Dangerous Union

Chapter 4

Noah

Dinner had gone well. People were talking to each other, and I couldn't take my eyes off Irina.

She must have noticed it because every now and then, she gave me a few glances. At first, they were to study me, almost fascinated. Then they began to be annoyed by my inquisitive gaze until she began to bang the cutlery or glasses harder than normal, annoyed by my look on her.

It almost made me laugh. Although it may seem perfect, I am sure that under it there is a proud soul, and I can only consider myself curious to find out.

At a certain point I got up and went to the bar, I could no longer hear the ravings of my cousin who tried to convince my father to get him to God only knew what.

I rested my elbows on the counter and ordered another piece of tape.

"I've thought about it," said a voice next to me, and I almost jumped. Then, I turned my head to watch Camila sit on the stool next to me. "A Cosmopolitan," she ordered.

"About What?" I asked her as I got my drink.

"To what you told me today", she continued looking at me, her doe eyes, her red and inviting lips that only asked to stick my c**k in the middle of it. "And I think we can find a solution," she said, and I frowned. "I know you are not the one who has been with the same person for a long time, and I understand it, but we don't need to close; I can share you. If you want to f**k others, you can do it, you have my blessing," he said.

I shook my head and took a sip. "It's not about that, Cami", I said, looking before me.

"So what?" she said almost exasperated "I don't understand, until last night you were inside me, Noah, and today you come out with this bullshit, explain to me why" she said.

"I just can't anymore" I said with a sigh, I didn't have time for that bullshit, if my father had seen me in the company of Camila he would have been furious.

"I don't want to leave you", she said and reached under the counter, grabbed my c**k from above my pants and squeezed it, making me jump. "I don't want to lose you", she said, blinking and biting her lower lip. "What we have... us, it's important to me," she said again.

I grabbed her hand and took it away from her. "There is no us, Cami. No more. I can't, and this is the end. Accept it and move on," I said with a sigh.

Her eyes became shiny, and I shifted my gaze so as not to have to see, catching a blond glimmer on the other side of the counter. I watched Irina, followed by a bodyguard, take the glass of white wine the bartender handed her. She gave him a friendly smile and then turned around, returning to her table.

She passed by me, and I turned my head to follow her with my gaze until she sat down beside her father again.

"Now I understand,", said Cami, and I remembered that she was there too; I shifted my gaze and saw her brown eyes blaze. "And for her? Do you want to f**k her now?" she asked, full of anger.

I rolled my eyes as I remembered my father's words: no one was to know about that union until there was the signed contract. "I don't know what you're talking about. Stop being paranoid. We had fun for a while, nothing more, nothing less. I have never proposed eternal love to you."

"No, but you said you would propose an alliance with my father."

"And I did; he's not interested, period. I did it only because you were the one I was most interested in in terms of alliances and because I liked to f**k you. There's no need to fake Cami; you know very well that there could be no future between you and me. I'm just doing something inevitable," I said, shrugging.

Then I walked away from the bar and returned to my seat, in time to see my father stand up and go to the private room. I sighed and watched Vladimir Volkov kiss his daughter on the forehead and one on his wife's cheek, then nod his head to two bodyguards and get up to the private room.

I put my hands in my pockets and walked towards the room. My bodyguard chased me, so I turned around and told him, "Check Irina Volkov," and then entered the room.

I took a seat next to my father at the head of the table while the other bosses sat down one after the other.

"Well, gentlemen," my father said, placing a hand on the table, "we can begin."

******

The next hour passed faster than usual. I never intervened in the discussions between the bosses; I just listened and studied the men around the table so that, when my time came to take the reins of the family, I was ready to face them.

The discussion had moved from the trafficking to the clubs to the division of the territories. The bosses were one more irascible than the other, but my father had managed to keep calm and had reached the conclusion of that meeting.

"I have a question," said Adrian Klaskov, his blue eyes focused on Vladimir, who seemed impatient to leave as soon as possible.

Vladimir raised an eyebrow, confused.

"If so, I have one too," replied Lopez of the Mexicans, and so did all the others.

"Silence!" said my father slamming his fist on the table "We're not in a f*****g market" he said.

"Almost," Smith muttered.

"What do you mean?" asked my father, snorting.

"Vladimir brought his only daughter, and we know very well why," Smith said.

"I didn't take her with me so you could compete on her," Vladimir replied angrily.

"No, you brought her because she has reached the right age, and you want everyone to see her so that you can receive the best offer for her" replied Smith. He was part of the English, the ones I hated the most. "And you have attracted the attention of many here", he continued, pointing to the men at the table who looked at Vladimir, almost foaming at the mouth "It was a matter of time before offerings rained down on you from heaven."

I remained impassive, even if I clenched my hands under the table in a fist.

I was part of that world, yes, but that didn't mean that I approved of their brutal methods, especially as far as women were concerned.

They were always treated like pieces of meat to be sold to the first bidder. For that reason, many girls of my age preferred to gain experience when we were in high school so that they had already had a taste of what life was like before being locked up at home to churn out children.

Something that would never have happened under my control.

"Let me make one thing clear," Vladimir said suddenly, lethal. "I didn't bring my daughter here to be taken as a piece of meat, and I certainly won't give her to someone who considers her as such."

"But if someone... should capture her interest?" intervened Viktor Terekov, the heir of the Terekovs.

"It will be up to her," said Vladimir, looking at him coldly.

Viktor smiled smugly. I could already see the wheels in his head rotating. I exchanged a glance with my father, who nodded to me. I took out my cigarettes, put one in my mouth, and then left the room undisturbed with my hands in my pockets.

After that, I looked around for the blond hair. I was in time to see her come out, followed by her bodyguard, so I began to go towards the exit.

Once in the open air, I looked around, looking for her with my eyes.

"It almost sounds like you're looking for someone," said an angelic, persuasive voice.

I turned around and found her sitting on the steps of the back door, her head bent to the side. Behind her, the bodyguard was smoking a cigarette.

"You shouldn't be out here alone," I said, arching an eyebrow.

"I'm not alone," she said, pointing to the bodyguard who was still smoking.

"He doesn't seem very attentive to me," I commented as I approached.

I stopped before her and leaned with my shoulder on the wall while I lit my cigarette under Irina's gaze.

"Sergei can knock you to the ground even before you take a breath," he commented calmly.

He replied something in Russian, then looked at me "Of course" he then replied in English.

"And yet let someone come closer," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Sergei knows exactly who you are, as do I, Noah Bianchi," my name said in a forced Russian accent, and I shivered all over my body.

"I didn't expect anything less, Irina Volkov," I said her name, stroking it with my tongue. I saw her shiver before looking down. "Does this mean that I am allowed to talk to you?" I asked, pointing to the space next to her.

"Apparently," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

I approached and sat down. She encircled her knees with her arms and kept as much distance as possible from me while I inhaled my cigarette. "Your presence here has upset many and captured the attention of others," I said, fiddling with the cigarette.

"It certainly wasn't what I expected. But I understand why my father preferred to keep me away from all this," she said, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"You can't stay away from this world" I commented.

"You can try," she replied, "until they arrange your marriage. " She sighed.

"I could be offended," I said, mocking her.

She snorted and remained silent and I sighed "There are few people in this world who marry whoever they want" I said later.

"Your parents seem happy," she said.

"They have learned to be", I replied. "They have become a kind of team, but their marriage has been arranged. They saw each other for the first time in church," I continued, and she shivered. "It could have been worse."

"Like?" she asked

"My father has never mistreated my mother; since I can remember, he has always treated her with respect. Not all mafia men are like that. I've seen women come to events like this and keep their eyes down the whole time, and others try to cover their black eyes with makeup."

"So I should feel relieved? Because you are as respectful as your father?" she asked defiantly, and I giggled as I looked at her out of the corner of my eye.

"Maybe?" I said, arching an eyebrow, and she rolled her eyes. "I mean, many of the men in there wouldn't even stop to talk to you but would just make you their own", I said honestly, and she shuddered. "How old are you?" I asked her suddenly.

She looked at me, her eyes confused by my question. "Nineteen", she said, f**k if she was young. "You?" she asked me.

"Twenty-four," I told her, and she raised an eyebrow.

"You looked at me as if I were a child, and you are only twenty-four. Do you think you are fifty?" she asked suddenly, and I was amazed.

"Do you read minds?" I asked her, frowning.

"You don't need a magician to understand what one thinks", she said, snorting, and I laughed. "Expressions are enough", she continued.

"I'm very good at camouflaging my expressions," I said proudly.

"Given the environment of origin?" she asked with fake sweetness. "Apparently not enough."

I laughed again; it was amusing. "You seem to know the men of this world very well," I commented.

"On the contrary. This is the first evening that I find myself in the midst of so many Mafiosi," she commented, looking straight ahead.

"And what do you think?" I asked her curiously.

"I would have preferred to stay home, but then I would have missed Juliette, who flirts with everyone."

"Juliette?" I asked her

"My stepmother," she said, shaking her head.

I laughed: "Maybe she was trying to draw attention to herself," I commented.

"Believe me, she doesn't need it," she said.

Instead, I thought she needed it since the attention that evening was on Irina.

The restaurant door opened, and Vladimir Volkov went out into the open air. His gaze was fixed on us, sitting on the steps. Immediately, the bodyguard, Sergei, was down the steps with his back straight.

"It's time to go," Vladimir said, looking at his daughter. Behind him came his wife, Juliette, who studied there momentarily.

Both were sitting on the steps, alone and close together. Her mind processed. I saw the moment her wheels began to spin, and then she smiled widely before slipping her arm into her husband's.

Irina stood up, and I did the same while the other bodyguards went to get the car. Vladimir slowly walked away from us.

"Well," I said, shrugging my shoulders as I looked at her, "I think we'll see each other again soon," I told her.

She looked at me for a moment, "Apparently," she said, and then gave a smile that she immediately hid.

Before she turned around, I leaned over to her and kissed her cheek. Her sweet scent invaded my senses and clouded my mind. Her skin was soft, and all I wanted to do was keep her closer. I closed my eyes and fumbled in its scent, feeling inebriated. Then I opened them abruptly, and I stood up straight.

I walked away, and she looked at me for a moment that seemed endless before waving to me and turning around to go towards her father, who opened the door for her. She didn't even deign to look at me as she got into the car, but I stood staring at the car with tinted windows as it drove off and out of the parking lot.

"So?" my father asked behind me.

"Everything is normal," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "The meeting?" I asked.

"I'll have to talk to Vladimir tomorrow and probably anticipate everything. Too many people have set their eyes on her, and it won't be long before Volkov has a better offer," he said, heading towards his car. "If you have made a good impression on her, we are on horseback," he commented.

I sighed and walked away to go towards my Audi. I didn't know if I had made a good impression on her, but she certainly had made a good impression on me.