Before anyone can say anything else, the sound of Scorpion’s and Priest’s bickering voices reaches us. Apparently, they’ve decided to join us for our little family reunion. And as I suspected, Scorpion isn’t happy about our big brother’s decision to offer him as a matrimonial sacrifice to the Bratva.
“I’m not fucking doing it,” Scorpion is raging as they come into the living room.
“You don’t have a choice in the matter,” Priest tells him calmly.
He’s firmly in don mode. He’s not our big brother. He’s the leader of the united Revello and Andriani families. And although I feel the knife’s edge of guilt that Scorpion is going to have to take the fall for me, I don’t regret a single second of claiming Isla as mine.
“What doesn’t he have a choice in?” Luna rushes over to Priest, who opens his arms to her.
“In his marrying Ekaterina Sidorov.”
“Wait, what?” Luna jerks out of his arms, staring up at Priest, clearly shocked. “Please don’t tell me you did something barbaric and old-school and signed your brother up for an arranged marriage with a Bratva princess.”
“Fine. I won’t.” He’s tense, and I can tell he’s not any happier about this than Scorpion is.
But he also knows, like I do, that we don’t have any other recourse.
The contract has been signed. Sidorov backed us neatly into a corner and left us trapped. It’s Scorpion marrying Ekaterina Sidorov, or we go to war with the Bratva. And going to war with them is only going to invite more scrutiny from the authorities. The kind we don’t want or need. Not to mention the blood that will spill, the lives that will be lost.
“Then why is your brother so angry with you?” Luna demands, frowning.
“Because when the Russians took Isla, Roc, and the others, they demanded an alliance for their safe return. They wanted Saint to marry her, but Scorpion is the one responsible for the escalation.”
“The fucking escalation?” Scorpion repeats, outraged. “Mother Mary, they fucking bombed our restaurant. How is that not escalation?”
“You kidnapped the Pakhan’s sister,” Priest calmly points out. “They wouldn’t have taken Isla if you hadn’t done that.”
“What was I supposed to do, just sit around and wait for them to bomb something else? What if the fucking casino was next on their radar?”
Priest doesn’t even blink an eye in the face of our brother’s wrath. “They warned us. It was a message. You shouldn’t have taken the Sidorov girl. Women and children are off-limits. Or at least, they were until you kidnapped Ekaterina Sidorov. This is your fucking mess, and you’re going to clean it up. Besides, Saint’s in love with Isla, and if I fuck things up for my wife’s best friend, she’ll never forgive me. Assuming Isla loves his sorry ass back, that is.”
Well, fuck. Was I that obvious to everyone?
“Of course she fucking loves me,” I say, insulted. “I’m infinitely lovable.”
Lucky snorts. “You tried to send her away without even saying goodbye. She must be a fucking saint.”
“She is. Which is why we belong together.” I grin at the woman at my side. “The sinner and the saint. And thank fuck she loves me.”
“Of course I do, baby,” she tells me quietly.
But my nosy-ass family overhears anyway.
“Get a room,” my half sisters say in unison again.
“You two seriously need to tone down the twin shit,” I say. “It’s starting to get creepy.”
“You’re going to have to drag my ass to the altar,” Scorpion is saying to Priest.
“Not a problem,” Priest reassures our brother coolly. “Next time, don’t kidnap the sister of the fucking Pakhan.”
“Maybe she’s not that bad,” Luna says gently, trying to put a sunshiny spin on this fucked-up situation.
I tug on Isla’s hand and lean down to whisper in her ear. “What do you say to letting them fight it out while we head back to my place? I’m fucking desperate for you,tesoro. I’ll make sure there’s an army of bodyguards surrounding the place.”
She gives me a look that has my dick twitching to attention. “Sounds like heaven.”
I clear my throat. “Now that we’re official, I’m going to get Isla back home. She’s just been through hell, and the last thing she needs is to stand here listening to your bickering.”
