25. Nikolai
25
NIKOLAI
A t the last minute, Alek insisted on coming with me to deal with Diego. He'd been instrumental in the correspondence, but I was surprised when he joined me at the garage.
"You can help Ivan," Alek said.
Dmitri snorted. "No thanks. He's ‘staking' out at the club downtown. It's not my scene." He walked off. "He can handle it, anyway."
Ivan could handle anything. He was one of our deadliest killers, and Dmitri was right. Our brother volunteered to supervise things at the Bratva's sex club. He never shied away from the harder kinks and clearly preferred things a bit rougher than the rest of us.
"I'll check on Harrow's," Dmitri said, strolling away. We'd started the cleanup and rebuild, but we were all skeptical about the Ortezes leaving it alone.
I understood what Alek meant about being a show of our power. With so many avenues of business, we had to constantly patrol and supervise so many things. Pavel had done a shitty job of it, letting others sneak on our turf or take over businesses. It would be a major team effort to solidify our power to what it once was.
Teamwork was one thing. But I didn't like Alek coming with me to deal with Diego.
"You're really struggling to stay in the office and just call the shots, huh?" I asked when we got in the car.
He shook his head. "No. On this matter, I need to be there. I need to show them that I'm not afraid to address my enemies or bother with negotiations like this."
I checked my guns. "There will be no negotiations tonight."
"But they think there will be. Some men have been reporting rumors about the Rossinis. They're claiming that I'm secluded at home, hiding and letting my brothers take all the hits and do my dirty work."
I rolled my eyes and looked out the window, shaking my head. Him and his pride. "You're the leader, Alek. You delegate. That's how it works."
He scowled as he drove. "I should've been more present when they burned Harrow's."
"No, you shouldn't have. No one is going to assume you're like Pavel," I reminded him. I knew he struggled with that image. He didn't want to be anything like the asshole who'd killed our father, like a lazy leader who'd ride on everyone else's hard work.
"Tonight is too critical," he said, evading a direct reply to my words. "This isn't just Bratva business with an enemy. It's about family."
"You consider Amy family? Just because she's carrying the next generation of Valkovs?"
"I do." He nodded. "And you are my brother. If she is your woman, then yes, I would do everything in my power to protect her alongside you. "
His loyalty would never fade, but I questioned it as he drove closer to the location we were to meet Diego.
"She's not my woman," I countered, furrowing my brow as I scoped the scenery.
"How is she not?" he scoffed. "Because you said you'd pay for her?"
I shrugged. "I know she's bothered about that. But no money will be exchanged anyway." I'd pay Diego with death for her.
I shook my head. "I can tell she struggles with this adjustment. With giving up her independence and her own life to be slotted into ours."
He didn't speak, and the silence egged me on to continue. "I won't give her up. But I can tell that she's going along with it because she has no choice."
"You'd rather her choose you?"
I nodded.
"She already did. The night you met."
Under false pretenses. "I love her, Alek." I wasn't a fan of talking about emotions, but I'd try. "I love her. But she only tolerates me." I'd known from the moment I left her apartment that no one would ever compare. She was it. It destroyed me to walk away, and when I saw her again, I'd wanted a second chance. How funny that we'd crossed paths a third time and it stuck.
"Have you told her?" he asked. Talking about romance and falling in love was an odd topic to converse about with my Pakhan , but he was still my brother over my boss.
"No. I feel like I need to be wise about approaching her with this." I had to play my cards carefully. "She's already so overwhelmed. I want her to settle in and relax with me before having that kind of conversation. "
He shook his head. "Wait. Did you realize how deeply you felt for her before or after you learned that she was pregnant and carrying your children?"
I frowned. "Before." I knew right away but resisted it. "Why?"
"Just be careful," he advised as he parked and we got out of the car. "If you tell her that you love her now, make sure that she's not assuming that you care for her because she's the mother of your children. Avoid setting her up to assume that you love her out of obligation."
"I agree." I'd already considered that, and it played a part in my choice to hold back the truth. A grand gesture and planned occasion would make more of an impact. So far, we'd only had tense, suspenseful moments of surprises and danger.
After Diego is dead. She will be mine, and I'll tell her. I'd combust if I kept the truth a secret for too long. I needed her to know how much she meant to me.
We kept an eye on our surroundings as we approached the building that we'd been directed to go to. Even though it looked like just the two of us entering this area, we had men hiding behind us. Alek never went anywhere completely alone. It looked deserted around here, with no Cartel presence, but they were likely hanging back as security too. Shadows were deceptive like that.
After we entered the building that looked like a former restaurant or gambling room, we shared a look. No guards. No sentinels at the door. The faint scents of fried food and spiced meat hung in the air, but it wasn't so potent to suggest other areas of this building were actively serving food as a cover business.
Security could be out of sight, and I saw ample cameras anchored all over, but not running into someone seemed wrong. If they invited the Pakhan of the Valkovs here, and there was an implication of a serious negotiation happening, they'd beef up their presence, not play it down .
Alek was tense, and I didn't feel any more confidence as we strode down a hall, entering further. Already, things were suspicious, and I strained to listen and look out, remaining alert.
Voices sounded nearby, casual and not like anything of a greeting to us. I grabbed my gun at the same time Alek did, but we turned at an intersection in the hallway, waiting for those voices to pass.
"Yeah, I don't care," the man said as he strolled by. Phone to his ear, smiling as he walked leisurely toward the exit, was none other than that fucking cop. Steven Murphy.
"I have it from Juan Ortez himself, man. Another shipment of women will be coming soon, all right? So just be patient, you fucker."
Alek and I glanced at each other as the member of the NYPD exited the building. We knew he was crooked, but I hadn't realized he was in that deep with the Cartel.
My brother shook his head once Murphy left. We exited this shadowed corner and hurried through the building.
"I don't like this," he said as we searched all the rooms, no longer caring if we were trespassing.
"That no one's here?" I guessed dryly. Dread twisted in my stomach and I fought to stay level-headed.
"That and that asshole. Murphy." He gritted his teeth. "We have to deal with him sooner or later. For good."
Right now, though, we had to run back to the mansion.
All we'd found was a dinky little kitchen where an old couple made tacos to sell at a street cart. No one from the Cartel was here. Diego wasn't here.
"Fuck." Alek sprinted outside for the car, no doubt understanding that we'd been duped. Diego—and his helpers within the Cartel—had lured us out here without any intention to talk about buying Amy from him.
"Maxim's there," Alek said in the car as he sped home.
I growled. "Yeah, but…" Our youngest brother was more used to working behind the scenes with the books. He was strong. He trained to fight. But he lacked the acquired ruthlessness the others had.
Guards would be there too. Alek wouldn't have ever left Mila unprotected. All this week, we'd been safe with no attacks at the mansion. Diego wouldn't have dared.
Until now.
Every second that passed on the way home felt torturously too long. Time dragged while my heart raced. I had to get to her. I had to make sure Amy was all right.
I tried to convince myself that it was a coincidence. That Diego hadn't planned to negotiate or talk but wasn't so dumb as to attack the Bratva's headquarters and main home.
Coincidences were bullshit, though, and I saw the proof of my worst fears when Alek slammed to a stop at the mansion's front drive.
Maxim lay on the ground, wounded as he fired at the Cartel thugs. More Valkov soldiers fired back and fought at others trying to break in. The large windows lay in pieces, and I prayed that Amy and Mila weren't anywhere near the dining room.
Beast mode was activated. I turned off all my thoughts. I ceased to feel anything as I donned the mask of a killer, a predator. A protector. All that I could focus on was ending these men who'd dared to break in here and target my woman.
Amy was mine. Not because I'd pay millions for her. Not only because she was the mother of my children. But because she had my heart. She'd had it all along, and it beat for her .
Gunfire filled the house as Alek and I ran inside. We aimed and pulled our triggers, darting headfirst into the gruesome mayhem. Soldiers held back the intruders. Cartel members lay dead on the floor, but still, more remained. They'd come with forces, planning to succeed. And I'd be damned if they did.
In the dining room, I saw the slimy psycho I'd intended to kill on my terms.
"Get your hands off her," I said, raising my gun to aim at the spot between Diego's eyes. They looked crazed, like he was one inch from utter insanity as he held Amy close. Her eyes were open wide with alarm and fear as she stared at me. His arm was wedged beneath her chin, pushing it up as he trapped her in a headlock.
He moved his gun toward her temple as he snickered. His laughter chilled me. It was too cold, too freakish.
The man was insane. "You dare to inconvenience me with a suggestion that this girl would be yours ? Not mine?" He laughed harder, pushing the gun into her hair.
"I don't think so," he growled, ceasing his maniacal chuckles.
I remained still.
In a standoff, I locked down and stared at Amy, tense and terrified.
She didn't break eye contact, beseeching me to help.
As I gazed at her and vowed not to fail her, I regretted one sad fact more than anything else.
I never told you the truth. I never told you how much I love you.
And I swore on my life that I would rectify that mistake right now.