Chapter 9
Katarina
By the time I came down, everyone was in the parlor. I was used to seeing made men in their tailored suits with their trophy wives, or the women wishing and fucking their way into a family. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t understand that no matter how beautiful, obedient, or acrobatic they were, they’d never be taken as a wife. No, like me, someone’s daughter was groomed for the role and would enjoy the main spoils of being a mafia wife. The other women would still have a soft life, at least until the man became tired of them. The higher ups often had a wife with children at their main home, but kept a mistress in a nice place and gave them an allowance. I wondered how it would be in the motorcycle gang world. Hopefully he’d at least be discreet.
James promptly provided me with my normal pre-dinner drink: Grey Goose Martini with a twist. I preferred chilled vodka with a twist, but it would be unbecoming of me to have such a cocktail before a meal. Still, James made a wonderful martini, so I sipped the chilled drink as I looked around at the room lined with dark reds and deep greens, the mini bar made of rich mahogany that matched the side tables around the room.
The men were all dressed similarly– lots of black pants, black boots, and black shirts. There were a few women with them, not sporting the Johnny Cash vibes. They had nice dresses or pants suits. Not too dressy but not casual. Perfect dinner attire. They had warm smiles, though they stayed huddled together.
“There you are,” Niko said. He was sporting his business smile as he motioned for me.
Walking over, I plastered on mine and kissed his cheek. “Brother.”
“Katya, let me introduce you to some of my friends.” He put his arm out so I threaded mine through and walked with him to the ladies convened by the window.
“Ladies,” he said. As they turned, he continued. “Allow me to introduce my sister, Katarina Petrov. Katya, this is Daisy, Lacy, and Shivana.”
The beautiful blonde with sparkling blue eyes and pale skin smiled widely. “Hi, Katarina. I’m Eagle’s Old Lady.” She peeked over my shoulder and pointed to a man with dark eyes and dark hair pulled into a half ponytail.
“And I’m Daisy, I belong to Falcon,” the one with long, silky chestnut hair said. Her skintone was fair butcomplimented her more greyish-blue eyes. “He’s that one.” She pointed to another one of them, his dark hair down, about shoulder length with a slight wave to it. His eyes were hard to make out from across the room, but weren’t very light or dark. He was a little bulkier than Eagle.
The last one flipped her wavy dark hair over her shoulder. Her brown skin glowed and her whiskey eyes had little specks of gold in them. She also was a couple of inches taller than the other two, and while none of them were what I would call thin, she was the curviest of them all. “I’mDoctorShivana Raja,” she said with an eye roll.
“Very impressive. You’ll have to excuse my brother,” I said with a wink. “And who might you be with?”
She craned her neck then pointed. “Jackal, the one with the long hair.”
Turning, I located him. He seemed a little older than all of us, but not old. He did, however, have a very serious demeanor about him. And he was quite large. His arms were huge.
“He’s a softie,” she said as if she could read my mind. “Oh, those two lovebirds over there are Kristie and Rooster. Sort of in their honeymoon phase.” There was a couple, the man was tall and very fit but not the largest of the group. He had the look of a tortured soul over his face. The woman, with full, wavy brown hair, looked as if he hung the moon in the sky.
“I’ll be going on mine soon. My honeymoon,” Lacy said, beaming, waving her left hand to show off a wedding band and sparking diamond solitaire.
Shiv’s eye brow shot up. “Honey, that’s a beach trip with friends.”
Daisy giggled. “There’s a rally in Florida she got wind of so she’s making Eagle take her.”
My brows pinched and I looked at my brother. He gave a light nod. “It’s a biker rally, I believe.”
“Oh,” I said, smiling. Note to self: research biker rally at a beach in Florida.
“I’ve never been and it’s not like we can honeymoon out of the country, especially right now,” Lacy said. She was about to continue, but Daisy elbowed her, so instead she sipped her champagne and smiled. I could be mistaken, but she seemed to have the same fake smile I’d seen at every party for years.Did she come from a family? Was her marriage arranged as well?
“Did you travel with the men?” I asked before sipping my drink.
“We rode with them part of the way and the SUV some,” Shiv said. “I love a good ride but after three hours my vagina goes numb, and not in a fun way.”
Martini burned as it shot from my nose. I’d kept my mouth closed trying to not spray them but it found its way out anyway.
“Shivana!” Lacy hissed.
I waved them off. “It’s quite alright. I just…” Turning to look at my brother, I continued, “I’m not used to other women speaking so freely in the company of men.”
They all gave a tight-lipped smile with eyes the size ofsaucers. And the outsider feeling was back. It was true. Many of the women that found themselves at these parties often got vulgar and silly, but never when we had men nearby. We had to play the part of proper ladies while in earshot. But if they were gone, the chats got interesting.
“Have you seen Mama Hen?” Daisy asked.
Thankful for the change of subject, I asked, “Who might that be?”
