Page 4 of Defiled Innocence

“Hold on, Carey.” I put a hand up and step toward Luther again. “Say that last bit again. What do I have to do?”

He swallows hard, like having said it the first time was hard enough, and he didn’t want to do it again.

“You have to marry. Specifically, you must marry Dmitri Dragunov.”

Dmitri

“You look tired,” I comment on my cousin’s appearance as Nikolai pours himself a drink from the bar in my office. “Being a father has worn on you.”

“It’s exhausting, but worth it.” A content smile touches his lips just before he pours two fingers of whiskey past them.

I only shake my head a little as I lean into my chair.

“I got a call from Roman this morning.” Nikolai takes the seat across from me. “It seems Yogi Kozlov is trying to make a move into New York.”

“The Kozlovs? They were sent back to Russia with their tails tucked between their legs, I thought. After what you told me what happened with Roman’s wife.”

Nikolai nods. “Yes, at first, they did. But it seems since my father has gone into retirement, Yogi thinks he can fuck around. His brother was the smart one of that family, and he’s gone now.” After what he did with Roman’s wife, he’s lucky there’s any Kozlovs left to be so stupid.

“Ah.” I steeple my hands. “Are they here in the States already, or on their way?”

“They have feelers out right now. I just wanted to make sure you knew about it. They won’t go to Boston, but these assholes think they can try for this city.” A darkness comes over hisexpression. “After what they tried to do to Roman’s wife, they’ve got some fucking nerve.”

I tense at the word ‘wife.’ It won’t be long now before I have one of those, too.

“They can’t be stupid enough to make a move here in the city. We have a large presence here; they’d be taken out the moment they showed face. Are you sure your information is solid?”

He frowns. “I am. I don’t want them in this city.”

I give a hard nod. “Agreed. If they try to set up here, or anywhere on the East Coast, we’ll burn them to the ground.”

No one touches what’s ours.

“I heard another rumor.” Nikolai smiles. “Arman told me, and I said he has to be wrong. No way this is true.”

He leans forward toward me, with the same playful tone as when we were young boys teasing each other.

“What gossip have you and your brother been whispering about on the playground?” I fist my hands in my lap, already knowing what’s coming.

I’ve only spoken to Arman about the situation I now face. He no doubt blabbed to his brother.

“You’re going to be married?” A chuckle escapes with the question.

“Did he explain everything or just that part?” I ask.

He laughs. “Oh, he told me the rest. You’re inheriting a wife that comes with a lucrative real estate empire. I mean, it makes sense, right. It will give you even more legitimacy here than the club.”

I drum my fingers on the top of my desk. Velvet Tower isn’t some dance club where early twenty-somethings come to get drunk and find someone to roll around the sheets with for the night. It’s the most elite multi-floor club in New York.

The first floor has a nightclub feel to it, with the most popular DJs from all over the world making appearances. The secondfloor requires a buy-in of ten thousand dollars to be given a tray of chips for a spot at the tables in our casino. The most elite of the floors is the third floor. VIP suites are rented out with extreme discretion.

We follow every state and city law. All zoning licenses, liquor licenses, and any other fee or license is kept up to date. There are no reasons for the government to put their eyes on this place.

Which makes it a good spot to hold meetings, such as the one I’m having with my cousin to discuss other business.

“It’s a business arrangement,” I explain, not that I have to. Marriage is inevitable, or so I’ve been told countless times. Marry, have children. No point in building the empire if there’s no one to oversee it once I’m gone.

My father passing away last year put a ticking timer on my mother’s patience for me to ‘take care of business.’

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