3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I lya, the Russian

Don’t worry, malenkaya lisichka . I’ll fix this for you.

It was excruciatingly painful to pull away from her, but if someone caught us, I wouldn’t be able to protect her, and I’d spent the whole wedding planning to make her mine.

It had almost been too easy to get a human tracker on her. All I had had to do was approach Ivan and ask him to remove her guard from their brothel guest list. Ivan had taken one look at me before his eyes had shifted across the room to Angelo. Smiling, he had told me that the Greek was my problem, and he’d wash his hands of him. Angelo couldn’t lay off the ladies and often had to make large balloon payments that he hadn’t been able to afford on a guard’s salary. Men like him were always living on borrowed time, teetering between debt and desperation. It had taken less than five minutes to have him blacklisted.

I had made sure Ivan had notified Angelo during the wedding, carefully watching from my seat in the pew. Angelo had been leaning against the church wall, too far from Toula to be useful. I had watched as he’d slightly shifted and pulled his phone from his pocket enough to read the message. His face had reddened and his nose had crinkled, and that was when I knew I had won. Facing the altar, I had watched Toula’s profile. She had maintained an aloof face, but her eyes had been bouncing, and I had felt like I had had a front-row seat to her private thoughts.

The photographer had been finishing up when I had approached Angelo. He was still leaning against the wall, and I had adjusted my stance to match his, like we were friends. “I heard you’re no longer invited to девушка,” I had said to him. девушка was Russian for “a woman.” Ivan had only cared about money, and he had gone with simple names, claiming they attracted more clientele. They didn’t. He had just been lazy.

Angelo had said nothing as he had shifted against the wall. If he had walked away, I would have considered it disrespectful and could have had him disciplined. However, I was a Russian boss and had no ties to the Greeks. I would have been leery too, if the situations had been reversed.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to confirm it for me. However, I have a deal for you I think you’ll be interested in.” I had waited for him to speak, knowing that once he did, I would have him in the palm of my hand.

“What are you offering?” He had had the audacity to look me in the eye.

“Each section has their own women. I’ll arrange for you to be my guest at Дом Орхидей, House of Orchids. The madame will make sure they treat you like a king.” I had watched him take the bait, certain he wouldn’t disappoint me .

“What’s the catch?” He had narrowed his beady eyes and had crossed his arms over his puffed-out chest. I didn’t like him, but he was useful. This was going to be a long game, and I would need his help, but he would never actually work for me. He would have never survived. My men didn’t ask questions. They also did their fucking jobs. Angelo would have never lain down his life for Toula. When she became mine, I’d make sure her guards were Russian. We’d worked for everything in life, and our loyalty wouldn’t allow us to be bought.

“You’re going to work for me. I’ll keep you in the female companionship you’ve become accustomed to, but in exchange, I want information about Toula. She goes out, I want to know. They bring in a marriage prospect, I want to know. You understand?”

Now, walking down the hallway towards the ballroom, I passed Angelo. Without breaking my stride, I slipped him five hundred dollars for telling me she was on the patio and staying the fuck out of the way.

The reception was still going strong. A few people were dancing, but this was mostly about being seen and making connections. I didn’t care about any of that. If I wanted to work with someone, I researched them before making contact. I didn’t want bad business partners, and most of these people couldn’t tell their heads from their asses. There was a difference between earning what you had and being fed with a silver spoon. While these people had never known hunger, I’d spent years learning how to survive without a spoon.

I found my brother, Adrik, sitting at our table, a bourbon in his hand.

“Where the fuck have you been?” he muttered, as I sat next to him.

I chuckled quietly. “You don’t really want to know. Have you seen Pahkan floating around here?” If this had been my territory, I would have handled business and then reported it. Junior was an Italian, and the rules were different. The Lombardos wouldn’t care that they were losing a fuck-up, but I needed permission to protect the rest of our Bratva cell.

“What are you doing?” Adrik asked, taking a large gulp from his glass.

“You know what I’m doing. You’ve been telling me it’s a bad idea all day.” I wasn’t afraid anyone would hear our conversation. We were far enough from the outside walls to see anyone approaching before they were close. We also weren’t advertising our conversation. Anyone looking would think we were just sitting here.

“I don’t like it. You’re chasing pussy.” He swirled the ice in his drink and then took a sip. “You want that? Go to a whorehouse.”

“Careful. You’re talking about my future wife. I have no problem putting you down for stupid shit like that.” It wasn’t the threat that it sounded like. Adrik was my older half-brother. It would take a lot for me to put him down, and he knew it.

“You won’t. You’d have to get a new sovietnik that might actually give a shit. I have no such compunction.”

“You give a shit about the wrong things,” I said, slapping his arm. “Where’s Pahkan?”

“In the bathroom, getting his dick sucked.” He finished his drink, setting it on the table. “Whatever you’re doing, you don’t do it alone. If you’re going down, I’m going to be right next to you, pointing and laughing as I lose my life.”

“Duly noted.” I stood and headed toward the bar. If I went straight to the bathroom, someone would notice I’d just walked in, only to leave again. It would bring more attention to my situation than I wanted. Appearances were everything.

I ordered a bourbon and waited at the bar. I hadn’t been sitting long when there was a slight tug on my suit coat.

“Volkov, you’re a hard one to get a hold of.”

As I slightly turned on the barstool, preparing to stand, a hand extended toward me. I’d met Mr. Ricci a few months ago when he’d tried to pitch a new partnership. He was an Italian capo, and under normal circumstance, I would have listened. However, I thought his business plans were a little thin, and I didn’t feel comfortable extending my reach into his territory. He had given off vibes that suggested I’d end up doing all the work and not reap the rewards. I’d told him it wasn’t the right time and had gone about my business.

“Mr. Ricci,” I said, shaking his hand. “It’s a pleasure.” It wasn’t, but I wouldn’t tell him that. He was taking up precious time that I didn’t have right now, but there was no way I was going to get out of this unscathed if I rushed it.

“Volkov, I tried to speak to your brother, but he said he has no authority to supply me.”

I held in my laugh. Adrik had authority. That was why we worked well together. He made the day-to-day operational decisions, while I thought of the big-picture moves to ensure our future. He just didn’t like Ricci either, which was why he had passed him over. I’d remind him later, with my fists, how shitty it was that he had set me up like this.

I made a non-committal sound. “We’re not taking additional contracts right now until we can expand a little further. I would hate to promise you something I can’t deliver on.” That was a smooth lie. I could deliver to the right customer. Ricci just wasn’t it.

“Hmph,” he said. “I’m disappointed to hear that. Ivan says he can supply me, but I would prefer to do business with you.” Of course, Ivan would say that. He didn’t care who his business serviced as long as they were paying, but then he’d turn around and bitch that his customers sucked. That was what you got when you did business with the bottom feeders.

“If Ivan has room, I’d jump on that before his slots fill. He’s been growing lately, and there’s always a chance that he’ll close his doors. Unfortunately, I won’t be opening mine until I can get the growth under control.”

“Hmph,” he said, again. “When you do, I better be the first one on the waiting list. Good to see you, Volkov.”

“You, too. It was a beautiful wedding.” It would be a cold day in hell before I ever went to solicit his business. I wasn’t about to make enemies when Ivan made enough for all of us. I chuckled to myself. At least I’d look good when Ricci screwed up, and Ivan would have to deal with it.

I walked with purpose out the side door closest to the bar and headed toward the restroom. Nodding at a few people I passed, I raised my glass in their direction, taking a sip. The drink was a decoy, and when I found a potted plant, I dumped the rest.

It was quiet in the hallway as I reached the men’s room. I expected the door to be locked, but it easily turned in my hand. “You trying to get caught?” I asked, flipping the lock and leaning against the back of the door.

My brother hadn’t been wrong. Our Pahkan was leaning against the sink, his hands gripping the ledge behind him as a young server was on her knees, trying to make him hard.

“I like to live dangerously. It’ll be worse for her if we’re caught. I’ll just get a slap on the back and some new contracts,” he said, speaking over her head.

She was inconsequential, and neither one of us checked for her reaction. It didn’t matter. This was a man’s world, and even though he was the leader of our cell, people throughout the city would respect him. The operations manager would fire the server for abusing company time, and then the Italians would ensure everyone knew she was blacklisted from any business, including the brothels. No one wanted to go against the mafia, legit or otherwise, and she’d be destitute until she left the city. It was just the way things worked, and I would have done the same thing without a second thought if it had been one of my employees.

“What are you doing here? You’re not an exhibitionist,” he said to me.

I flipped to Russian. “I need to ask for your permission.”

“How much damage control will I need to navigate?” I didn’t have to tell him why I’d changed the language, and he naturally flipped as well. It clearly wasn’t a decent blowjob because he could still answer me.

“If it goes sour, blame me. I’ll fall on the sword,” I said.

“This must be serious. I’ve never known you to make a rash decision. That’s why you’re my best boss, but I’ll deny that if you ever say anything.”

“I made a plan, and I have to see it through, but it requires me to remove a chess piece off the board.” My mind wandered to Toula, on her knees in front of me. She’d look up at me with her chocolate brown eyes while her tongue licked me from my head to my stomach. My dick hardened, and I had to adjust my stance. Now wasn’t the time to think about such things.

“Adrik?”

“He doesn’t approve, and if it goes south, you don’t let him take the fall for me. I’ll give my life for my decisions.”

Pahkan leaned down and grabbed a few strands of the server’s brunette hair, pulling at the roots. She let out a moan and renewed her efforts. “Does this have something to do with it?” He held up her hair in my direction. He knew, though I wasn’t sure how. “Ivan told me what you asked him to do. He didn’t put it together, but I did.”

I didn’t bother answering him when he already suspected the basics.

“You’re asking a lot for a Greek girl,” Pahkan said, tightening his grip on the server’s hair. “If this blows up, you’ll be dead before you can even fall on that sword.” He grinned, but there was no humor in his eyes. “You still sure?”

I didn’t bother answering him. His question was rhetorical. Pahkan was going to give me his permission, or I’d have to beg for forgiveness.

“I know you, and while I don’t agree with this, I can see where it will be fortuitous if you can actually make this work. I’ll give you my permission, but you sacrifice your life if it backfires on you.” He grabbed the back of the server’s head and made her choke on his dick.

I couldn’t be in this room without fantasizing about my young brunette. Unlocking the door, I slid back out into the hallway. This was going to plan.