Page 22 of Savage Little Secret

“Why am I here?” I ask, getting this circus started. It’s just one crisis after another lately.

“You’ll listen first, Dmitri,” Pavel Muratov tells me from across the table in a stern voice, absently spinning his family’s crest ring around his finger.

I tighten my hand into a fist as it rests on my thigh under the table. I don’t say a word or even nod.

“Victor,” Pavel says as he motions to a dark-haired, bearded man to my right.

Victor Kardashev moves his eyes to mine, ice filling them. “We hear you’ve been a busy man, Ivanov. Ty vel sebya kak idiot. Not only did you blow up an important alliance with the Suyunovs, but you also allowed an Irish spy to infiltrate your business and your life. I can only imagine how your family must feel about your actions as of late.”

That’s not a question that he actually intends for me to answer. I expect a lot of shaming and chastising at this meeting. Being called an idiot is just the start.

“You stopped putting the Bratva first,” Victor says. “And now we’re bleeding for it. Before more are injured or killed in the battles that you have started, you must clean up your besporyadok before it becomes a war.”

I clench my teeth, biting back comments that I know will only make things worse.

“We’ve talked things over, and we have decided on two courses of action for you to take,” Victor continues as he sits up more and joins his hands together on the conference table. “First,” he says, “you will marry Annika Suyunov.”

My mouth opens. No sound comes out, just heat and nausea.

Valentin Novitsky holds up his hand to keep me quiet so that Victor can finish.

“The alliance will benefit the Bratva’s expansion in Vegas, so you will see it through. You’ll marry her, and you will have children who will be raised as loyal members, as future vors,” Victor tells me with finality like he’s a parent establishing rules for his children.

More soldiers for the Bratva. That’s what they want from me. Not my skill or my leadership qualities.

“You shouldn’t have called off the marriage in the first place. It was disrespectful. The fact that you did so without consulting your own family is even more alarming,” Pavel says with a look of disappointment on his face.

They don’t understand my motives because they weren’t in my shoes. If they envisioned being married to Annika and having to deal with her pushover father for the rest of their lives, they would see why I called things off for my own sanity.

They definitely don’t need to know that the woman who is now my prisoner was also one of the reasons for tossing out the marriage arrangement.

“Second,” Victor says as he straightens up. “You will kill the spy.”

Cold seeps through me. “Cara?”

Victor nods. “Given her relationship with the Irish and the intel that she’s possibly smuggled to her father, she’s a grave threat to the Bratva. You need to dispose of her and leave her body where everyone can understand the message.”

Tension wraps around my chest and squeezes, leaving me breathless. Cara has stabbed me in the back, yet I can’t bring myself to do it.

I’ve already done something worse.

I let her matter to me.

Cara may have made me weak, but I held her in my arms and let her into my heart like a fool. Killing her now would be like killing a piece of myself. And after all the damage that I’ve endured throughout all these years, how many more of those do I have?

“And do it quickly. We can’t risk her escaping and running home to Daddy,” Valentin comments, disgust filling his voice.

According to Cara, that’s the last place she wants to go, but I can’t bring myself to fully believe her yet.

“Can I speak now?” I ask them, itching to advocate for myself before they dismiss me.

“Do you understand the undertakings that have been asked of you?” Victor replies.

I nod once. “Yes, I heard you loud and clear, but both of those things are far more complicated than you realize. There’s no way that Artur Suyunov is going to strike another deal with the Ivanovs. That bridge was burned to ashes.”

“Don’t worry about Artur. We need his connections here in the city as much as he needs ours for a place at our table. I’m sure he’ll come along. It’s a beneficial arrangement for him and his daughter as well.”

His daughter. The heiress who would hold a grudge against me for canceling things in the first place and make my life a living hell.