Page 1 of Cruel Honor

Chapter

One

DIMITRI

Ifucked up.

Honestly, that’s pretty easy for me to do. Fucking up is my specialty. It only becomes a problem when the consequences come for me.

And right now, they’ve come for me.

“You need to marry my daughter,” Abram says, standing in the middle of my empty club with his arms crossed. He looks so out of place on the glitter-covered dancefloor. Abram is an old-school man. Balding at the top with some hair on the side. Spectacles that make him seem like he’s from the 1800s. And the old-fashioned belief that I need to marry his daughter because I fucked her.

Well, I also took her virginity, but it wasn’t anything to me.

It’s not my problem women flock to me. I just have a natural charm that makes me irresistible. Maybe it’s my smile or my dark hair or my general good looks. I’ve been called a pretty boy on multiple occasions. I don’t resent the moniker. It’s true. I’m a good looking man. It’s not arrogance when it’s reality.

But my looks mean women want to be with me. My power, too.

I’m a Bratva boss. There are multiple throughout the city of New York, and I just happen to be one of them. A lot of people know the name Dimitri Ivanov. I’ve made sure they know my fucking name.

Right now, though, my name, power, and good looks have gotten me into trouble.

See, I fucked Tatiana Sokolov, Abram’s daughter. I can’t help it that I found her hot, with her long blonde hair and little smirk. She was a girl looking for danger, and I was more than happy to oblige.

How was I supposed to know her father would be pissed that I took her virginity?

Granted, Abram is a traditional Bratva man. He believes that sex only comes after marriage and you only marry for political gain. The moment I fucked Tatiana, her worth went down.

I think that’s bogus, but what are you gonna do?

“I’m not going to marry anyone,” I respond, taking a sip of my scotch. The bar stool under me is a little wobbly. I’ll need James to take a look at it. My club needs to be perfect for anyone who visits. I pride myself on being a business owner.

Abram’s scowl deepens, his jowls quivering in anger. I can’t help but laugh, which only angers him more. “You defiled my daughter. You need to marry her.”

“Tatiana knew what she was getting into. It’s not my fault, Abram, that your daughter is a little slutty.”

He storms over to me. but I give him a look, daring him to try something. At the last moment, he backs off. The other two men he brought with him—Boris and Arthur—stand up straighter, looking nervous. Good. Anyone who comes into my club and threatens me should be nervous.

“Don’t speak about my daughter that way,” Abram hisses. “You need to do right by her. You need to marry her.”

“Um … sorry. No.” I tip the rest of my scotch back. It goes down smooth.

“Dimitri, you know our rules. Our customs. No man will want Tatiana now that she’s no longer a virgin.”

I snort. “She was barely a virgin when we fucked. I mean, sure, didI tear through that little piece of skin inside her? Sure. But she’d been with men before. There was no way she could have given me such a good blowjob otherwise.”

Abram’s face twists and turns into pure fury. It’s funny. He’s like a little round wind-up toy. “My Tatiana is the picture of innocence. Or she was until you took that innocence from her.”

I can’t help but laugh as I pour myself another drink. “I didn’t take anything. Tatiana came to me wanting a good fuck. I gave that to her. There’s no problem here.”

“You need to marry her, Dimitri.”

“Or what?” I lean back against the bar, giving Abram my best nonchalant look. “What are you going to do, little man?”

I can tell I’ve struck a nerve. Abram is short; there’s no denying it. The top of his head barely reaches my shoulders.

“I’m going to burn your beloved club down to the ground if you don’t marry her.”

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