Page 24 of Mafia King’s Dangerous Vow

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EVERY TIME YOU’RE AFRAID. (ALEKSANDER)

“You look like shit.” Mikhail lowers his sunglasses just enough to glare at me over the rim of his coffee cup.

“Good morning to you too, brother.”

“It’s forty degrees and raining,” I say, buttoning my coat. “And you’re standing outside looking like you lost a fight with tequila.”

“That was a tactical decision.” His voice is rough enough to strip paint. “Your wedding had an open bar. I adapted to the environment.”

“You made an ass of yourself.”

“Also tactical.” He takes another sip of coffee. “Someone had to be the disaster so people would stop staring at you.”

I stop buttoning my coat.

Mikhail plays the reckless one. The drunk. The chaos magnet. But underneath the expensive suits and spectacularly bad decisions, he notices far too much.

“You were wound so tight last night,” he continues, “I thought you were going to snap somebody’s neck during the vows.”

“I survived.”

“Barely.” Then, more quietly, “Bride survive, too?”

“She’s upstairs.”

“I assumed that from the fact you’re down here alone. Question is whether she’s settled in or planning your murder.”

“Probably both.”

“Good.” His grin comes back. “Means she has survival instincts.”

I check my phone instead of responding. Messages from Igor, Yuri, Yakov. Katarina sent a GIF of a ball and chain.

Subtle.

“She wants to go back to work,” I say.

For once, Mikhail doesn’t make it funny. “She built something real. This makes sense.”

“I told her she stays inside until security protocols are in place.”

“There it is.” He points at me with the coffee cup. “The control problem.”

“It’s not control. It’s risk management.”

“Sure.” He drains the rest of the coffee. “And vodka is hydration.”

“You done?”

Mikhail sighs and pushes himself upright. “Aleks. You can lock down territory, money, supply routes. You start trying to lock down women like Tamara, and you’ll end up with a wife who’s technically present and completely gone.”

“The Colombians are circling.”

“She’ll suffocate if you cage her.” He adjusts his sunglasses. “Fair warning.”

“I’m not caging her.”