know to increase security,” he says, reaching out. We shake hands, and I leave.

In the car, as we’re driving out of the property, I take out my phone. I can’t help myself. I know that, but I have to try.

I text Shirley about what has happened at Ivan’s house and how she needs to move around with security because I think it’s Mikhail behind the attack. I ask her if she’s okay and if she needs anything.

I’ll say anything, really, to get any response from her, whether it’s good or bad. I just want to stay connected to her. I know she may move on, and I can’t hold onto this forever, but while I can, I’ll protect her with every tool of the trade at my disposal.