Way Off Plan (Firsts and Forever 1)

“Well, you know, when your dad says ‘I’ll kill you’ it’s just an expression. Not so much with my dad.”

“You think he’d literally kill you if you didn’t go through with this marriage?”

“Not me,” she said. “But it’s very likely that someone will get hurt if he doesn’t get what he wants.”

I thought about Sokolov’s motivation for a minute, then said, “So, with this marriage his daughter would become a Teplov, and he’d become Dmitri’s father-in-law. That’s the angle, right? It cements your father’s position in the Teplov family structure.”

“That’s it exactly. He’s not a Teplov by blood. And more than that, the Sokolov name carries a bad reputation from a deal gone wrong years ago. This would boost his position in the family by leaps and bounds.” Catherine stuffed a big spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

“So what did he do, give you two an ultimatum?”

“He’s more subtle than that. He doesn’t come out and say these things directly. It’s all veiled threats and insinuations, against everyone Dmitri cares about.”

“Has he threatened Dmitri’s sisters?”

“Yup. But like I said, he does it subtly, pointing out that Dmitri’s sisters could get hurt or killed if they were no longer under my father’s protection, that sort of thing.” Catherine sighed and said, “He pretends to be reasonable. He allows us certain concessions, allows us the illusion of freedom. But in the end, we know we’re just his pawns.”

“Concessions like turning his head while Dmitri flaunts his gay lifestyle?”

“Exactly. And allowing us to wait until I finish college before we get married. That’s why the wedding’s in June, it’s shortly after my graduation.”

“What else?”

“He’s big on bribes,” Catherine said. “He bought us this house as an ‘early wedding present.’ Dmitri’s Maserati, my Porsche, my Yale education, Dmitri’s nightclub – my father thinks he’s sweetening the deal by being generous with us. But really, these things are just a pretty bandage over a very ugly wound.”

Catherine set her bowl down. “I love Dmitri, he’s like a brother to me. And ok, that makes it sound even more disgusting that I’m marrying him. I don’t want my father to hurt him, or hurt someone Dmitri cares about. And it’s not such a hardship to marry him, anyway. It’s just a marriage on paper, we’d obviously never consummate it.” She actually shuddered when she said that.

“I can’t believe he’d really go after Dmitri’s family.”

Catherine said, her voice subdued, “Here’s an example of exactly who we’re dealing with. My stepmom, Dmitri’s Aunt Jo…she had an affair when she was married to my father, with this nice older guy named Vince Pasteretti, who ran the neighborhood deli. Vince turned up dead, completely mangled, like he’d been torn apart by animals.” Catherine looked up at me, her eyes wells of sadness. “The police couldn’t prove my father did it, he was too smart to get caught. But everyone knew it was him. In fact, he even indirectly bragged about killing Vince. That’s the kind of person my father is.”

“I remember the Pasteretti case, even though I was just a kid when it happened. It was about twelve years ago. My Dad worked on the investigation, and it was all over the news for weeks because it was such a brutal murder. It’s still unsolved.”

“You want to know the really fucked up thing? I mean, that’s already completely fucked up. But the extra fucked up thing is that my father didn’t even love Jo, he didn’t give a shit about her. He’d just married her to worm his way into the Teplov family. So why would he care that she was seeing someone on the side? But he killed that man anyway, out of spite, or to prove a point to Jo, or whatever. And not two weeks later, Jo killed herself.” Catherine’s voice broke, and I reached out and took her hand.

After a pause, she composed herself enough to keep talking. “So, see, Dmitri knows who we’re dealing with, he knows what my father is capable of. And this is why we go along with his plans. Because if we didn’t, we know what could happen.”

I thought about this for a while before saying, “But now that I know it’s a fake marriage, maybe Dmitri and I could sneak around after you two got married. We’d have to be really careful that your uncle didn’t find out. But maybe–”

“Actually, it won’t even have a chance to come to that, Jamie. My cousin’s trying to call off the wedding. Idiot! He knows what the ramifications will be, he knows my father will never stand for it. That’s why I hopped on the first available flight when I got Dmitri’s text, to try to talk some sense into him before someone gets hurt.”

“What did the text say?”

“He told me he can’t marry me, because he’s in love with you. I mean Christ, Jamie, it’s a death sentence – either for you or for someone else Dmitri cares about.”