Page 37 of Soulless Rivalry

If I was right, then it meant Asher had broken Rhodes’s heart.

Royal too was missing tonight, but I had a feeling it was because he was too busy stalking the new girl.

“If one of you tries taking them from me again, I’ll fucking murder you.”

“Mom said no murders at school,” came in my oldest brother’s voice as he entered the Church.

We all turned towards him as he walked over to us, a small smile stretching his lips.

“Am I dreaming? Is that my favorite brother gracing us with his presence?” Mikhail grinned stupidly, letting his head fall back against the back of the couch idly.

“Fuck off.”

Dom sat down next to Asher, looking tired.

“What’s up?” I asked, noticing a tension around his shoulders and the way his fingers immediately started picking at the lint on the couch.

Those were signs that he was nervous and something was bothering him.

Dom and I had a pretty good relationship; I’d say out of all my brothers, he was the one I was closest to. I didn’t connect to him as much as I did with Dinara, but he came a close second.

His eyes found mine, probably a little surprised that I knew something was up, before he sighed and he too let his head fall back against the back of the couch.

“Just got off the phone with home.” He kissed his teeth. “I’m getting married this year.”

Silence stretched in the room, all of us taking a second to digest the news. That was unexpected.

As fucked up as our parents were, they believed in true love. They taught us from a young age to save ourselves for our second half, and told us we’d be glad one day to have kept some part of us for whoever that would be. All that bullshit.

So it had always been like a silent agreement that we’d get to choose our own partner. The so-called other half.

“What the hell?” Mikhail straightened, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees. “They’re forcing you to marry?”

Dominik winced. “Not really. They gave me a choice. Arsen Aronov wants to cement our alliances; he asked if I would consider marrying his eldest niece.”

Aronov was a Kazakh crime lord. Much like our family, he didn’t belong to one single organization but rather had them all depend on him for one thing or another.

“Why his niece? Why not his daughter?” Asher wondered, confused.

“Aronov does not have children,” Mikhail clarified for him. “His wife died during childbirth years ago and he never remarried or had any kids. He’s one of Father’s only friends, but I never would have thought he’d try to make official alliances.”

“He’s dying,” I concluded, looking at my eldest brother.

Dominik nodded slowly. “He is. Apparently, he’s been training her to take over his business but he knows if she does so unmarried, his men will turn against her and question her authority.”

“Why not have one of them marry her, then? You said he’s Kazakh, won’t the rest of his men be angry that she’s marrying outside her culture?”

Asher had all the right questions tonight.

“Probably, but they would be too scared to try anything if she’s with a Korolov,” I shrugged.

“So, you’ll do it?”

Dom closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously conflicted, while Mikhail looked at him intently, waiting for an answer.

If there was one thing to know about our oldest brother, it was that he would doanythingto please our parents. He chose to study business to take over Korolov Investments, our most lucrative legitimate business, even though he deep down hated it and wanted to work in art history and restoration. He followed instructions and rules to a fault, and was never too busy for our parents—or any of us, really. All in all, Dominik was like a golden retriever.

One that could kill you in the most excruciating ways without feeling bad about it, but a golden retriever nevertheless.

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