“Not yet,” her father said. “You’ll make it so. That’s what women do.”
It was an outdated view of the word, but she didn’t bother correcting him. “Maybe with time.”
He was silent for a long moment. “You could still have the marriage annulled, if that’s what you wish.”
She took a deep breath. She could go back to her life, move back to the house. She could pass her days playing piano and reading, wandering the garden, discussing business with her father.
But what would be the point? The reason she’d spent all those years discussing business with her father, the reason he’d discussed it with her at all, something that most pakhans would deem highly inappropriate for their daughters, was for a moment like this one.
A moment when she would agree to marry Lyonya Antonov, when she would stand at his side and ensure the Baranov name continued to inform the bratva into the future.
She had a flash of Lyonya’s face, dark and violent, as he towered over her.
When I take you — and I will take you — you will be begging for my mouth on your clit, begging for my cock inside you.
Her face grew warm, desire pooling between her thighs.
That was the thing she couldn’t say to her father, the thing she could barely admit to herself: she wanted Lyonya Antonov, wanted to know what it felt like to be a vessel for all that power and fury.
And she wanted what he offered her too, wanted the power she could claim at his side. She was already making her own plans, had already initiated her first move.
Lyonya knew nothing of it yet. But he would.
“No.” She smiled to reassure her father. “It’s fine. I’m fine. It’s just an adjustment. I’ll settle in.”
He squeezed her knee. “I know you will.” He stood and looked down at her, his eyes sharp with knowledge. “You will always be my darling,moya zolotaya,but you are also a woman, a queen. Now, conquer your kingdom and take your place on the throne.”
She nodded, but in her mind, she knew it wasn’t that simple. To conquer the kingdom, she would first have to conquer the man who would be king.
And that wasn’t going to be as easy a task as she’d expected.