Page 10 of Corrupted Guilt

She has an angry, defiant look on her face. That won’t do.

I stalk closer to her until I’m an arm’s length away, looming over her. I step closer, forcing her to take a step back and I keep going, marching her backwards towards her bed to bring the message home to her.

“Do I scare you or are you worried you won’t be able to control yourself if I get too close? Or are you just leading me to your bed?”

“Why are you doing this? Making me go with you?”

“The partial truth is that your father ordered me to. That’s all you need to know. You get to leave here, you get to delay the marriage to Petya, you get a taste of that freedom you say you wanted. Be thankful and don’t ask for the truth.”

“Tell me the rest of it.”

“You must learn this lesson, don’t you? Next time I tell you that you don’t want the truth you’ll believe me. It’s a sharp lesson but necessary, I think. Last chance, Kat. Ask me and I’ll tell you.”

“What ... what’s the truth?”

“The only way to truly rid you of Petya is to marry someone else instead. Me, probably.”

She stares at me in disbelief. “You want me to marryyou?”

“It would make the transfer of power easier. We could continue with the Kolesova Bratva name, and honestly, I don’t care. I’ve spent the last four years trying to make that name mean something, despite your father, so I’m fine with keeping it.”

“Transfer of power?”

“The plan that was ruined tonight was overthrowing your father and taking leadership of the Bratva. With you around, I might have to kill you, and I didn’t want that. But marriage would work better.”

“I’m not going to marry a control freak ten times worse than my father. I wouldn’t ever marry you willingly.”

“I’m not giving you a choice. Your father is a terrible leader. I want this territory; I could make money with it. Petya knows that too, but I'm better than him, I can give you morethan him. My cock, for one, your freedom, for another. I’ll protect you at college, you’ll marry me, once Petya taken care of, and you are safe, then I’ll depose your dad and take over. You won’t have to ever come back.”

“Depose? You won’t kill him, will you?”

“I can’t promise that. There’s no retirement plan, no social security, no pension in this business. You rule until you die. Viktor must die.”

“You can’t get away with this,” she says again, it’s starting to get tiresome.

“More accurate would be: ‘Whatcan’tI get away with?’”

“He’s going to fight; the men will fight – ”

“No, he’s not. And none of the men are on his side. Anton and Maxim are my Vors, not his. And the captains below them are their men, not your fathers.”

“I’ll tell him, I won’t let you – “

“You can’t tell him because then you don’t leave. You stay. You marry Petya. Look, if it makes you feel better, you can change my mind with that lithe little body of yours…”

“I’ll tell him.”

“Will he believe you? There’s no great love between you two, and you’re smart enough to see he’s been mismanaging this territory for years. Petya and the changing his mind three times today, is a symptom of that, so is my ability to seize power. Nobody would be able to seize power from me, I wouldn't allow it. If not me, it’ll be someone else, Petya, someone. You walk away from all this at the end, safe and free and we have a little fun before that.”

“Marry you, though?”

“Look, I don’t need you. I can take your father and you out tonight – and I will if you’re stupid tonight. But the men will accept me easier if I’m married into the family. This was alwaysplan b, but I didn’t think it would be necessary. It’s not quite necessary, it just makes sense…”

She doesn’t answer. Her brow is furrowed but nothing, no argument comes to her. She knows how right I am. But will she accept it?

I walk to the door but pause, I turn back to her once more.

“This is an opportunity Katya, if only you choose to see it that way. This is your chance to start over. You’re a smart girl, always have been. My advice is to take this opportunity, grab it with both hands and don’t let go.”

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