Chapter One

Ilya

Present Day

I t was good to be back. I'd been away from the United States for eight long years, and I was in New York to fulfill my father's dreams.

"I am not sure about this place," I said, looking around the spacious Manhattan apartment.

Dmitri, my best friend and my second-in-command, scoffed. "It is perfect, Ilya. A high-rise with good security, the best of everything, and right in the heart of the city. It is where you belong."

And that was the problem with the penthouse. It was everything a man in my position should have. It was what I was expected to have as a wealthy bachelor of the underworld. "Yes, but according to who?"

Dmitri grinned. "It is where Oleg expects you to live."

I laughed. "The only thing my uncle cares about is the money he receives each month." After years of pleading with Oleg, he finally agreed it was time to expand the family business, the Kuznetsov Group, to North America. It was only the respect and love of family that was drilled into me since I was a boy that made me wait until Oleg agreed, before I made the move I always planned to make. "He is too stuck in the old ways, satisfied with Russia and Asia alone." I knew better, and that was why I was here. To conquer this land and make it mine.

Not Oleg's.

Not the bratva's.

Mine.

I was already on my way. Buildings had been bought around the city because there was no fucking way I would leave my future up to someone else. I had a hand in everything, both the legal and illegal businesses, because I was determined to make this my home permanently. Success was the only way to guarantee that, at least for now.

"There is another matter we need to discuss." Dmitri looked over his shoulder where the realtor had escaped to give us privacy.

He had my full attention. "What is it?" The one thing both Ilya and my father had taught me was that problems were plentiful in this business and had to be dealt with swiftly.

"Calhoun."

My shoulders fell because I knew the business manager was going to be a problem. He gave off a smarmy vibe that put me on edge from the start, but he knew his way around a criminal enterprise, so I ignored it. A mistake I wouldn't repeat again. "Let me guess, he wants more money."

"In a way, yes," Dmitri replied. "He wants a cut of the businesses. All of them."

I nodded slowly as his words sank in. "Get all of my files from him and give them to the other guy."

Dmitri frowned. "The fat man? You said he wasn't up for the job."

"And I thought Calhoun was. Clearly, I was wrong. Transfer the files and I'll handle Calhoun myself." My anger grew as I watched him walk away to execute my orders. "Dmitri," I called out, and he stopped. "Do it tonight. I don't want to give him time to run."

Dmitri smiled. "Could be fun."

"It most definitely would be fun, but right now, I don't have time."

Disappointment flashed in his eyes before he cleared his expression. "I will check on today's deliveries."

"I'll meet you downtown in an hour." I'd only been back on US soil for two weeks and I hadn't stopped running since I arrived.

"Mr. K, what do you think?" The realtor stepped back in the moment Dmitri was gone, I had a feeling she found his size intimidating.

"I want more space." This place was not for me, even though it was supposed to be.

Her expression fell, but the woman was a professional and she turned her focus to her phone. "If you don't mind living just outside the city, I have a place we can check out right now. You'll get a lot more space for the same price, but it's in Winter Valley."

Winter Valley. My former home for less than a year. I hadn't been back there since I left for winter break and my life was flipped upside down. and the course of my future had been delayed by nearly a decade. "I am familiar with the town. Let's go."

"Excellent!" The realtor locked up behind us and spent the elevator ride to the ground floor extolling the virtues of the particular property. Thankfully, it wasn't the mansion my father had bought for us before his death. That place held a few memories I wasn't sure if I was ready to face, namely my one night with a sweet American girl I'd made the mistake of falling for.

Brooke. I wondered about her from time to time, curious about where life had taken her. Was she married with children? Was she a career woman? Did she ever think of me?

***

The house wasn't as large as the old mansion, but it was more than big enough, with two stories, a basement, five bedrooms, and five bathrooms. The kitchen and living room were spacious. It was a family home.

"It might not be to your liking, but the price is right," she said, reading off what was being asked. "And the owners are eager to sell." At my frown she explained. "The inspections are all up to date and they've put quite a lot of money into modernizing it, but the father has been transferred to Oregon."

This house felt right. My gut instinct rarely failed me, so I knew what I would do before I finished touring the property. "I'll take this house as well as the penthouse." The penthouse was expected of me and that's where my enemies would look for me—if they were stupid enough to want to find me. "I want it done as quickly as possible."

"I'll draw up the paperwork and have it to you by end of day, Mr. K." She smiled brightly at me. It was strange, under other circumstances I might have considered taking her out for a celebratory drink, and then spent the night fucking her. But being back in Winter Valley with Brooke on my mind, that idea seemed unappealing.

"Good. Thank you," I said, leaving the realtor to lock up, happy in the knowledge that she would be making a tidy profit from both my purchases.

Since Calhoun was as good as dead, I needed to reach out to the fat man. Finding a new money guy wasn't on my list of shit to do today, but it was a priority.

I would do whatever I had to do to succeed here in America and I wouldn't let some greedy fucker derail me. Calhoun was my first opportunity to let the world know what happened when you fucked with Ilya Kuznetsov.