Keep: The Wedding: Romanian Mob Chronicles Read Free Page A

show you how he feels. He married you. He comes home to you every night. There’s enough to worry about without letting that doubt in. So ignore it, focus on what Sorin does and says every day,” I said.
    I didn’t specify what the other things we had to worry about were, but Esther knew.
    Those other things were why we both traveled with at least one armed guard at all times, why, even now, on a seemingly quiet evening, I could look out my front window and see several more, waiting and watching. All of us, especially Esther and I, tried to pretend they weren’t there, tried to keep things normal, but the truth was present and undeniable. And grappling with the reality of being with men like Vasile and Sorin was hard enough without letting something as silly as weightless and mindless worry into the picture.
    It was good, solid advice I’d given her. Maybe one day I’d be able to take it myself.
    “So?” I asked.
    Esther, who’d looked away, focused on me again. “So what?”
    “So now’s the part where you tell me how smart I am,” I said, smiling at her.
    She rolled her eyes and released a long-suffering sigh. “Yeah, yeah. You’re smart. And also right.”
    I nodded. “I know.”
    “Don’t gloat, Fawn. That’s my job,” she said, her ever-present smile slipping back into place.
    “Then don’t give me a reason to,” I replied on a laugh.
    She glared, but there was no force behind it. She brightened. “I’m still gonna threaten to get a job, though,” she said.
    “Why?” I asked.
    “Because even mentioning it is going to drive him nuts,” she said.
    “This is a good thing?” I lifted a brow in question.
    She smiled and then nodded emphatically. “Yep.”
    I laughed and then shook my head. “Don’t ever change, Esther,” I said.
----

    V asile
----
    “ I s this how you run your operation, Markov?” Anton asked.
    There was no hint of any emotion at all in his voice, but his impatience was still clear nonetheless.
    “What’s a few minutes between friends?” Markov replied as he settled at the table across from Anton.
    The sound of laughter and voices was muffled here in this back room, but I still heard it and the low, persistent throb of music. It sounded like a party, and it had looked like one as well. Markov had converted the basement and top three floors of an abandoned office building into his own fantasyland. A nightclub, fighting arena, drug den, and whorehouse all rolled into one. I had no doubt that it was profitable, but I also knew Markov was one of its best customers.
    Perhaps the enjoyment of his own entertainment was why he was late.
    It had been thirty minutes, each of which I had counted. Being late was a sign of disrespect and not the way to begin a new partnership, though Markov didn’t seem too bothered by that fact. Ordinarily, I would have made sure he understood, but doing so would have taken time I had no interest in investing. I was anxious to get back to my home. One look at Sorin told me he agreed, and I’d bet good money Anton felt the same.
    Still, professional that he was, Anton ignored the cropping undercurrent of tension and swiftly moved us to the topic at hand.
    “You’re stepping in for the Peruvians?” Anton asked.
    Markov nodded. “My men will handle the entirety of the operation,” he said.
    “Cleanly, discreetly,” I said.
    I had my doubts. So far, his entire operation was loose, sloppy, a sure sign of how he ran things, and I had no reason to think the other aspects of his business would be different.
    Markov paused, his expression going tense at my insult. I didn’t give a fuck, though, and sat, waiting to see how Markov would respond, my eyes locked on his. A part of me hoped Markov would step out of line. After being made to wait, I was in the mood to remind him that disrespect wouldn’t be tolerated.
    Markov, to my disappointment, held his tongue, but one of his men had no such qualms.
    “Why? Are you afraid?” one of his lackeys