Satin Princess(87)

Jesus. I kill and maim when I need to, but it is always a means to an end. It is always with reason, with cause. It is never a source of pleasure.

“She used to talk to me. But at some point, she got tired of me.” He looks down as though he’s treaded into territory he never meant to.

“It’s okay, Yaromir. You can tell me.”

He looks at me uncertainly for a moment. Then he throws his arms into the air and swears. “You know what, fuck it. I was not built for this life, Anton,” he says honestly. “Being a fucking Bratva don? I don’t have the stomach for it. I was never meant to be don and I was happy about that. It takes a specific kind of man, a specific kind of personality to do what you do. I just don’t have it.”

More than anything else about Yaromir, I respect his honesty right now. Self-awareness is a rare trait in this world.

“I suppose Marina thought me weak because of it. She started targeting me. It started with tricks and jokes. Then it started to change," he says. “She killed my cat. Wrapped a rope around its neck and hung it from the same tree that held my tire swing. When we got older, she held my head underwater so long that I passed out and came to hours later. And then when we were older…”

He stops short and shakes his head, clearly still haunted by his memories. “She liked mind games. She liked getting in people’s heads. I think she felt powerful seeing the fear in their eyes. She also liked being the center of attention. She hated when the focus was not on her. When I got my first girlfriend, it baffled me that she was angry about it. She had no interest in me, no love, not even affection as far as I could tell."

Oh fuck. I know this side of Marina too well not to see what's coming.

“It shouldn’t have mattered who I was with. But apparently, my indifference was an insult to her. That and the fact that everyone was complimenting Lana. She was a beautiful girl. She had the most amazing red hair…”

I know where this story is headed. I lived it myself under different circumstances. “Did your girlfriend survive?”

Yaromir swallows, his face mired in grief. “She told me that Lana was waiting for me in my room. That she was ready to lose her virginity to me. I went upstairs and pulled back the sheets. That psychotic bitch had slit Lana’s throat. She’d cut off Lana’s hair, too, and stuffed it in her mouth. Still to this day, I tell myself that she did the cutting after Lana was already dead. But I can’t always convince myself of that.”

He looks up at me with haunted eyes that want nothing to do with the world that Marina so naturally belongs to.

“I’m going to kill her, Yaromir,” I growl. “This time, I’m going to do it myself.”

He nods. “Good. Make her hurt.”

“Oh, she’ll hurt. I swear that to you.”

Yaromir nods. “Then you have my full support. Anything you need.”

“I’m going to need you to play a part,” I say. “I’m going to need you to make her believe she’s going to get what she wants from you.”

He shudders at the thought, but nods all the same. “I can do that—if it means she dies by the end of it.”

“She will.”

I offer him my hand and he takes it with only the slightest bit of trepidation.

“I may not have a don in me, Anton, but that doesn’t make me stupid,” he says. “I know that many of my men aren’t happy with my ascension."

I glance subtly at the two men standing by the car on the other side of the tracks. They both report to me in secret, and those reports confirm everything Yaromir just said.

“I also know that, with your support, I can quell some of that talk.”

“It’s not just talk you need to worry about, Yaromir,” I tell him frankly. “Some men will talk. Others will act.”

“Who do they have to follow?”

“Me, for one.”

His eyebrows rise. “Are you telling me that you want my men?"

“Why would I need to? As long as you come when I call, I’m happy to let you keep your men and your new title.”

“So I’m just the figurehead?”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“I suppose if I say I do, I’ll end up with a bullet in my head.”

I smile. “I like you, Yaromir. You really are a lot smarter than you look. Which is why I won’t be putting a knife in your throat. You want to try your hand at being don? Go ahead. I won’t interfere.”

“And our alliance?”

“It will remain in place.”

His jaw drops. “Why?”

I shrug. “Because I can build my empire without stealing yours. Unless you give me reason to, I won’t be picking a fight with the Ivanovs.”

Yaromir nods. “That’s fair.”

“I have to ask, though: given what you just told me, why would you want to keep the title?”

"Because I have a wife and children,” he sighs. “I also have more debt than I care to mention. I have to do what I can to dig my family out of the hole I’m in. Even if it means taking a job I’m unprepared for.”

I nod. “There are easier ways of getting out of debt, Yaromir.”

His expression turns guilty. “I won’t lie. The lifestyle is seductive.”