Page 56 of The Tsar's Obsession
“No,” I chuckled. “I had a business meeting that night. I was just drinking alcohol. But not as much as you, it seemed,” I added with a smirk. Her cheeks flushed.
“Keepgoing.”
“After I saw you, things picked up, and I pushed out the top Pakhan and took over what he did. Dmitry was with me the entire time; we’d been together since we were kids. We started in a gang together.” Mia blinked at me, not daring to interrupt. “He and I took over. He was, and is, my right-hand man, so to speak.”
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded and sipped her wine, encouraging me to divulge more details I never wanted to admit.
“Russia is a federation, so each region has its own governor, and some are autonomous republics. That really works in my favor. I have my contacts in all the right places, and I basically pay them a salary to let me do what I need to do. And it’s been like that for years. There are many government officials…on my payroll.” There really was no better way to phrase that.
“And if they don’t?” Mia asked rather urgently. “Let you do what you need to do?”
I’d never had a conversation like this before. I never had to explain the intricacies of what I did—everyone I’d ever come across knew my status before they saw my face. Mia understood everything too, but she wanted to hear me say it.
“If they don’t, then we find someone who will,” I breathed out and took a sip of my wine, finally meeting her eyes.
“Okay,” she spoke with uncertainty. “So, you’re running a drug empire in the largest country in the world,” she spelled it out for herself.
“And the post-Soviet republics too…we work in some of them as well,” I tagged on that tidbit.
After a pause where she digested my words, she asked with more confidence, “What else do you do?”
I waited for a few seconds before diving into it. “Corruption schemes, money laundering, financial crimes against the government, illegal gambling, and I collect from others, of course.” This kind of began to sound like a grocery list.
“What else?” She pressed, her voice firmer now, and I knew what she was getting at.
“What’s with the KGB interrogation, Miss Tanner?” Ichuckled darkly and broke the tense atmosphere. Mia smiled too but didn’t let it go.
“Tell me. Tell me what else.” Her gentle voice and pure eyes coaxed the information out of me easily.
“That’s it. I don’t sell people or women, if that’s what you’re asking.” I knew she wanted me to assuage her fears.
My thirst for money and power was one of my motivating factors, but I never wanted to be engaged in slavery. Yet, it was all a dark and diabolical world. I didn’t collect from prostitution and human trafficking, but I knew those who were involved. I knew them well.
There was no mercy, no guilt, no conscience in my world. I’d descended into a dark pit of hell many times in my life. Getting what I wanted and needed not by negotiations, but by brutal force.
Dark images floated to the front of my memory while Mia hung her head, still sitting on the kitchen island and processing the information. I’d locked all those memories away, banished them from my mind, choosing to chase my light instead.
But then, Mia quietly asked the question. The question I knew was coming and the one that kept me up at night.
“If we, um…” Her pure hazel eyes locked onto mine, stirring fear inside me. “If we’re together, does that make me a target?”
The truth and gravity of the situation smacked me in the face. Yes. The answer was, of course, yes; it wouldalwaysbe yes.
No matter how much I wanted a normal life with her, there was no way to simply quit. No one retired from my world. There was only one exit—death. And you’d be lucky to have a coffin and a grave.
Because that was the cold, hard truth. This wasn’t a job or a profession; this was a life, and at this moment, it dawned on me that I should have waited longer to get her. At least until my status in New York was indisputable, at least until it was all settled with the cartel.
But I couldn’t.I couldn’t wait anymore. The years were rolling, and I didn’t want our lives to pass us by, apart.
“Yes,” I told her the truth. Outside, darkness had settled, but in front of me, Mia glowed. She really was my light, wasn’t she? I’d spent too many years in the dark, and I wasn’t going back, nor would I let anything dim my light. “But baby, nothing will ever happen to you. I’ll kill anyone who dares lay a hand on you, Sunshine, you know that.” My words pushed out her tears, and for the first time in years, I felt the sting of my own. “In fact, no one will evertouchyou. Not now. Not ever. You’re mine.Moy svet,my light.” My voice was barely a breath against her cheek as she sniffled.
With the lightest touch, I wiped away her tears, my fingers tracing her plump cheeks as if handling something sacred. She was my woman now, my most precious treasure, and I would tear apart anyone who even thought of threatening her.
“Fuck.” Her small laugh was bitter. “I never thought I’d fall in love with a Russian maf-” but she cut herself off in an instant, eyes widening at what she’d just said.
My heart stopped. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe.
I never thought I’d fall in love with–
