“I guess that answers my question.” I ran a hand over my face, the scruff along my cheeks and jaw scraping over my fingers. “I’d ask if that pretty Italian wife of yours is treating you well, but clearly she is.”
Instantly the grin was gone, and a hard look crossed my brother's face. It was my turn to lean back on the couch and smirk.
“Watch your fucking mouth.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Damn, Nikolai. You’ve gone and got yourself pussy whipped all in a matter of a week.”
My brother growled, but I could see the seriousness in his face.
I grinned but held my hands up in surrender. “Fine, I’ll behave and keep my mouth shut where she’s concerned.”
He grunted as if that placated him, and leaned back once more.
“What’s happening in the underground?” I shifted on the couch and scrubbed my hand over my damp hair. Nikolai was my partner. We were dual Pakhans who ruled over Desolation.
I controlled the legitimate side of things and dealt with our business associates who needed a discreet way of concealing their illegal activities: embezzlement, racketeering, money laundering, and the sort.
Nikolai ran the underground, working in close company with the Ruin, an organization that was a hub of illegal activity. My psychopathic sibling had a penchant for blood and death. I was pretty sure the crazy fucker got off on that shit.
Nikolai was silent for a moment, throwing his arms over the back of the couch once more. Then he got settled in.
“Well? How much of a resistance to the change of leadership do we have on our hands?”
Nikolai looked almost bored, but I could see his expression was one of him thinking things over. He might come across as playful in a psychotic way to those closest to him, but he had a brilliant mind and was one of the most violent men I knew.
Right up there next to me.
“Well, you know we have some people going against the grain.” He drummed his fingers on the leather, still looking bored even though I knew he was anything but. “But we’ll weed them out.”
The majority were ready for change. The ones who were against it had a lot to lose. They had status with Leonid. They made a lot of money going behind his back and bartering deals with others. That stopped now.
I made a noise in the back of my throat as I thought about what he’d said. “We have to take them out. I’m not about rehabilitating. If they’re against us now, they’ll always be against us. We need to dig out the rot before it spreads.”
Nikolai grunted his agreement. “I can have it taken care of tonight.”
I nodded.
“Get it done. Quickly. But make sure you send a message. I want everybody to know what will happen if they go against us.”
Nikolai slowly grinned, that sadistic streak that ran in both of us coming forth in a burst. “I’ll make sure it’s done exactly how we want.”
I nodded and pushed myself up off the couch, and Nikolai did the same. “Are you working or working out?”
“I’m headed home for a while.” He gave me a sly look, and I chuckled, knowing exactly what he needed. To go see his new pretty young Italian wife.
I thought back to her father. Nikolai turned and looked at me, a dark eyebrow cocking. “What?”
“I don’t know.” I ran my hand over my nape. “I have a bad feeling about Marco Bianchi.”
All curiosity and amusement left Nikolai’s face as he visibly tensed. “Why? Did something happen?”
I hadn’t told him about Marco, about me stopping the fucker from hitting the youngest Bianchi girl. “I stopped him from hitting Amara's sister when I went to set up the marriage between you two.”
Nikolai’s brows furrowed, and I could feel the anger rising in him. We might both be psychotic killers, but we didn’t hit women, and we certainly didn’t abuse children.
“I know Amara has been worried about her sister, concerned that Marco would direct his anger at Claudia, especially since she told me Claudia has a mouth on her.”
“I’ll monitor the situation. We can’t kill him without starting a war, but he may just need another message sent that his actions won’t be tolerated now that we’re family.”
Nikolai grunted in agreement.
“What about Tatiana?”
Nikolai made a dismissive sound in the back of the throat. “She’s pissed with the suggestion that she visit with family in Moscow, but besides that, she’s too detached from that side. It'll be too much of a culture shock for her. She’s never even left the States. She’d have no one.”
Our younger sister, only eighteen years old, had been born and bred by our father to be what he thought was a “good Russian mafia wife.”
My father had loved none of his three children, but he’d been protective of Tatiana in a way someone was with a precious piece of property they wanted kept safe.
Protective in a ruthless way that had caused a man to lose his life because Leonid hadn’t like the fact that he’d looked at Tatiana.
She’d been groomed and molded from a young age to be timid and submissive. It was archaic, barbaric, but she was strong and went against the grain more than once.
We kept her as safe as we could from our father, not letting him hurt her physically, but his words had been like a whip, lashing her skin and opening up her tender flesh.
But she was also smart, knew to keep her head down and follow directions in order to stay alive. And now she didn’t have to worry about that shit cause Leonid was dead, and we’d never force her to marry anyone she didn’t want to. And no one would lay a fucking hand on her.
“I’m not going to force her to go if she doesn’t want to.”
“I figured as much,” Nikolai responded. “Besides, I’d rather keep her close so we can make sure she’s safe. I don’t trust those bastards in Moscow. For all we know, they were up Leonid’s ass trying to get in good with him. They might still do his dirty work, even though he’s buried six feet under.”
“Agreed.” It was settled. Tatiana would stay here. She was still in danger, but at least she'd be here with us where we could protect her.
“All right, brother.” Nikolai clapped me on the back before leaving.
I grabbed my duffel, took a shower, dressed in a suit, and headed to the abandoned warehouse where the underground cage fight training happened.
Couldn’t exactly teach someone how to kill a man with one hit in a normal gym.
Chapter 5
Claudia
I didn’t know how long it had been since Amara had married Nikolai Petrov. A couple weeks? Time really just melded together at this point.
And I was lonely. So alone that sometimes I just felt like a shell walking around.
My cheek burned, and my tears were locked down tight. I focused on the sound of the fire crackling beside me and inhaled the scent of the wood slowly getting eaten by the flames.
I refused to show how much I hurt, not just because my father hit me and that shit hurt, but because another piece of my heart had been chiseled away in the hope my father could love me.
So I kept my head down, my hands clasped in my lap, and used my hair as a curtain to shield me from everything around me.