Page 26 of Midnight Wedding

“Then everything’s coming along.” Uncle Garen smiles and spreads his hands. “I always knew you had it in you, Arsen.”

“If that were true, you would’ve followed me from the start.”

“Now, now, we don’t have to do this again,” he says, lowering his voice. “You threw this family into chaos, boy. When you helped those nasty Russians murder your father, you dragged the Brotherhood into the mud. Now you have to clean it up, and nobody said that would be easy.”

Arrogant fuck. If he had only come to my side from the start, there wouldn’t have been so much struggle.

Months and months of fighting. One death for another. Territory disputes, businesses burned, drive-by shootings, and a few targeted killings. All that has led us here, to this table, with my father’s blood on my hands and my cousin’s body decomposing in the harbor.

“I did my part. Now it’s time for you to follow through on your word. Tell your men to stand down. Tell them I’m the rightfulpatronand you pledge your loyalty to me.”

He holds up a hand. “Not so fast. There’s the small issue of a marriage first.”

My lips twitch. Lena’s face flashes through my head. “I’m aware of the terms of our deal.”

“Don’t you want to know who I chose? She’s a nice girl, Arsen, I promise. Clever and pretty.”

“So long as we’re not related.”

Tigran laughs, trying to lighten the mood, and elbows me. “Come on, blood is best, right?”

I glare at him and my brother’s grin falters.

“She’s the daughter of a trusted advisor. Don’t worry. Only half-Armenian, but that’s good enough.”

“I want to get this farce over with as quickly as possible. The day I marry this girl is the day you pledge your loyalty in public. Do you understand?”

Uncle Garen nods. He’s deadly serious now. “I want this truce as well. You’ve proven yourself a capable leader, even if you’ve made some questionable decisions in the past.”

“Don’t forget that then.” I lean toward him, staring at my uncle hard. “The only reason I’m accepting this truce is because I’m tired of spilling Armenian blood. But we both know who stands to win if this war drags on.”

“Careful,” Uncle Garen warns gently.

“Tell the girl we’ll get married in a week.” I push myself from the booth. “Does that work?”

“I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”

“I don’t give a shit what she feels.” I turn away from the booth, already sick of all this. “I just want it done.”

“Congratulations on your upcoming marriage, Arsen. You’ll be a fine husband.”

I frown at him before walking off. Tigran hurries to catch up. I push out onto the sidewalk and slam the car door, struggling to keep my rage in check.

“What was that back there? You sounded like you wanted to blow weeks of negotiations.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure about that? Threatening Garen isn’t exactly smart. We need him.”

“We don’t.”

“But we both know wedo. Even if we can beat him in the long run, what would the Brotherhood look like once half our numbers are dead or banished? Focus on what we need to do.”

I know he’s right. I just don’t like it.

No part of me wants to marry this girl. I don’t care who she is. Uncle Garen’s little quip about me being afine husbandonly makes my fucking blood boil, because we all know it isn’t true.

That’s not the kind of man I am. Maybe in another life, in another world, I could have the kind of emotional depth necessary to sustain a real, loving, committed relationship, but all of those feelings were cut out of me a long time ago. I touch the scars on my arm and stare out the window.

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