This did make me snort. The soldiers were a close enough distance away that I didn’t have to play any other role. I could be myself. “Are you sure you’re looking at the same woman?”
“Are you sure you’re even looking at the right woman?”
This made me pause. “I know my wife. She’s submissive. That’s what they trained her for.”
Ivan clicked his tongue. “There you go again. I have to wonder if I should demote you and keep that wife of yours. Look into her eyes, my friend. You will see.”
He climbed into his car, bringing our conversation to a close.
We’d been friends for a lifetime already. Together, we’d grown up on the streets. I’d saved him from being killed more times than I could count.
We had a plan. A goal that would make this city ours. When we were kids, the Bratva were … hot tempered, and in truth, their vision wasn’t big enough. They worked small. Petty criminals. They didn’t see the big picture.
Ivan Volkov had. He was the big picture, and now, he ran half of the country, which he divided into six areas. I controlled area one. The biggest with the main cities all bowing down to my rule. Ivan only ever dealt with his brigadiers, his main men.
I was aware of the men he sent out to all areas. The spies he used to control everyone. It was how he learned of betrayals, of the greed, and of course, the rats. Everyone was in his pocket.
Even though he was considered the fiercest and most evil person around, he was also fair. If you didn’t cross him, you lived. If you showed loyalty to him, then he took care of you.
The moment you turned your back on him, betrayed, or stole from him, well, your days were numbered.
Watching the car leave the parking lot, I stood there as the cleaning crew came. They nodded at me. I was on first-name terms with most people in Ivan’s control. I made it my business to know everyone.
I’d always been a firm believer that knowledge was power, and when it came to keeping Ivan in control, I was willing to do whatever it took to keep him there, even marry a woman I didn’t trust.
It was late when I arrived home. The guard I’d assigned to Aurora’s care stood at the door, waiting for my signal to leave. I gave it to him. There were always guards around. Soldiers. Men designed to help us gain power and to forever grow stronger. They rose up the ranks, claiming to be the best everyone had to offer.
After taking a quick shot of the finest whiskey, I headed to the bedroom. Aurora was still awake, but the moment I entered the bedroom, she closed the book she’d been reading.
When all of her belongings arrived at my penthouse suite, I’d been surprised. She didn’t have many.
Books.
She’d had close to three hundred books. All in paperback. I’d gotten the designers in, and one of the spare bedrooms had been converted into a library for her. I’d also granted her a credit card in my name to which she’d not spent a single penny. We’d been married a week, and I’d known other men in my position had been near bankrupt in that time by how wild their wives’ spending could be.
I glanced at my wife. She wore a silk negligee that showed off her full tits. I hadn’t given myself the pleasure of looking at her entirely, but one day soon, I intended to look to my heart’s content.
Removing my jacket, I took my gun with me. I didn’t go anywhere without at least two guns and three blades. I was a precautious man. I’d survived this long with them, and I wasn’t about to ruin my chances by fucking it up and letting down my guard. I’d seen what happened firsthand to men who got sloppy. They ended up dead, and I knew because I’d been the one to kill them.
Once inside the bathroom, I stripped off my clothes and stepped beneath the cold water of the shower. I didn’t like taking hot baths or showers. I liked the shock of the cold. It kept me alive and alert.
Also, I didn’t linger too long doing one thing. Men struck during these times. I’d lost count of the number of men I’d taken out while in the shower.
I turned off the water, wrapped a towel around me, picked up my gun, and walked back into the bedroom. With my back to Aurora, I put the gun beside my bed and checked the time to see it was a little after three.
“You need to be careful around Volkov,” I said.
I had no idea why I was giving her the warning. If she died doing something stupid, it was on her. I wouldn’t take responsibility for her mistakes. She was the enemy. A foreigner to me.
“I didn’t seek him out.”
Her voice was so low, I only just made it out.
I turned toward her, and she immediately shrank away. I didn’t need her fear. “Do as I say.”
She nodded her head after a few seconds’ hesitation, which pissed me off. While I’d been in the shower, she’d already put the book down and had sunk beneath the covers.
My dick was hard, but I was in no mood to fuck an ice queen.
I turned off my light, removed my towel, and climbed into bed.
The bed shook a little. I was sure she cried, but it wasn’t my problem. I had a lot of shit to do over the next few days, but sleep didn’t come to me.
My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I could make out her outline. A sniffle escaped her. Time ticked by, and she finally fell into a fitful sleep. It was while she slept that I moved in close. I didn’t touch her, but I felt her body heat and breathed in the heady scent of lemon.
It was just one of the many parts of Aurora I found … intoxicating.
Chapter Two
Aurora
There had to be some kind of survival in never seeing your husband. There had to be. The days turned into weeks, then months, and it wasn’t long before I’d been married for a grand total of three months and four days. Yay. I was still alive.
Still alive.
Still ignored.
But it was moments like now that I actually lived for.
On rare occasions, Slavik would demand my presence at parties, social gatherings, and the necessary dinner at a restaurant.
The latter was always the hardest. They tended to be the two of us. He’d look the part but spend the entire time either talking on his cell phone or to a guard. I’d sit and have to listen to his tones of Russian.
I’d thought about starting to learn, but so far, I hadn’t pushed my luck. Now these occasions, where we sat for dinner with a group of people, I could get through them. Slavik sat beside me, ordered my dinner, and complimented me. Played the role, saying all the right things. For a short time, I could pretend this was normal.
At least at this dinner party, there were other women. Three of whom I sat close to. They were talking about their latest designer gowns. I had no idea who I wore but they seemed to.
I nodded and smiled, laughed at the right points, and even told a few jokes. Sofia, Irina, and Amanda were all beautiful women. They were destined to be married to three of the other brigadiers under Ivan Volkov’s rule. I wasn’t sure who they were going to marry, but by the rocks on their fingers, it was a pretty big deal.
“You know, I was thinking we could all do lunch,” I said.
In the last four months, other than being with Slavik, I spent most of my time indoors, unless he ordered me to shop.
It would be nice to make some friends in his world.
No one called me from mine. No distant friends or cousins. Even my sister didn’t have time for me.