Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Like that, Aurora left just as Ivan joined us, along with Andrei, Ive, Victor, Peter, and Oleg. The six main district brigadiers, all present and all joined forces with Ivan Volkov.
The look on Roger’s face was priceless.
He turned to run, but Ivan had him, and together, we marched him out of the room, heading toward a private office where no one was around.
I checked the room, Ive and Victor covered the door, and Peter and Oleg took the windows while Ivan and Andrei dragged a struggling Roger into the room.
We wouldn’t hurt him too bad.
He hadn’t won yet, so all the power he had was nothing.
With my hand on my gun, I stood waiting.
“Mr. Volkov, I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” he said.
“Really, because for the past two weeks, you’ve been able to avoid my calls and every single chance to talk to me.” Ivan shoved him into a chair. With the doors closed, there wasn’t much we could do.
“Well, if you phone my secretary, we can arrange a meeting, and I know I’m fully scheduled.”
Ivan clucked his tongue. “Actually, I think right here and now. You see, the speeches you’re giving, they’re a little trying on my nerves. I wonder how the general public would feel to know the very man they’re putting all their faith in has a … gambling problem. The people that feed you, you want to rub into the dirt.”
I was bored as Ivan pulled out a blade. The security in this place was easily bought. It was how we got our guns through. Everyone here was on our payroll, which was why no security footage was being recorded.
After the standard five minutes of my presence, I made my excuses and headed in the direction of the security office.
As per my instructions, the guard on the door had taken a stroll.
I sat, glancing over the footage as Ivan made his threat. Within ten minutes, Ivan was leading Roger out of the room as if he’d not just threatened him. I extracted the data, wiped the system, and was heading back to the dance floor when I noticed my wife walking into the bathroom.
Following her inside, I stopped her from locking me out of a stall. The door closed, and I pressed up against her.
“This is the woman’s bathroom.”
“Do I look like a man who follows the rules?”
She shook her head. “No. I guess you’re a man who does exactly what he wants.”
“You’ve got that right.”
She nibbled on her lip. “Is there something you wanted to say to me?”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Whatever for?”
“You know what for.”
“Is this hard for you?” she asked.
This made me smile. Saying thank you didn’t come easy. “Why did you help?”
She shrugged her shoulder. “I’m your wife. By marrying you, I pledged my loyalty to you, didn’t I? I’m not longer a Fredo. I’m an Ivanov.” She didn’t look into my eyes.
What was going on here?
The door to the bathroom opened and Aurora tensed up.
For some reason, I didn’t want to embarrass her. I stepped back and allowed her to leave the stall. She stepped out of the stall, and I heard the women giggle and say hi to her.
I didn’t know what the hell had just happened or why I was still stuck in a bathroom stall. I could have easily followed her out. I didn’t care what people thought of me. Aurora continued to mess with my head. My wife shouldn’t be a problem to me and yet, she’d proven to be more of a challenge than I realized, and it pissed me off.
“Oh, my God, do you know who that was?” one of the women asked.
“No. She looks familiar.”
“She’s Aurora Ivanov! Oh, my God, I saw the pictures of her wedding. You know there is a rumor that said her husband is part of the Russian mafia, right? There’s this whole thing going on across the country. I don’t know the general working. It’s like the worst-kept secret.”
I frowned as I listened. I had no time for female gossip. Personally, I wanted to correct her that I was Bratva, not fucking mafia.
“I heard Slavik, the hot guy, he had to put a bag over her head to fuck her.” A round of giggles.
“Please, he couldn’t even be bothered to kiss her. You had to have seen the pictures. He brushed his lips across her cheek. I’m betting he can’t stand to touch her.”
The insults went on, and they angered me.
I had this desire to draw my weapon and kill them all there and then. Or better yet, to pull them out of the bathroom and force them to apologize to her.
This wasn’t the time or place.
Rage rushed through my body. I shoved it down.
All I wanted to do was kill. I held swift control even as I did want to kill. Who did they think they were? My wife was a fucking queen. Had Aurora dealt with this her whole life? I didn’t get a chance to confront them.