Dangerous Union

Chapter 9

Noah

I adjusted the collar of the white shirt I was wearing as I heard noises coming from the bathroom, especially the sound of a hair dryer in action.

With a sigh, I tied the watch to my wrist while looking at my mirror reflection. My crystalline blue eyes watched me as my head processed. I couldn't allow the waitresses' jealousy to push Irina to talk to her father and, consequently, to mine. I couldn't afford any of this.

I could not allow the maids to treat the future lady of the house that way. I had to find a solution as soon as possible.

I took the phone out of my pocket and sent a message to Alessandro, my right-hand man. He immediately replied with a thumbs-up emoticon.

As I put the phone back in my pocket, Irina came out of the bathroom. Her hair was down, and she swayed gracefully behind her shoulders as she walked over to the bedside table and touched the cell phone I had given her.

It was also a method to ingratiate her with me, of course. The little bird had lived all her life inside a gilded cage, and giving her a little freedom or at least the illusion of having some, would certainly have made her fall at my feet and become dependent on me. If I had shown her what only I could give her and no one else, she would not have wanted to leave for any reason in the world.

My dad should kiss my feet for this, I thought as I nodded at my reflection in the mirror.

Then I laid my eyes on her, bent over the bedside table, a few locks fell on her face, the blue dress she was wearing highlighted her physical shape. She stood straight and tied a bracelet around her wrist while I looked at her carefully. The sweetheart neckline of the dress perfectly showed off the breasts; she had bare shoulders and arms, and the thin shoulder straps made the bare skin stand out even more. The corset was slightly narrower and widened in the skirt just above the hips to mid-thigh.

At that moment, she turned around, turning her back to me. The back of the dress was tied in a showy bow at the back, forming an oval neckline that joined the skirt just above the curvature of the butt. He almost grunted.

I had never denied how beautiful Irina was, and this simply proved it.

And I certainly couldn't deny that at that moment, that traitor to my c**k, was standing at attention as if he was seeking his attention.

Shit. Traitorous bastard.

"I'm ready," she said suddenly.

I turned to look at her, hoping her attention wouldn't focus on the fly of my slightly swollen pants. We were supposed to go to dinner in the great hall. We usually never dined with all the men in the house or most of them; everyone dined when they could. But tonight, Dad wanted us all to have dinner together because of Irina's presence. He wanted to set the record straight with the men in the house so that they wouldn't get any closer to her.

I frowned, frowning, "What's the matter?" she asked, looking at herself.

"The hair?" I asked, frowning.

"What's wrong with them?" she asked, running a hand through the soft locks.

The women in our family usually wore their hair tied up. My mother implanted this kind of tradition in my sister, even though I found it futile. In the presence of all the men in the house, they usually kept their hair tied up, but the mere idea of letting her tie up her hair hurt me, and not a little.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. "I like them so loose," I added, and she blushed visibly before looking away and trying to take her cell phone. "You don't want to take it," I said, stopping her. "My father wouldn't appreciate you taking your attention away from him," I said, walking towards the door.

She rolled her eyes dramatically and followed me. As soon as she opened the door, one of the Russian bodyguards snapped to attention. I passed him by, standing to the side as Irina left the room.

In complete silence, we head together towards the stairs and go down to the ground floor, tailed by her bodyguard. Certainly I will have to create shifts in which there will also be my guards, I certainly cannot be seen as weak and in need of the protection of the Russians.

With a sigh, I put my hands in my pockets, and Irina followed me, taking a step before me, leaving me a view of her little body from behind.

Not bad.

I could do many things with her; perhaps I could even take advantage of her inexperience to instruct her as I like. A doll trained to give me unconditional pleasure. I nodded my head proudly at that idea. Maybe I could have already convinced her and teased her so that she was curious about s*x.

"Whatever idea I'm giving you looking at my ass", she interrupted the flow of thoughts and ideas, and I jumped. How the f**k did she do it? "Forget it," she added, looking over her shoulder.

I looked at her for a moment in amazement: "I think you're a f*****g witch," I said, upset.

She laughed and then turned around, continuing to look before her.

We arrived on the ground floor and together we went to the dining room.

Some men had arrived, and they turned to look at us as soon as we entered. Some of them looked almost ravenously at Irina, and I glared at them. I put my hand on the base of her back, touching her exposed skin, and walked her to the end of the table. My place was to my father's right, while my mother was to the left. Both were already seated while my sister and brother were missing.

I moved the chair next to mine and made it sit while I sat beside my father. I rested an arm on the back behind me and began to tap my fingers rhythmically on the table. My mother looked at me grimly and then placed her gaze on Irina, who was looking around, observing the men who gave her dirty looks.

"Then, Irina," said my mother cordially, and she looked at her with those blue eyes clear as the sky. "I saw that they have already brought your things," said my mother, resting her elbows on the table and crossing her fingers in front of her face. Her red lacquered nails were long and shiny, as were the rings and jewels she was wearing.

Irina nodded, placing her hands on the table. "My stepmom took care of preparing my stuff," she said.

"Ah yes, Juliette is a very caring woman," my mother said.

"Yes, a lot," said Irina cordially. I don't know why, but she managed to notice a pinch of irony in her voice.

Her stepmother had packed a suitcase full of sexy underwear, and I imagined what kind of care she had for her. Not that I disliked the linen, on the contrary. But Irina was sorry that she found herself in a cage to be thrown into a man's bed without having any experience and with a female figure who I don't think has ever given her who knows what attention or female education.

"I guess it wasn't easy to grow up without a female figure," my mother continued, and Irina simply shrugged her shoulders,

"To find it strange, I would have had to know what it was. But I never met my mother; I don't even know what the relationship between a mother and daughter should be like, so it wasn't difficult," she said honestly.

My mother looked at her for a long moment: "It's true," she admitted later.

I bit my lower lip not to laugh while my father looked at Irina. "I hope everything went well with the arrangement," he said. Irina looked at him in silence, and I froze.

Fuck if he talked about the maid, I was f****d, extremely f****d. Finally, Irina sighed and nodded, "Everything is perfect," she said, and I almost breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe I should have kissed her hand because she had saved my ass at that moment.

Finally, my brother and sister arrived. One sat beside Irina, and the other beside my mother. Mia's cheeks were flushed, and her eyes shone brightly, and I almost didn't vomit.

I gave her a disgusted look, and she just gave me a mischievous smile.

After a few minutes, more men entered, Carlos was adjusting his hair back and his cheeks were also slightly reddened.

My sister liked our bodyguards. She didn't really care how old they were, as long as they f***s was her. Although I covered this many times, I never asked any questions.

If Dad had found out, she would have gotten into trouble, but luckily for her, Dad had never noticed her escapes from the guards' rooms for the time being.

Mia looked around while Lorenzo introduced himself to Irina and began talking to her, trying to charm her as he did with any other woman who had walked before him. It was usually used to take them to bed. I looked at him grimly, and his eyes lit up with pure joy.

To interrupt the moment there was my father who stood up and everyone was silent.

"I have gathered you here tonight," he said in an almost divine voice, and I rolled my eyes. "To welcome the new member of this family," he said, then turning to Irina, who in the meantime, had the face of someone who wanted to bury himself as deep as possible. I sighed and remained silent while my father continued his long-winded speech. "Irina Volkov will be very present in this house from now on, and I expect you to treat her as if she were my daughter", she continued.

God, please do not. I said mentally that God granted her the treatment Mia is. The b***h must have read my mind because she immediately gives me an evil smile.

"My son's union with Irina will greatly benefit our family and our business," Dad continued, and I glared at my sister.

I didn't listen to the rest of the pantonomy he was pulling up, too busy watching Mia who seemed about to burst out laughing. When my father was finally done with his violins, the maids served us dinner, placing the pasta in front of us.

Irina took her glass of wine and gulped it down in a single gulp and I looked at her out of the corner of my eye, while she put the glass back down and began to eat.

At the table the conversations continued as usual, I did not intervene much because I was not interested, I limited myself to staring at Irina from time to time and checking the gaze of our men, paying attention to those who looked at her more than they should.

Almost at the end of dinner, many men had returned to their seats. I relaxed in my chair, a glass of cognac in my hand, while Irina sank the teaspoon next to me into the tiramisu they had prepared for dessert.

The glass doors opened wide, and the door appeared that f*****g head of my cousin.

Franco looked around and then laid his eyes on Irina, an almost sadistic smile on his lips, before entering and closing the door behind him.

"Gentlemen," Franco said, putting his hands in his pockets and advancing quietly towards the point where we were.

He walked over to my mother and bent down to kiss her on the cheek. Mia shuddered, stood up, said goodbye, and walked away. Franco sat next to my mother and gave a winking smile to one of the waitresses, and I found myself rolling my eyes.

"I apologize for the delay; I was detained in one of the clubs," he explained.

"We hadn't even noticed your absence", I commented sweetly.

Lorenzo choked on the wine and lowered his face to hide the laughter that was about to come out of him.

"Ah, cousin," Franco said, rolling his eyes, "I don't think that's the way to behave in front of a guest," he said, shifting his gaze to Irina, who at that moment looked up from her tiramisu and pointed it at Franco, who gave her what must have been his most dazzling smile.

"I think I have to welcome you to the family. I am Franco. I am sure you will greatly appreciate my presence in this house. It could also be comforting," he said to her, extending his hand.

Irina looked down at his outstretched hand and then brought it back to him, frowning. "Would you be?" she asked in her angelic voice.

"Franco Bianchi, probably your future cousin," he said bewitchingly.

Irina looks at him for a moment. "I didn't even know you existed," she says, then starts to eat again.

I opened my eyes wide and burst out, then disguised my laughter with a cough and took my glass. Irina went back to her tiramisu as if nothing had happened while Franco visibly gritted his teeth.

I knew what my cousin's idea was. He wanted to seduce her, and he wanted to have a way to lure her into his web as if she were a f*****g spider.

Franco always wanted everything that was mine. He always wanted to be the first child, the heir, and my responsibilities. He never accepted being the son of the second child. According to him, he deserved more. According to him, my father should have chosen him as heir and not his own son. Now, I could very well understand what he was trying to do, what he wanted, or rather who he wanted.

He wanted Irina.

He wanted her because she was mine. After all, our marriage would give me more importance because it was a challenge my father made for me to see if I was worthy of the throne. And he terribly wanted me not to be worthy, and surely ingratiating himself with Irina would have confirmed it for him.

I gritted my teeth and looked at Irina. "Finished?" I asked her and she looked at me, and then nodded "With permission" I said to the diners and then stood up, pulling back the chair.

Irina imitated me and pulled herself up. She greeted politely and then preceded me. I placed a hand on the base of her back and led her up the stairs, which she then slowly and silently climbed.

"Your cousin is an asshole," she said without looking at me.

"I can only agree with you" I replied with a sigh "He has always been envious of what I had and what I have" I added.

"Is it your way of telling me to stay away from him?" asked Irina, looking over her shoulder.

"It's my way of telling you to be careful," I said, then I grabbed her by the elbow on the second floor's landing. "Franco has always wanted everything that was mine," I said, looking her straight in the eyes. "My position, my friends, my father"

"Your women?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, and I shook my head.

"Now he sees you as a way to reach that position, my position. His main job is to destroy me, to prove that I am not worthy, and he will surely use you to do it," I said in all honesty.

"Are you afraid that I will turn against you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes to two slits. "Or that I might like him more than you?" she added.

I laughed, "This is impossible," I said.

She detached herself from my grip and approached. I was one step lower, and she almost reached my height, but even being higher than me, I was able to surpass her by a few steps.

"I'm not stupid enough to be manipulated by people. I don't know what you can believe or think of me, and honestly, I don't give a damn. You don't know me, and if you think I'm a poor stupid girl who can be manipulated just because of how I lived... You're so wrong. I won't need your cousin, the asshole, to understand that you are an asshole too; I just have to look at you," she said.

Then she turned abruptly and quickly, and her hair almost slammed in my face. I looked at her almost ecstatically as she climbed the stairs to the third floor. I licked my lips as the desire to bend her there on those stairs showed up in my body.

Oh yes, she had character.