Mistaken

MistakenAn Arranged Marriage Bratva RomanceArianna FraserSTA, LLC Copyright © 2023 Arianna FraserAll rights reservedThe characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.ISBN-13: 9781234567890ISBN-10: 1477123456Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309Printed in the United States of America Free Books!If you love the organized crime bad boys and the women who - at least a little - redeem them, I'd love to offer you a free download for The Reluctant Spy for joining my email list. To Lynda, the best of cousins, the most ruthless of editors.And to you; a sincere thank you to everyone who's bought this book or read it on Kindle. Proceeds from this book benefit the two crisis nurseries in my city. The crisis nurseries here are non-profits who exist to serve families where the parents are overwhelmed and in desperate need of help. Their little people can be lovingly and safely cared for while the parents get connected with services for everything from housing, to employment, to mental health assistance and more.Thanks to your kindness, I've had the chance to purchase much-needed items from their wish lists, like cases of diapers, industrial-sized boxes of goldfish crackers, books, formula, toys... And socks. Those kiddos can never hold on to a pair of socks. Contents Title PageCopyrightFree Books!DedicationPrefaceChapter 1 - You just can’t keep your mouth shut.Chapter 2 - Run, Rachel, Run!Chapter 3 - This is a very-self destructive way to avoid me.Chapter 4 - When Life Gives You Lemons…Chapter 5 - The Million Dollar Vodka Bottle and the Worst Proposal EverChapter 6 - Meet the PakhanChapter 7 - “Why is he marrying her?”Chapter 8 - Speak of the Devil and He Shall AppearChapter 9 - My Little SunChapter 10 - Where’s the Lemur Sanctuary?Chapter 11 - The “No Touchie” RuleChapter 12 - Ice Skating and Peppermint SchnappsChapter 13 – Go Out with a BangChapter 14 – Bad News and More Bad NewsChapter 15 – Skating the Neva RiverChapter 16 – Through the IceChapter 17 – Troubling Fortunes ToldChapter 18 – Tickle Torture and the Real ThingChapter 19 – Warm Moments and Chilly RejectionsChapter 20 – Club Bad JujuChapter 21 – The ReckoningChapter 22 – The RescueChapter 23 – Please Pretend, Just for TonightChapter 24 – Let Me GoChapter 25 – So Much Sweeter the Second Time AroundEpilogueGlossaryA Favor, please?Books By This AuthorAbout The Author PrefaceMistaken: An Arranged Marriage Bratva Romance is set in the brutal world of organized crime. These Russians are not messing around.As such, there is violence, torture, explicit sex between adult married partners, kidnapping, forced marriage and profanity. Oh, so much profanity.If these things are not to your taste, please find something you're more comfortable with, but I thank you for stopping by.Still here? Excellent! Grab a glass of wine or a bag of Cheetos and let's get started. As always, thank you for reading.-Arianna Chapter 1 - You just can’t keep your mouth shut.In which a mistaken identity and Ella’s complete inability to keep her smart mouth shut have disastrous consequences.Maksim…“You don’t have a choice, Maksim.”Yuri had been my Sovietnik for five years. That - and being my younger brother - were the only reasons he was still drawing breath. But my hand still moved instinctively to the gun holster hidden under my suit jacket.He saw this, of course. “Kill me, don’t kill me Pakhan, the answer is still the same. Sokolov is circling. If you do not accept his proposition, he will take it as a serious insult. He’s the last man in New York City that you want to insult. You know this.”Rubbing my forehead, I paced in front of the fireplace. I avoided an arranged marriage while our father was Pakhan, and I’ve escaped getting entangled for the five years I’ve been in power. “Facing life with one of these lunatic Bratva princesses isn’t worth the power of joining in with another family,” I snarled, “Sokolov wants to absorb our territory, not combine forces.”“His daughter Katya is very pretty,” Yuri observed.“She put out her cigarette on the face of her maid because she didn’t get her an ashtray quickly enough,” I scoffed. “I wouldn’t want her near my children, much less bearing them.”“I completely understand your concern,” he agreed, “but the meeting Sokolov has been requesting cannot be put off any longer. I am told he intends to block your access to three of our key shipping docks if you do not agree to the meeting next week.”I never questioned Yuri's information; his spies were rarely wrong. His careful, formal phrasing told me that he did not enjoy offering this information any more than I wanted to hear it. I lifted the vodka bottle again, gesturing to him. After his nod, I poured us both a drink. “So…” returning to my pacing, “Sokolov is going to force this meeting next week. He will use the opportunity to demand an alliance between our families, using a marriage to his daughter.”“Correct,” Yuri said cautiously.“And if I refuse, I’m bringing down an all-out war.”“That’s likely,” he agreed. Looking at me more closely, Yuri started laughing, “I know this expression of yours. It usually means trouble for me.”“Not at all. But if I am engaged already, and with wedding plans underway within eight days, there is no discussion to be had, yes?”“While you are extremely popular with the ladies,” Yuri said tactfully, “are you seeing anyone who could be considered marriageable? You do realize it has to be someone who understands this world and that this commitment would be for life?”Mentally running through any potential candidates, I realized immediately that I associated with them primarily for sex. Occasionally, there was a woman whose intelligence and wit made her a pleasure to spend time with.