Page 15 of Married with Blood
Being handed over like this, set up in an arranged marriage on a whim?
That was exactly the kind of impulsive shit that Arturo would do. Not thinking things through. Grasping at any idea that popped up.
Frowning as I hung my head, I let out a long exhale and wished this weren’t happening. It was always a possibility. I didn’t need my brother to explain that I’d likely be married off sooner orlater. Nor did I wish for him to remind me that I held no power in this male-dominated organization.
I knew that.
Painfully.
Annoyingly.
With a cringe.
I was well the fuck aware that I had no power as a woman in this Cartel, or any others.
But I hadn’t woken up this morning with any hunch that my brother’s latest fuckup would mean such a drastic alteration tomylife. Usually, he’d screw something up and count on me to smooth it out.
How will I do that now?
How can I make sure he doesn’t ruin this place and this family now if I’m not here?
He could try to spin this as an assignment for me, that I could spy on the Volkovs for him. And that was true. I could.
But why bother?
He clearly didn’t give a damn about maintaining this partnership with them. If he did, if he valued the trade deal that our father established with Dmitri Volkov, he wouldn’tneedto spy on an ally.
He’s already got it in his head to shop around, to form an alliance with someone else.
Shaking my head slowly, I tried not to let my worries get the best of me. It was impossible. Because I knew. I knew better. There were no other lucrative deals to be made right now. There were no other powerful families who could be trustworthy like the Volkovs had always been. In this competitive underground world of smuggling, trust was a hard commodity to come by.
He just doesn’t get it.
And his best fix to getting caught screwing over the Bratva with their shipment was to foist me to them in a hasty arrangement for marriage?
Fuck this.
I let my head fall back as the warm, steamy water pattered down to massage my face instead.
Fuck him.
As soon as he screwed up so badly that I’d need to come back somehow, until I could find a way out of this marriage and return here, to my home, to make sure my family’s organization didn’t crumble, I had no option but to go along with it.
That was the resounding goal that I kept as a mantra in my mind.
Play along for now.
I had to. The Volkovs had likely arrived sometime while I was stalling in the shower. There was no escaping it now.
Just go there and make the most of it. See what you can find out about them.
Drying off slowly as I stepped out of the shower, I snorted a mirthless laugh. Spy on the Volkovs? There was no point.We weren’t trying to hurt them or take over their empire. We operated as laterals in different regions. Spying on them would do Arturo and the Cartel no good.
Smile and shut up. And wait until there is an opportunity to leave.
Because that was the most grounding notion I could cling to. I didn’t belong up in the States or near Las Vegas. My role wasn’t to be some passive thing for a husband, regardless of what powerful family he was from.
Marriage was no doubt my sentence in life, but now? It was cruel, ill-fated timing when I couldn’t trust my brother not to bring the Cartel to ruin.
