And how can I be so concerned about what he thinks already?
Eliott continues, unaware of my inner turmoil. “This hair needs a good cut and some highlights to bolster the body, but it’s thick and full and lustrous.” He makes a sound of approval. “What woman wouldn’t kill for hair like this.”
“Are you high?” I ask him, completely baffled by his admiration. “This is frizz ball hair to the nth degree. It’s hideous.”
“Oh, hush,” he says, playfully smacking my arm. “Sacrilege.” He snaps his gum and winks at me. “You wait to see what Eliott does for you.” He claps his hands over his head. “Come, team. Let us beautify the new bride.”Chapter 9TomasI don’t like being apart from her. Though I trust the men I’ve sent to guard her and I trust Yvonne, and I even trust Eliott and his team of men who should be with her now, after what happened in Atlanta, I want her where I can see her. Where I can touch her. Where I can throw my body over her to protect her if any harm comes her way. But I am pakhan, and I have business to attend to.
Yakov is in my office, one knee crossed over the other when I enter.
“Yakov,” I greet.
“Sir, how are you?” he asks. He wants to know how everything went. I fill him in about the wedding, briefly touch on Caroline, then tell him about the incident before we left.
“Bastard,” he says. “I hate Aren Koslov. I’m glad you took his sister. Arranged marriage aside, you probably rescued her.”
I don’t tell him that I agree with this suspicion.
“I’m not sure I trust her yet, though,” I tell him. “I’m keeping her under a watchful eye. She’s willful and disobedient, among other things.”
Yakov smirks. “Aren’t they all?”
I roll my eyes at him, but he only laughs. Yakov was commanded by me to take a wife from a virgin auction. He purchased Yvonne but has treated her with kindness and it shows. She’s dedicated to him, and clearly submissive. He’s throwing down the gauntlet. Men in our brotherhood don’t play by the rules.
“She’ll learn to obey you,” he says, sobering. Given what we do and where we rank, she’ll have no choice. A glint of humor lights his eyes. “And if you’re lucky, she’ll enjoy it.”
He fills me in on what’s happened in my absence and who to expect at this evening’s dinner. I check in on a few of our transactions and instruct him to clear Aren’s debt.
“Tomas, you know the rule, though, right?”
I nod. “Yeah. Consummate the marriage. Believe me, I know.”
Yakov nods but doesn’t pry. A prideful man like him would know that I don’t want to take my new wife by force. I’ll want her willing participation, though a little struggle is welcome. Anyone could take a woman by force. It takes a much stronger man to seduce her. I’m too proud, and I want her begging.
After going over everything I need to know, he leaves. I make the necessary phone calls for tonight. Lev, my brigadier, has made sure that food is prepared, the caterers coming this evening. He shows me pictures of the wedding cake he’s gotten me, and the reception hall decorated with pearly white balloons and flowers. It feels almost normal, that we’re celebrating our wedding reception this evening, and that I haven’t taken her against her will and brought her here in payment for her brother’s debt.
I spend over an hour going over details with Lev, answering calls and issuing commands for the security for tonight’s event. After Aren’s henchman threatened my girl, I’m not too thrilled that I’ll be taking her into a crowded setting. I want her alone. I want her to myself.
I want to own her.
I wonder if she’s afraid, and if so, what it is she fears most. Is she curious? Hopeful? Will she ask Yvonne how she came to be here, and what will she think of me when she does? But as a woman raised in Bratva life, I assume she will not be a stranger to our ways.
Several hours later, I’m ready to go to her and prepare for tonight, and when I reach my door, either side still flanked by guards, I hear voices talking within.
“Eliott and his team are almost finished,” one of the guards says. I nod and open the door. When I step in, a hush falls over the apartment.
I’ve taken women here before but none with any permanence. No one has even so much as spent the night in my bed. Now, not only do I have a woman with me, that woman is my wife. This is all new to me, and I’m not sure how much freedom to give her. The protection I’ve ordered is for her safety as well as supervision. She could run, though I wonder where she’d go. From what little I’ve gathered; I doubt she’d want to return to her home in San Diego.