Chapter 7 Gavril

• Gavril
• Present Day
• I straightened as I looked out over the crowd of people, keeping my emotions schooled. The organ swelled behind me, the priest clearing his throat every five fucking minutes like my bride wasn’t going to walk down the aisle. Honestly, I would have shot him by now, but killing a man of God in a church would probably be going too far.
• Then again, my soul was already damned to hell. What was one more sin?
• Turning my attention away from the priest, I took account of everyone that was present for my hasty wedding. Anatoly stood to my right, the only man that I had standing for me. My other brigadiers were scattered around the church, having brought their wives or girlfriends to witness their Pakhan getting married.
• None of my family was there, of course. They were in Russia, and since it had all been very quickly put together, I hadn’t thought about flying them over. Besides, having them so close to me and my enemies was unwise.
• After all, that was how Sveta had ended up in my hands. Stanislav had made the ultimate mistake and put his daughter in the path of monsters.
• Now, she was about to wed one.
• Drawing in a slow breath, I stared at the doors at the back of the church, fighting the urge to look at my watch. I would rather be anywhere other than here right now, despite my grand plans coming together perfectly. Now that I had Sveta in my presence, the thought of tying myself to her wasn’t exactly the most exciting thing I could do.
• Especially after yesterday. She had acted like a brat, nearly bringing me to do harm to her so that she could learn that I wasn’t going to put up with her disrespecting my staff as she had.
• Still, I couldn’t deny the way my cock had felt in her mouth. There was a moment that I thought she had done that before, but the tears streaming down her cheeks and the way she had tried to pull back from my assault had erased that particular concern.
• My cock stirred to life, and I tamped it down, not wanting to stand in front of everyone with a fucking hard-on. If nothing else, the wedding night was bound to be interesting.
• I was ready to defile her body, to have her tell me that she was mine and remind her of who owned her for the rest of her days.
• At the end of tonight, Sveta would only speak my name, the name of her husband, and tomorrow, I would take my rightful place as the head of both the Krasnaya and Belaya Bratvas.
• For that reason, I had extended the invitation to some of the brigadiers of the Krasnaya Bratva so that they could be witness to the change in their organization. Of course, I had plenty of security to protect everyone that was loyal to me, to discourage any of them from even thinking about stealing my bride away.
• If someone did decide to take advantage of the situation, I was ready to take them down.
• There was no doubt, however, that Sveta would walk down that aisle any minute. I had given explicit instructions to drag her down to me if there was a need to do so. And if I needed to threaten her into repeating her vows, then I would do so as well.
• She wasn’t going to fuck this up for me either.
• One way or another, she would be my wife.
• The doors opened, and I felt a small tremor of excitement shoot through me as a silhouette appeared in the doorway, flanked by one of my guards. Though she was still far away, I knew it was Sveta.
• They made their way down the aisle, every person rising to their feet in reverence for the bride and her escort. Idly I wondered if she was thinking about her father or her family being there for her wedding, if she was about to burst into tears, or if she had resigned herself to the fact that she belonged to me.
• Her head was held high the closer she got, her face obscured by a veil that I would pull back at the end of our vows to seal our marriage with a kiss.
• Still, I wasn’t immune to the way she looked in the dress she had fucking picked, the strapless number showing off her impressive cleavage and small waistline. I had already gotten a glimpse of what awaited me tonight, and hell, it was going to be difficult to get through this day without taking her in some dark closet somewhere.
• Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sveta stood next to me at the altar, a cloud of vanilla following in her wake. I reached out and grasped her hand in mine, feeling the slight tremor in her touch.
• The tremor made me smile inwardly. She was afraid of me.
• Good.
• She should be.
• I squeezed her hand, not to give her any sort of comfort but to let her know that she was mine. Looking over at the priest, who was clearing his throat nervously, I gave him a sharp nod. “You may begin.”
• The priest opened his book. “Dearly beloved.”
• I didn’t let Sveta’s hand go as he started his prayers for our devotion to each other and the love that we were to have for Christ as a married couple. His words washed over me, and I wondered what Sveta was thinking about this day. Surely she didn’t expect me to live by any rule that the priest was going to place on us today.
• I had no intention of the act of marriage or love. All I wanted to do was impregnate her and solidify myself at the top of the ladder.
• Still, I helped her kneel when we were told to kneel and take the blessing, listening to the priest’s questions that were required to sanctify our marriage.
• “Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to each other in marriage?”
• I heard Sveta’s sharp intake of breath, and my own breathing ceased to exist. If she started to show out now, I wouldn’t know what I would do. She wasn’t here of her own free will.
• Not even close.
• “I am.”
• Good girl.
• I am,” I added, realizing that the priest was waiting on my response as well. She wasn’t going to run screaming from the church. She was going to follow through with this wedding, likely because she knew her life depended on it.
• “Will you honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?”
• “I will,” I told him, though I wanted to laugh at the thought. Honor another? Honor a woman at that? I would respect her as long as she respected me and expect nothing less than her complete devotion to me.
• “I will,” Sveta said quietly, her words barely heard through her veil.
• “Will you accept children lovingly from God and bring them up according to the law of Christ and his Church?”
• This was one I could answer easily or at least the first part of the question. I was more than willing to accept any children from this union. “I will.”
• Sveta’s hand started to sweat clasped in my own and I gave her another squeeze, more to tell her to answer the question. “I will,” she finally said, her voice coming out in a squeak.