Page 13 of Mafia Maiden

CHAPTERFIVE

I had been at the party for over an hour, and I was ready to go. My shoes were pinching my feet, and my stomach turned as I nursed my fourth bourbon. I had been avoiding my father as much as possible and had taken to seething in a corner as I watched the festivities.

“Pretty boring.”

I turned, startled that anyone would dare sit next to me. According to Natasha, I looked like I wanted to slit some throats. She wasn’t too far off.

“What do you want?” I snapped.

Sitting next to me was the guy from the bar. The asshole who had the nerve to question my drink order.

“Just wondering why you are sitting on the edge of the party?”

My brow rose. “Is that a come on?” I asked, my voice filled with snark. “Besides, I thought that you just said the party is boring.”

“It is.” I noticed that he ignored the first part of my question, but I decided that I would allow it to slide. For now, at least. There was something about this dude that felt oddly familiar.

Plus, he was totally hot. Like in a way that made me wonder if he was a model. I doubted it. If he was here, he was Bratva, and if he was Bratva that meant that he either worked for the family, or he was of use to the family.

Though the men of the family were granted more freedom, they were still there to serve the best interest of the Pakhan.

A part of me wondered who this man was, and while I wanted to ask, I did not want to give him the satisfaction of doing so. If I did ask, he would know that I was curious, and that would give him power over me.

And I would never allow any man to have power over me.

“You are awfully quiet considering you had so much to say earlier.” He leaned back in his chair and unbuttoned his jacket in a manner that made it appear as though he did not care where he was.

“What makes you think that you are worthy of my time?”

He chuckled, which was not the response that I expected. “You are quite feisty,” he said, and I could not tell if he was giving me a compliment or if he was exasperated by the fact.

Before I could say anything additional, my grandmother sauntered over. There was a large smile on her face that made me nervous. The women never smiled. In fact, she was normally the type who scowled permanently. I never knew my grandfather, but I wondered if he ever hated her. She could not have been a very warm bedfellow after all.

“I see the two of you have met,” she said, her voice uncharacteristically warm.

I looked over at the man who was sitting next to me. Who the fuck was this man?

“We have,” he said, getting up from his seat. He smiled at my grandmother, though I noticed that it seemed forced. “I thought that I might be able to coax Miss Ivanov out of the corner to join me on the dance floor.”

My brow rose. He had come over to antagonize me just as he had at the bar.

“Perhaps, you will have better luck with her than her father and I have had,” she said, her smiling slipping slightly when she looked over at me.

I felt myself growing frustrated at the way the two of them were talking to me.

“I am right here,” I reminded them, standing up with a huff.

“I do not think that anyone could forget your alluring presence, Miss Ivanov.” There was a small snide tone in his voice as he spoke. He was mocking me. My cheeks became hot with rage, and my clutch, which I’d held onto tightly, was heavy with the small gun I wanted to use on him.

My grandmother however did not share my sentiments, and she giggled like a schoolgirl at his words.

“I heard that you were a charmer,” she said.

I nearly vomited as I watched her place a weathered hand on his arm. “Be sure to come and say goodbye before you leave for the evening. After all, we are going to be family soon enough.”

She shot me a look, ignoring the absolute shock on my face. “Behave,” she warned.

I blinked rapidly as I watched her walk away, too stunned to speak. The man chuckled before turning back to me.

“She doesn’t think much of you,” he said. “Odd considering you are her granddaughter, but I suppose we can’t choose our family.” There was something dark in his voice as he spoke, and if my mind had been working correctly, I would have picked up on the fact that he obviously had his own family issues.

Instead, I looked at him, mouth agape as I began to put the pieces together. “Who the fuck are you?”

He chuckled once more, clearly taking delight in all of this. I suspected his identity, but I wanted it confirmed for myself.

“I’m Leo Petrov. Your future husband.”

---