I climb out, run my hands down my jacket, not a wrinkle in sight, then round the car to my wife. The title is still foreign to me. I’d vowed never to take a wife, but what Ivan decreed, I followed. Holding the door handle, I pull it open. Offering her my other hand, I wait.
Adelaide nibbles on her lip, hesitant to take my hand, but before a scene could be caused, her hand slides right into mine, exactly where it’s meant to be. I help her out of the car, place my hand at her waist, and head inside.
Ivan’s already at the table waiting. The maitre d’ leads us to the center of the room, where I’m surprised to see Slavik and his wife Aurora at the table. This isn’t my first visit with Slavik, nor will it be our last.
I shook hands with Ivan and then Slavik, before taking Aurora’s hand and giving it a kiss just to piss him off, in greeting. While I’m doing that, Ivan’s already moving Adelaide close to him. Aurora’s on one side, my wife on the other. He’s done it on purpose, the asshole, but I can’t say anything at risk of causing a scene.
“Now isn’t this nice?” Ivan said. “Two beautiful ladies here to eat dinner with.”
“I didn’t know this would be a family affair,” I said, looking at Slavik. He takes a swig of water.
Slavik and I don’t trust each other. We never have, but that’s our personalities. Surviving in this world is knowing you don’t have anyone at your back. I didn’t even trust Leo. People were fickle and could be easily swayed. The only person I did trust was the one person I swore my loyalty to-Ivan.
He’d given me the greatest gift of all. The ability to wipe out every single person in my family line, from my father, all my brothers, their wives, and beyond. The only living male heir with the Belov name is me.
“Surprises are all well and good,” Ivan said. “These two lovely ladies need to know each other. They got along so well at the wedding.”
I watch Adelaide, who offered Aurora a smile.
“Weddings do bring people together,” Slavik said.
Adelaide and Aurora might become friends, but not yet, and not now. I’m not sure of my wife’s loyalty to Volkov. She’s an outsider. She doesn’t know how the Bratva work, and until she has complete and total loyalty to me and Ivan, there will be no reaching out to others, not even Aurora.
Slavik has his own area to protect, and his place is not near mine.
I pick up the menu and chance a glance through it to see if there’s anything I want to eat. I’m a steak man, have been for a long time. All those years of diving in dumpsters, I vowed that one day I’d never do that again. Good food was a necessity. Adelaide reached for the menu, but Ivan took it from her. “I know this restaurant, sweetheart. Let me order for you.”
I gritted my teeth. Was he doing this on purpose? I was aware he liked to play between Aurora and Slavik, but that was their own business. They had a history.
Other than changing my bride against my wishes, Ivan, as far as I knew, had nothing to do with Adelaide in the past. In fact, at all the family dinners, my current wife was never present. Bethany and her parents never talked about the other member of their family. She never attended celebrity events and was often kept out of the media.
I knew why. They were ashamed of her, often referring to her as the Ugly One.
The name alone angered me, for Adelaide was in fact a beautiful woman. She had the sweetest smile and the sexiest laugh. I was surprised years of being put down hadn’t affected her, but seeing her tonight in that dress, I’d already noticed a dozen men looking at her. They wanted to bed my virgin bride, but none of them were getting within touching distance.
I had the overwhelming urge to pull my gun out and shoot them all right in the eyes. Blood had always been a lovely sight to me, and the day I painted my old family home red had been a joyful day.
Some would say I’m a little warped, but that is a kindness I don’t deserve. I know there’s a darkness inside me. It’s cold and part of me is dead inside. A man like me should never be near the innocence of Adelaide. For now, she’s safe. This is all new to her. I’ve not exposed her to the real me, but the moment she realizes what I am, she’ll hate me.
“She’ll have the steak,” I said.
Ivan chuckled. “Have you not gotten to know your wife?”
I clench my jaw. “Is there something wrong with steak?”
“I don’t like it,” Adelaide said after a few seconds of silence. “I never have.” She looked down at the table, avoiding my gaze.
“Then she’ll have the chicken,” I said. I do not want Ivan ordering for my woman. Adelaide is mine. There were plenty of other virgins out there in the world. He wasn’t having mine.
Ivan snorted.
Adelaide nibbled her lip. “I’m a … vegan. I don’t eat any kind of meat.”
“And that’s why, Andrei, I chose this restaurant. They have the best marinated tofu. I cater to all tongues, including your sweet wife’s.”
There is a great deal I don’t know about Adelaide, but a vegan? Why did he have me marry her? She would be eaten alive in this world. There was no room for her or for us. She was far too innocent and I knew I had no choice but to break her.
Adelaide
I didn’t announce my veganism to the world. What was the point? I wasn’t doing it out of protest. When I was younger I stumbled onto an expose documentary of what happened in the meat industry, and considering how much I loved animals, I stopped eating them. My mother loved the idea because I was on yet another diet in her eyes. Also, my parents didn’t cook.
We had a chef, who happened to love the challenge, and so I was fed really well, much to my mother’s annoyance. My weight fluctuated but I never changed my eating habits for weight loss. I like who I am. In fact, I love who I am.
Something Miss Nicole always said to me: “If you can’t love yourself, who do you expect to love you?”