Page 72 of Venomous Vows

She drives me crazy. And when I meanshe, I mean the woman who frequents my thoughts constantly. Elena won’t budge. Her pride speaks for her and I’m about done with this back-and-forth bullshit.

I won’t. You don’t have to worry your pretty little head about that.

Yeah, well, it doesn’t solve my fucking problems with what I told you yesterday. I have a duty I need to fulfill, already agreed with Kira’s father about the wedding, and now I have to use her for my gain while she openly knows it.

That’s the easy part.

The other part is that, even though Kira is aware of what’s expected of her as a mob wife, I don’t trust her. She’s new, part of another mafia, and I don’t take in strays. Kira will be the closest thing to my family and organization on the inside, and it doesn’t sit right with me.

However, I can’t get Elena to change her mind, and forcing her has popped into my head several times.

I should just do it.

She’ll get over it, eventually. I could do what I’ve always done and bully her into a situation that she can’t get out of.

Like her being your mistress. One that you still haven’t fucked yet.

“You drink any more today, Adrian, and you’re not gonna be up for that warehouse run you wanted to do.”

I don’t turn my head toward my brother. Don’t bother to take my focus off the sky as I lift my drink to my lips again and contemplate my options. My father took a wife, arranged marriage and all that shit, so mine with Kira should be fine.

“What’s got you fucked-up, brother?”

You know.

Zane isn’t blind. He saw my seething rage when I discovered that Elena had bypassed my security and outsmarted them. And while I was deeply proud of her for pulling it off, I would’ve kept it that way if it wasn’t me she was trying to evade.

“How do you think we should take out The Disciples?”

Zane comes up to my side then, looking up at what I am, and sighs. “Getting rid of a bunch of bodies is going to be a lot of work. We could always pin it on that other gang from the town over.”

“Too many cops.”

“Turning them in isn’t going to be any better. I say we just make them disappear.”

“How?”

My brother shifts his feet. “You’re talking about getting rid of a whole gang, Adrian. It’s not going to be clean. It’s not like we can blast them out of the water and let the sharks handle it.”

“That would be ideal.”

“Have Kira’s father handle it in good faith. It could also be your wedding present.”

“I don’t think my soon-to-be wife would appreciate giving her father something where he could catch a charge.”

“You don’t want her to be your soon-to-be wife anyway,” Zane retorts with a scoff. “So who the fuck cares?”

I crane my head over to him, but he doesn’t return the motion. “She won’t do it.”

“Do what?”

He’s going to make me say it. My brother always makes me draw out my feelings and makes them vivid colors in the air.

“Elena.”

“Is safe now,” he conveys, as if I didn’t know. “When this is all done, everything will go back to normal.” He glimpses over at me. “Unless there’s something else.”

I scowl at him. “Like what?”

---