Russian Mafia Boss's Heir Read Online Free PDF Page B

held up one hand. “I, Mikhail Alexander Ivanov, take you—Victoria Orlov Vasiliev—to by my wife. I accept your vow and agree to do my best not to piss you off, tell you no without thinking it over first, be reasonable with all of my requests, and I promise to protect and cherish you for all of my days.”
    Tori felt her heart do a little flip flop as she saw his dark eyes sparkle with mirth. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. Maybe he wasn’t a troll.
    ***
     
    MIKHAIL WAS STRUGGLING with a desire to laugh his ass off at Tori’s irreverent use of her vows to poke at him and Stanislas. Mikhail supposed that if the girl was being made to marry essentially against her will, she had the right to determine the conditions under which she wanted to be bound to her husband. It was only fair. Highly unusual perhaps, but fair all the same.
    Besides, he had gotten a smile out of her. When she’d first walked down the aisle, her face had been pale and lifeless. The way she’d looked around, taking in the guests, had made him wonder if Stanislas had bothered to let her know that this was an actual ceremony. The Bratva council had to be present for this marriage to be legal and binding in a way that would guarantee their support when Mikhail took over the Vasiliev syndicate.
    “If the two of you are satisfied with your vows,” the priest said with a glare of disapproval. “Then I declare that this union is binding beneath the eyes of God and the laws of this nation. Let no man come between that which God hath joined together.”
    The priest seemed to drone on and on. Mikhail wondered if every groom felt like this during his wedding ceremony. It was interminable. It felt as though the man read half the Bible before finally raising the holy chalice in his hands. Mikhail held out his own hands, as did Tori. The priest placed the sacred cup in their joined grasp.
    “Drink of this holy cup that you may be joined until death do you part,” the priest intoned in a severe voice.
    Mikhail lifted the chalice first to his lips. He watched Tori, wondering if she was brazen enough to dump the wine down the front of Mikhail’s dress shirt. As he sipped, he saw a gleam in her beautiful blue eyes that suggested she might actually be considering it. Then a smile played at the corners of her mouth, and he was surprised to see her expression soften just a little. Perhaps she wasn’t so set against him after all.
    The two of them lifted the cup to her lips next. Mikhail was careful not to drown her in the wine or slosh it down her chin. She took her sip, and the priest removed the holy cup from their hands. Mikhail gazed down at Tori. She was no longer his bride. She was his wife. It was a shockingly odd sensation, almost dizzying. He was married. Who would have ever imagined such a thing?
    “I now pronounce you man and wife.” The priest swept his hands into the air. Thankfully he’d put the cup down first, or he would have flung wine all over the first two rows of guests. “Friends, I am pleased to present Mr. and Mrs. Mikhail Ivanov!”
    Mikhail took both of Tori’s hands in his. He smiled down at her and gently turned to face the audience, tugging her along with him. It was odd. For a woman who normally seemed so confident, it was obvious that she did not like to be in the spotlight.
    ***
     
    TORI WAS GOING to throw up. She was so nervous! What was supposed to happen now? Would they go their separate ways? Surely Mikhail wasn’t of the same mind as her stepfather that the two of them should actually live together!
    She clutched his arm, trying not to seem so panicky, and walked down the aisle of the church toward the front doors. Everyone was staring. It was eerily quiet. There was a smattering of applause, but for the most part Tori could see that these people were here in order to witness this union on behalf of her stepfather. She wondered briefly if this was how her mother had felt about her marriage. Had she