“I will offer to trade you. To arrange for you to marry into their family to avoid any need for fighting or war.”
I set my teeth together so hard that they clacked. Shutting my mouth was my only sane option. Screaming at him wouldn’t do me much good.
You’ve lost your mind.
You think you can just hand me over?
Like this!
“They can’t come here and suspect that I’m reneging and failing to support our trade partner?—”
“You are! You are fucking up this partnership,” I shouted.
“Then I’ll offer you in marriage, to show that we’re still friends.” He chuckled and stroked his beard. “The ultimate sign of ‘good faith’ between friends.”
I shook my head. “You’re going to use me to avoid war with them?” The question left me as a seething, red-hot drip of venom. “You think it’s right touseme? As a symbol of good faith?” The decibel of my voice shot higher with every word. My temper was a beast I could barely control once my threshold for bullshit had been hit, but I couldn’t care now.
“Yes.” He nodded once, almost gloating at this solution.
“If you had only consulted with mebeforeyou wanted to screw up this shipment and consider new partners?—”
“No. I don’t consult you, Carina. I never will becauseIam the boss. You are my sister. My pain in the ass and nothing more.”
I stepped back, not to cower or retreat but to have more space and clearance to charge at him. He had the audacity to say such crap like that, and I couldn’t stand here and resist the urge to correct him. “Are you… Are you doing this just to get rid of me?”
No one liked to be nagged, but that wasn’t what I did here. We didn’t get along, but it wasn’t due to bickering. I constantly saved his ass. I was the brains behind the scenes. He could try to deny it and think he was keeping the Cartel in power on his own, but it was true.
He’d never paid attention to our father or mother or any of the leaders. I’d listened. I’d taken notes. I’d learned how this Cartel operated since I was a young girl. It was due to my continued input that the Cartel was still together and thriving.
“You are going to marry into the Volkov Family as a sign of good faith between us.” He huffed. “I suppose you could share some intel while you’re at it. You know?” He pushed off the desk. “However, I have a hunch your future husband won’t be as receptive or forgiving of your trying to butt into business any more than I ever have. I’ve only humored you because you’re my sister. But by the end of tonight, you will betheirproblemto put up with. Not mine.”
I ground my molars and swallowed down a scream before turning to exit the room.
5
MAKSIM
From the second I arrived at the Garcia Cartel’s compound, I felt like I was being swindled.
Conned.
Deceived and duped and disrespected.
To start with, Arturo Garcia was overly apologetic. He greeted me and Viktor as soon as we got there after the short flight, showering us with praise about how good we looked and complimenting us with other odd mentions that fell awkwardly in the middle of small talk and baseless flattery.
In my opinion, one sorry was enough. If someone meant it and the recipient was listening, a single apology would be adequate. Repeating flowery bullshit about how upset he was that this supposed mistake had happened was a giveaway that something was rotten.
Is he covering something up?
Is he trying to avoid my beating the shit out of him?
Is he clueless of how to read a room andlooklike a leader, much less act like one?
Or is this how he always is?
He left us for a moment in a sunroom where we were given coffee after getting there.
Viktor leaned over to whisper, “Is he always this much of a kiss-ass?”
