Page 12 of Cinder
Viktor completes his circling and directs his unsettling gaze on my brother. “She is good,” he says in a thick Russian accent.
Behind his desk, my brother looks proud of himself. “Of course she is, Viktor; she is from Moretti stock.”
Viktor brings his gaze back to me, but I refuse to meet his eyes.
“And you are a virgin, girl?” he asks me.
I want to scream at him to go fuck himself. But now is not the time to make moves. Not when I don’t have a clear planout, one that involves taking my sister with me, and one that involves getting out with both our heads attached to our necks.
“She is,” my brother answers for me. “She’s never been in a position not to be.”
Unfortunately, that is true. My father was strict, but his strictness was out of love. My brother has been even stricter, but it is out of greed.
“Then I have one more task to see if you will make a good pakhan’s wife. A test to see if you are smart enough and strong enough to carry the Olicheckoff name. If you do this successfully, then you will become my wife.”
Across the room, Luca clears his throat. “Not before you pay me the ten million dollars.”
Viktor pins Luca with a glare. “She passes this test, and you will get your money. But if she fails, then you will not get a penny from me, Mr. Moretti.”
“Now hold on a minute?—”
“They are my terms. You want the ten million, or you don’t. If you do, there is only one way to get it. She completes this task successfully.”
Luca looks like he wants to throw a tantrum, but he is weak and no match for the head of the Olicheckoff Bratva, and he knows it. As much as he likes to think he is the alpha dog in every situation, he simply isn’t.
“What is the task?” he asks with an edge to his voice.
“Have you heard of the Knights of St. Boniface?” Viktor asks.
Luca scoffs. “Everyone has heard of them.”
“Tomorrow night there is a party. The girl is to attend.”
The girl being me.
“For what purpose?” Luca demands to know. He has never let me out of his sight to attend anything, let alone a party at the legendary Knights of St. Boniface clubhouse. He has no control there.
“The club runs a multimillion-dollar Fantasia trade. I plan to take control of it and turn it into a billion-dollar trade.”
Again, Luca scoffs. “That trade is closely guarded. People have tried to take it over in the past but have failed.”
“The Olicheckoff do not fail,” Viktor drawls.
“Of course they don’t. I mean no disrespect. But everyone knows the Fantasia berries are protected. The recipe is a century-old secret.”
“All these things you say are things I already know. That is why my future bride is going to attend the party and find me that recipe. Rumor has it the original recipe is in an old book in the library. Scribbled on the inner cover.”
I frown. He wants me to break into a library?
“The recipe is useless without the berries, and the only surviving crop is within the guarded grounds of the clubhouse,” Luca tells him.
Viktor looks unimpressed at being told something he clearly already knows. “I see you have familiarized yourself with the Knights of St. Boniface Fantasia trade.”
“Of course, it is something I have considered myself,” Luca says with bravado.
“Hmmm,” Viktor says. “But you never did anything about it.”
“Well, there were other matters that needed my attention.”
