Page 113 of Under Control

My beautiful, clever wife.

We join Anton at the other end of the alley and leave the Armenians in our wake.

Let them kill each other. I don’t give a fuck anymore.

Sirens blare in the distance. The restaurant’s truly on fire now. Smoke pukes into the sky and flames lick up from the roof. I walk on, away from the death and the fighting, across the parking lot toward my car.

Karine gets out and runs to me.

“I told you to stay inside,” I say, wrapping my arms around her.

“I guess I don’t always listen,” she says.

I bruise her mouth with a possessive kiss, claiming her for mine, daring anyone to complain.

Nobody does.

“Time to go,” Anton says as the sirens come closer.

“Is Arsen okay?” Karine asks once we’re driving away from that mess.

“He’s alive and his father is dead. But is he okay?” I shake my head, and I honestly don’t know how to answer.

But none of that matters to me anymore. Arsen’s in the past.

Karine’s my future.

“Whatever happens now, it’s up to him to figure out.” I take her hand and squeeze it tight as I drive away from Baltimore.

Chapter 43

Valentin

Five Months Later

I walk slowlythrough the garden in the back of the mansion. Winding gravel paths lead between the big, blooming flowers.

Oleg Fedorov walks with me. The old man seems diminished now, like the winter took a lot of energy out of him.

“I hear your daughter’s still on the run,” I tell him, trying not to smile as I say it. “What’s her name again? It’s funny, I was going to marry her, and now—” I gesture in the air as if she turned into a ghost.

He glares at me. “Yes, Natalya is still missing, but she’ll be back.”

“Natalya, that’s right. Well, thank your daughter for me, will you? Without her, I never would’ve married Karine.”

“I suppose you’re lucky then. I have plans for my daughter, however, and I was hoping you’d give me your approval.”

“We can discuss that another time, but I’m open to your ideas.”

He smile slightly and his expression softens. “There’s talk about your wife, you know.”

“I don’t like talk about Karine.”

“Nothing bad, don’t worry. The brigadiers are just beginning to wonder when you’re going to make an heir.”

“What, we can’t enjoy being newlyweds?”

“No, unfortunately. You’re thepakhan. That isn’t how it works for you.”

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