Page 34 of Brazen King

“I say we release them with a message for theirpakhan,” I state, my smile widening.

Lance frowns as his blue gaze snaps in my direction. Though he doesn’t say a word. Still, the look says it all. It takes a lot to surprise my right-hand man, and he seems floored by my act of mercy—certainly confused at the very least.

I can’t say I blame him. This game of cat and mouse I’ve begun with Boris’s enticingly beautiful daughter is quickly escalating into something more meaningful than I intended. It’s dictating my actions outside my interactions with Natasha. And impacting the larger chess match I’ve set in motion.

But I can’t seem to stop myself.

Not when my actions now could very well lead to another late-night visit from a certain lethal assassin.

So, I lower into a crouch before our middle prisoner and meet his one good eye. “Tell yourpakhanthat I will stop harassing him if he gives me what I want,” I state cooly, bracing my elbows on my knees in a casual stance.

“And what do you want?” the man asks, his thick Russian accent somehow making him sound all the more skeptical.

“His daughter’s hand in marriage.”

14

NATASHA

It’s a beautiful day out. Which is why we stay in the rooftop garden long after breakfast is finished to enjoy the sunshine and the fresh scent of blooming roses, juniper, and lavender that mingle in the air.

The hint of a smile touches my lips as I listen to my mother coercing my father to take the entire day off. That he doesn’t spend enough time relaxing—and what’s the point of being in charge if he can’t leave his men to run things every once in a while.

“Perhaps I ought to start sending Tatiana to do more of my negotiations,” he says cheekily.

And though I don’t open my eyes from where I recline on my sun chair, I can just picture his playful smile directed at my older sister.

“I’m doing just fine with the concrete side of the business,” she points out matter-of-factly. “You said so yourself just last week.”

I slit an eyelid to catch the imperious way she tips her chin.

“No doubt,” he agrees. “But I would like to make sure you have that side fully in hand before we alter the chain of command?—”

“Maksim! What happened?” Mother gasps, cutting my father short as her hand jumps up to cover her lips. And from the concern etched in her features, I know something’s wrong.

Bolting upright on my lounge chair, I turn to look at my father’s trusted captain. One eye is nearly swollen shut, the opposite cheekbone a reddish purple. Several of his men hesitate behind him, all looking as if they were beaten with equal brutality.

“He was at the pub—along with that damn behemoth of a guard who’s like a second shadow. We must have interrupted a meeting because they outnumbered us nearly two to one. We managed to smash the place up a bit. But they were on us before we could get the job done.”

Maksim’s gaze flashes from my father to my mother, then quickly between me and Tatiana, like he’s uncomfortable speaking about business so openly in front of us. But he better get used to it, because someday, we’ll be the only ones to talk to.

That won’t be for years to come, though. It must be Killian’s taunts niggling at the back of my mind that make me more conscious of the future and what it will look like once my father’s gone. Certainly not as seamless as it is now. But I trust that Tatiana will make a finepakhansha. So long as she and I can stand our ground.

“Did we lose anyone?” Papa asks, his hand fisting on top of the patio table.

To my surprise, Maksim shakes his head. “We’re a bit worse for wear but all alive. He sent us to you with a message—he’ll stop harassing you if you give him your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

My heart skips a beat at the suggestion. And though he made the same proposal at the charity ball a few weeks ago, it strikes differently now. Now that I know what it might be like to end up the wife of the infuriating Irish mafia boss.

Would marrying him be the worst thing in the world?Maybe not, if it could stop the conflict that’s been weighing heavily on my father since that night. For the breadth of a moment, I open my mouth to say it might not be the worst alternative.

But before I can speak, my father rises from his chair.

And in a fit of rage, he turns the glass patio table upside down. Glass shatters across the paving stones of our rooftop garden. I jump at the unexpected display of temper that I’m not accustomed to seeing from my father.

Maksim and his men look no less shocked.

The color continues to rise in my father’s cheeks until he’s a brilliant shade of red. “That bastard will see me in my grave before I let him marry one of my daughters. All the parasites who think they can claim my girls will face the full force of my wrath. Killian King is scum, and I would sooner go to war with the Irish than eventhinkof forming a marriage alliance with that man.”

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