the whole fucking world to smithereens.
I place a hand on her shoulder, stroking gently. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
She nods twice.
“Then what aren’t you telling me?”
Anastasia bites her lower lip again. “You won’t be mad?”
Unlike most of the Vory who have a noticeable Russian accent, she speaks English in a perfect American accent, probably because I’ve been teaching her since we were young.
“I will never be mad at you.” I smile at her, which is possibly the warmest type of smile I can offer to anyone.
“Papa said…he said…”
“What?”
She gulps. “He said I need to get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“You know.”
“Unless you tell me, I don’t, Nastyusha.” I use her Russian pet name since she responds better to that.
“F-for…marriage.”
“For what?” I snap, and she flinches, her shoulders turning rigid under my touch. I internally curse myself for frightening her and take several seconds to calm down. “Did he mention who he’s marrying you off to?”
She shakes her head once while staring at her flat shoes. “He just said I need to get ready. Does…does this mean I can’t continue my studies?”
Her voice breaks with her last sentence. Few things affect me this deeply, and Anastasia is definitely at the top of the list. Seeing her in pain is like having one of my limbs cut off.
I raise her chin and she stares up at me with a wretched expression. There are no tears because she was brought up to be the perfect Vor’s daughter from a young age.
For her, crying isn’t a weakness like I consider it. In Anastasia’s dictionary, tears aren’t ladylike and shouldn’t be shown in public.
The fact that she wants to express her sadness, but can’t, digs the knife deeper into me.
I force a smile, stroking her hair back. “You don’t need to get ready for anything. I’ll talk to Granduncle, and none of this will happen.”
Her expression lights up. “Really?”
“Have I ever made a promise and not kept it?”
A gentle spark invades her expression. “Never.”
“Go study and don’t worry about this. Since you have exams coming up, you don’t need to come to the company.”
“I want to.”
Ana has been interning at V Corp for almost a year now. She followed computer engineering, which everyone thinks is useless in our line of work. I’m the only one who encouraged her because it’s the thing she chose freely and without shackles. She’s a numbers genius and it would’ve been a waste if she didn’t put that talent to use.
“As you wish. Where’s Granduncle?”
“He’s in the dining room…but you might not want to go in there. Papa is having a meeting with the rest of the Vory.”
“Of course he is, and let me guess—Mikhail is in there?”
“Umm…yes.”
Why am I not surprised that Granduncle brought up the whole marriage thing when that pest was around?
“Go back to your studies, Ana. Don’t let any of this get to you.”
She hesitates, then blurts, “Be careful. You know they don’t like you there.”
“They will dislike me more after today.”
“Rai…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful,” I say to please her even though I’m already plotting a war.
She steps forward and hugs me. “Stay safe, Rayenka.”
Then she takes moderate steps up the stairs.
I’ve never liked my Russian pet name unless Anastasia says it. When I came to live with Dedushka, he insisted that my mother named me Rai and that it was in fact short for Raisa, a Russian name. He invented that whole story just so he could have a Russian pet name for me.
Since his death, only Anastasia ever calls me that anymore. Oh, and Granduncle Sergei when he’s not mad at me. Let’s just say, he’ll have no pet names for me today, because I’m fully prepared to ruin his meeting.
The one I wasn’t invited to—again.
After Dedushka’s death seven years ago, Ivan, Grandpa’s nephew whom he raised as his own son, wanted power so badly he attempted to kill not only me but also his own uncle, Sergei.
I went through hell and back, working in the background and arranging meetings with the security group, the support group, and the four brigadiers who are the working arm of the Vory. I even went as far as recruiting the powerful boyeviks, whom the brigadiers’ leaders trusted more than their own family.
Dedushka left me the black book that contains names of influential people the Vory deals with. He said whoever has that book is meant to rule. Needless to say, everyone in the brotherhood would’ve killed me before allowing a woman to reign over them.
It’s