Arranged Bratva Love

Ive

Valentine’s Day

“Shouldn’t you be taking your wife out?” Ivan asked.

I slammed my fist against my prisoner’s face and stepped back. I’d not had to interrogate someone in nearly three weeks, but this man had been caught sneaking around one of my nightclubs.

He had the ink that declared him one of the cartel’s but the fucker wasn’t talking. Yes, I was supposed to be taking my woman out to dinner tonight, and afterward, I planned to take her back to our penthouse suite and spend the night between her thighs. All I wanted to do was fuck her.

She’djust finished her menstrual cycle so for the past week, I’d gone without, just holding her in my arms and rubbing her stomach. I’d heard women experienced pain, but Charlotte never complained about pain.

“I am.”

Ivan had come and gone out of my territory over the past few months. He didn’t have any new information for me. After he crashed my Christmas, I’d not seen him until the first week of January. Then he’d gone again, only to arrive today as I was intent on dealing with this man.

Charlotte adored him. My wife and Ivan had become quite good friends. I saw it every time they were in the same room together and I had to wonder what it was about Charlotte that Ivan liked.

“I wouldn’t bust up your knuckles too much,” Ivan said.

I stepped away from the man and turned toward Ivan. “Wouldyou like to have a turn?”

Ivan offered me a smile, but then he grabbed a knife from the table and looked at the cocky fucking bastard currently tied to a chair. It was rare for Ivanto do anything or contribute. I knew he could do a lot of scary shit, but he’d rarely did it for anyone to see.

Over the last few months, the Irish mafia and the cartel had gone quiet on me. Quieter than I liked. They were not operating at their usual places, and none of my men knew where they had gone. This was the first activity from them in months. I didn’t like it.

I preferred my assholes to be presentin my territory so I could keep an eye on them. With them in some kind of retreating mode, I had no choice but to take a trip into our currently vacant territory that Ivan seemed to keep an eye on. It wasn’t like him to wait this long to pick a new brigadier. He was up to something, I just didn’t know what.

His instincts had never let him down so far.

Ivan stepped in front of the man, and for several seconds, maybe even minutes, nothing was said or done, and then Ivan struck. He didn’t slash at the man or give a random cut. Ivan slammed the blade right between the man’s legs. From the screams and the angle, I had no doubt Ivan had gone right through the man’s cock, and with the force and speed, it was now stuck to the chair, seeing as the knife stayed upright.

“You can keep moving around. I’m guessing the blade is sharp, so as you move, it will just keep making a hole. A nice big hole through your cock, severing your nerves, making it impossible for you to get an erection again.” Ivan leaned forward. “But, I’ve got a feeling that’s a good thing for the ladies, as I’ve heard about your reputation. You like to rape women, don’t you? You like to force them so they have no fucking choice. You beat them, and then you humiliate them.”

Ivan’s voice was so bland and as I looked at our prisoner, who according to his documents was Stuart Hertz, he had all the ink that linked him to the cartel. He was nothing more than a little puppet for them to play with.

“Please, please, I’ll tell you anything. Please.”

He tutted.”How many women do you make beg? How many times have you listened to them when they asked you to stop? Taking your dick away is a kindness. Only real men know how to use their cock properly, and you’re not a real man.” Ivan stepped back and rubbed his hands together. “I’ve heard this place has rats.”

“Everywhere has rats.”

“Good, with all that blood, they’ll be drawn to him. They’re going to come and eat him, and by morning, he’ll still be alive. I’ll bring my gun and we can shoot the little fuckers off him. Hopefully they would have eaten his dick by then,” Ivan said.

“Wait, wait. I know what you want. I can give you the information you need,” he said.

I looked towardStuart.

“They knowwhat you did to Hank and Benjamin. No one knew if they had talked about their plan to you.”

Ivan blew a raspberry. “Do you think we don’t know this?” He laughed. “Why do you think I sent them back? I had no idea if Hank and Benjamin were working with the cartel or the Irish. They didn’t talk. Their dead bodies talked for me.”Stuart wasn’t going to make it out alive.

“They’re not working together anymore,” Stuart said.

This did make me stop. This was news. “My bosses got information that suggested the Irish were going to attack them before the takeover of this territory was complete. I don’t know how they got that information, but it came at the same time Hank and Benjamin were delivered. Both men were responsible for bringing them together.”

“You’re telling me Hank and Benjamin were the masterminds behind them?”

“No, not masterminds exactly. They had a plan. They figured if they all worked together, then territory by territory, they could take over, and once it all belonged to them, Hank and Benjamin wanted an equal slice of the pie.”

“Well, I’m surprised,” Ivan said.

“You were supposed to be dead,” Stuart said.

The man was sweating but then he did have a knife through his cock, so I’d give him that much.

“I’ve told you what you need to know. Kill me. Get it over with.”Ivan smiled. “What makes you think I’m going to kill you?” He walked over toward the knife and pulled it out. Stuart screamed. “Send him back.”

“No, you can’t do that. They’ll know I talked.”

“You could lie, but you’re notmy mess to figure out. You’re their mess.” Ivan was already leaving my warehouse and I nodded at Vlad to take him back and dump him at one of the cartel’s known places. With that, I followed Ivan out of the warehouse.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?” I asked.

“Simple, they have to deal with him, and we don’t have any reason to create a war at this time.”

“Are you against a war?” I asked.

“No, I’m not against a war, I think we need one, because since my fake death, some people have gotten a little too cheeky.”

“What exactly do you have planned?”

“A whole lot of things, but we’re not talking about my plans, let’s talk about yours. Where are you going tonight?”

“Why are you so interested in my Valentine’sDay plans?”

“I hate to break it to you, Ive, but out of all my men, you’re the weakest link when it comes to romance. You just don’t have a single romantic bone in your body.”

“My wife doesn’t complain and I’ve handled Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year, without your help.” I hadto point that out.

“Ah, yes, but the woman still doesn’t have a dog.”

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“No, she doesn’t need a dog.”

“But you’re out here doing work, and she’s indoors or out exploring. Just think of how … enamored she’d be if you got her a fucking puppy.”

“Why does this matter to you?” I asked. I’d already gotten her a camcorder so she could film and takepictures of our life together. A puppy was going to need training and a whole lot of space.

“It doesn’t matter to me. I’m making sure my brigadiers are happy.”

“And that’s what you do, make your men happy?” I folded my arms across my chest and looked at him.

“Aren’t you happy?”

“What about Victor and Peter?” I asked. He’d gotten me, Slavik, and Andrei married off. I didn’t see or hear anything about Victor or Peter.

Ivan clicked his tongue. “I’m taking care of things, trust me. You should be more focusedon your wife.””Why does her happiness matter to you?” I asked.

He’d been about to walk away. There was a car waiting for him and he suddenly turnedtoward me with a serious expression on his face. “Because there are few people in this world that are precious. Those that are special need to be fought for. Charlotte hasn’t had a great life, but even with all those odds stacked against her, she finds a way to smile.”

It was rare for me to see Ivan looking so calm, but also, that look on his face. I had a feeling that even as he smiled, there was nothing that amused him. This was the real Ivan, the face he rarely showed. I saw it for a fleeting couple of minutes, and then it was gone.

He moved toward his car, and there was a man in the front I recognized as one of his close guards.

In the next second, he was gone.

****

Lottie

I expected to go out to dinner. Ive had told me we were going out to a restaurant, and he’d even told me what outfit to wear. It was a pretty pastel-blue dress, with some lace over the top of the dress. It showed off a great deal of skin but was covered by lace as well. The dress was beautiful. Again, I didn’t go with makeup and I pinned my hair back as he preferred the length to be long.

This morning, on our first Valentine’s Day, he’d already given me a card, as well as a bouquet of the brightest red roses. Chocolates had arrived after he left, and a necklace and bracelet as well. Both of which I wore tonight.

We were not at any restaurant, but instead, I saw the signs for an animal shelter. It was quite late, so I was shocked to see the gates open. Then I realized they hadn’t been left open, but someone waited for us as they closed the moment we drove through.

“Ive, what’s going on?”

Ive opened the door and held his hand out to me, which I took. I looked around but it didn’t matter what I looked at, nothing made any sense. He pulled me into his arms as Hubert got out of the car. Like so many times before, he turned his back to us, giving us privacy.

“Your dad took something from you, something you loved.”

“Ive?”

“And you deserve to have something to love and to be loved,” he said.

Okay, now my heart pounded just a little bit. Neither of us had said anything to each other, not a single word of love, but I knew he wasn’t going to say anything tonight. I wasn’t even sure if Ive loved me. I think he might care for me, but I was fine with that. His care was addictive.”There are a lot of dogs here, but you can have one, to start with.”

“One dog?” I asked.

“Yes, one dog. They do have puppies and dogs here. Unless you don’t want a dog.”

“I want one,” I said. That day when my father took the dog from me, it had broken my heart.

Tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. This was … so beautiful.

Ive took my hand and we stepped through the main doors. There was a woman waiting, and she led the way. She gave a brief description about the dogs, but as I came to one cage, the dog hadn’t even bothered coming to the door of the cage. Out of all the dogs, this was the only one curled up on her bed.

The lights were down quite low, but I saw from the tags that this dog had been here for over a year. She was two years old and surrendered at a year old. One year of living in a shelter, she had watched people come and go. No one wanting her. No one wanting to give her love, even though she had a whole lot of love to give.

I wasn’t going to move. This dog had givenup. She expected to be ignored. Not anymore.

“This one,” I said.

“Charlotte, she’s not even bothered to come to the cage.”

“Because she is used to being overlooked. A year she has been here, Ive. She has watched people come and go, ignoring her. I can’t walk past.” Thewoman opened the cage and when she went to go in the cage, I stopped her. She was about to protest but I could imagine Ive giving her a stern look.

I didn’t rush to the dog. Instead I entered the cage and pressed my back to the wall and slid down. The dress would be ruined, but I figured after coming here, the restaurant was off the menu for the night. I didn’t mind.

Staying with Ive, wherever we went, was all I cared about. If he took us out to a pit for us to dig, I’d do it just to be with him.

“Charlotte?” he asked.

“Just give her time.” Like me, just give me time. I’m not a bad person. I’d had a lot of bad stuff happen over the years, but I was still good. Always still good.

I don’t know how long it took, and in all honesty, I didn’t care. The dog that had given up on people slowly made her way from the bed and moved toward me, putting her head in my lap. I knew this wouldn’t be the case for all dogs, and there would be some that were vicious, but this girl wasn’t vicious, she was beautiful, sweet, and kind. I saw it in her eyes. I wasn’t going to give up on her.

Leaning down, I pressed a kiss to her nose, and as she looked up at me, I was sure she told me her name.

“Rose,” she said.

“There are puppies,” Ive said.

“I don’t want puppies. I want this girl, right here.”

The kind lady looked so happy as she gave meRose’s lead, as well as some toys. Ive promised he’d handle all the necessary equipment I’d need to take care of her. She didn’t have a problem leaving the shelter, and we got her into the car and settled in the seat between us.

“She’s already going to be a cock block,” Ive said.

This made me laugh.

“You know, if you show her a little love, she will love you and be loyal to you as well.” I loved dogs so much. They were precious.

We arrived backat the penthouse apartment block, and Hubert very kindly reminded us that we were going to need to walk her.

Ive groaned, but I had started to realize it was a little fake. I noticed him strokeher head in the car. Even if he wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted a dog, I had a feeling he was going to love her regardless.