Page 71 of Little Fury

My inner voice tells me not to push him, but I’m not listening to her. Miss Bennett’s voice echoes in my head,“Always listen to your instincts,”but I’m not listening to her either at the moment. I grab Marcus by the hair and force him to look at me.

“Are you still my best friend?”

“Yes,” he replies.

“Have our end goals changed?”I ask, tightening my hold on his hair.

“No,” he hisses.

“When have we ever said I would work for you? When have I ever said I would work for the Sokolovs in any capacity?”He says nothing.

“When?” I ask, pulling his hair tighter.

“Never.” he grounds out.

“Then what the fuck are you asking me?”I gesture to the position we are in.

“Alexi,” Marcus starts.

“Fucking Alexi,”I mutter, releasing his hair and taking a step back.

“Alexi and Yuri think that you would do better working for us.”

“Us? “I say.

“Yes. You don’t even need to work, Ava. You have more money than you could ever spend. So, we were talking, and we feel it’s stupid for you to take risks when you don't need to.”

“So, what will I be doing with my time then?”

“Whatever you want. Travel, start a charity. A charity is a great way to launder money.”He informs me like this is the best idea ever.

“So, ok.”I take another step back from him.“Let me work through this. You, your grandfather, and your cousin, feel I would be more useful to your organizations by using mymoney to open a charity, so it can launder money for both of you?”

“Yeah! I mean, think about it. You and I could get married, fuck, we could have kids!”I find myself searching his face for the punchline. But there isn’t one; no, he is wholly serious.

I drop my head back and look up at the ceiling.“Fuck, Marcus. You’re with your fucking family for like one day, and they already have you thinking like them. I will not work for the Sokolovs.”I look at him again.“Ignore their voices in your head for a minute. Think about me. Think about all the things you know about me. Think about all the years we’ve been together; in any of that, do you see a moment where I would have been open to working for the fucking Sokolovs?”

” Well, I just thought–”

I cut him off.“No, you didn’t just think. They told you what to think.” I see a flicker of anger in his eyes, but I push on. This moment is going to define us going forward.

“Marcus, you’re fucking smarter than this. They don’t care if I live or die. Honestly, their lives would be a lot easier without me in yours. They want my money and to be the only ones you listen to in your life.”

“And what Ava?”He gets up and stalks toward me.“I should listen to you and you only?”

“No, you fucking asshole. You should listen to your own fucking mind. We made all our plans together. Since we were seven, we worked with each other. Neither of us trying to manipulate the other. Partners, Marcus.”

“Ava, I have family obligations!”he snarls at me.

“No, actually, you don’t. You are about to be the head of the Rossi family. You are about to control a huge criminal organization. Enzo is the least respected Don out there. But he has so much clout, so much power, so many soldiers and connections that no one fucking messes with him or his turf.”I yell back, throwing my arms into the air.

“You don’t need the Sokolovs for a second! They fucking need you! They don’t have a foothold here yet. The Russians already here will do everything they can to stop the Sokolovs from gaining any traction in the States. But if they have you!? The others will bow down if they have the Rossi family with them. The Sokolovs will absorb every other Russian Bratva in this country. If they’re allowed to amass that kind of power. they will be the biggest Bratva anywhere.”

The anger running through me is electric. Anger I work very hard to control and I never let out. Harry’s voice rages in my head,“Anger will get you killed every single time. Anger makes you stupid; it makes you miss the little things. And the little things, Little Fury, are usually what you need to see.”The anger that this jackass just caused.

I wait, letting my words sink in, giving myself a moment to slip the anger back into its little box.“They’re my family, Ava,”he says, the fight leaving his voice.

“They are, so I get you deciding to back them. But Marcus, they are not my family. You are. Only you. Do you understand what I’m saying? I’ll pull jobs for you; I’ll kill anyone you need removed. I’ll kill anyone you want me to; your gardener did a shit job? Fuck that guy; I’ll kill him if that’s what you need. Fuck, I’ll steal the Mona Lisa for you if you want, but I won’t work for them. I won’t sit at home and open a charity. I will do what we have always planned for me to do. If you need to change your side of the plan, I will respect that and do my best to adjust or accommodate the changes, but I will work. I will take jobs from whoever and whenever I want. I won’t check with you or them. You running my life or me running yours was never part of our plan. Our plan was always for me to help you achieve your goals and for me to do my own thing. Still together, still us, but me independent from the Mafia. In no world will I ever be part of a made family.”

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