Chapter 1 - Ari

The thick smell of smoke and freshly sparked gunpowder traveled through the air, greeting me as I shoved out of my office and moved down the hall with urgency.

Shouting came from the distance, along with the volleying gunfire, both inside and outside the building. I listened closely as I loaded my pistol and cocked it, mouth fixed in a scowl. Unfortunately, it was nothing new.

It was another raid, no doubt. The second one in less than a year.

There was something about being a Levov that seemed to draw the other families, both major and insignificant, like flies to shit. Apparently, the warehouse had a big red target on it, begging for the others to try and bring us down.

But try as they may, it always ended the same way.

The guys were already on it, calling out commands according to rank and gunning down any men trying to enter the building. They shot on sight, working hard to not let any of them get away.

So long as they wanted inside our house so badly, they could die there, too, right on the cold concrete for all I cared.

They were nothing but cannon fodder, and regardless of who their families were or who they worked for, it didn't affect me. If they were stupid enough to work for someone willing to send their men into a Levov den, then in a sense, they already had it coming.

More shooting rang out inside, and I spotted flashes of light on my left side from where I stood on the second floor. Positioning myself over the railing, I fired down below, knocking down one of the assailants as they tried to sneak in.

The other beside him fell after, pulling my attention to the metal platform across from me.

There stood Benedikt, having the same idea. He winked, I scoffed, and we both descended our respective staircases.

He was a good shot, at least.

More shouting came from the south side of the building as our men flooded out, and we followed in tow, picking off whoever we could find.

It seemed we had missed the initial showdown, given how the moment we reached outside, the surviving assailants peeled away in their vehicles, leaving behind anyone who was either dead or dying still. Their tires squealed, trying to get away without being caught in the middle of the chaos.

"Send a unit after them!" I shouted, gesturing to a group of our guys, who all nodded once and ran for the nearest SUV.

"That's too bad," Benedikt said, sucking his teeth in slight disappointment. "I was hoping to get more practice in."

"There's always the firing range."

He shrugged. "It's not quite the same as real, moving targets."

"We're lucky we have the forces we do," I muttered in return, tone laced with a slight warning. "The faster they're taken care of, the less damage they do, and the less money we have to shovel into fixing this place."

"Andrei wouldn't whine about a few hundred grand going into renovations. He's used to it."

"And I am not Andrei, unless you've forgotten," I began, giving him a side-eye. "His resources here are a lot more abundant than what we had in Russia. Forgive me if I got used to counting every dollar."

Benedikt sighed, clicked the safety on, and absently scratched the back of his neck with his pistol. "Don't remind me. You were on my back about every little thing."

"Speaking of, get me the details on who did this, will you?"

Toeing the line between brother and subordinate, Ben gave me a disinterested look. "That's what Lukyan is for."

Narrowing my eyes at him, I let that authority come through, even if it was undercut with slight amusement. "I don't care who reports back—just make it quick. I'd like to know what bastards decided to halt our productivity today."

"Alright," he said with a sigh, pulling out his cell as he walked away. "Lukyan it is."

As the others collected intel and did the usual running around to get things organized again, I made my way over to the attackers' point of entry. Assessing the damages, I found myself scowling all over again.

A handful of our men were down just outside of the north wall, right where someone had cut through the steel wall and forced their way through. From there, it seemed their guys had piled in with their weapons drawn. Fortunately, they only made it so far.

I couldn't understand what would've given them the idea that they could successfully infiltrate our operation and take whatever they wanted.

Regardless, it made my blood boil.

My branch of the family may have been new to the city, and new to America for that matter, but we weren't small fish. We were Levovs, sharing the same blood as the most notorious family in New York.

Andrei certainly left his mark, but it seemed I still had to make mine.

Before long, Kir and Benedikt strolled into my office, the former holding a tablet. My youngest brother moved with more urgency, as he was still new to how everything worked and didn't want to slip up along the way.

His green eyes were still bright with the desire to work hard and earn his place. Benedikt, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. His face was stern and usually tired looking from everything he'd seen over the years. He didn't tolerate any bullshit well, which was why he was my second in command. He knew what needed to be done, even if he did it with reluctance most times.

"I have the surveillance footage," Kir said, placing the tablet in front of me. Wearing a black tank top tucked into his dark cargo pants, the aggressive-looking scar on his shoulder from the conflict with the Caprises was on full display.

He had initially been frustrated with the mark left after his wound healed, but after being reminded he had earned his first true scar from working the family business, he came around and showed it off more proudly.

Kir wasn't a kid anymore, after all. Even if we teased him for being the youngest brother, he was still one of us, and he worked damn hard.

Pressing play on the footage, I watched as the scene unfolded as I had predicted. Our men were taken out, the access point was created, and they snuck their guys in. But from what I could see, their group split apart, some running forward and acting as a distraction while the others snuck into our inventory.

My brows came together as I looked closer, watching as they grabbed bundles of product and filed it out through the access point, seemingly directing it to their awaiting vehicles. More went out than I had anticipated, and my skin started to burn with fury.

Once the video ended with them fleeing and our forces pushing them out, I looked between my brothers with my expression hardened.

"How much did they take?"

Kir glanced at Benedikt nervously, whose eyes gave away the devastation. "According to my numbers, at least two hundred thousand's worth."

Blinking back at him, I processed that sum in my head, unable to say anything at first.

While it wasn't the biggest number in the grand scheme of things, especially given our wealth, it was the principle of it. The very fact that someone else in the city decided to steal from us. They felt entitled to a piece of what we had and simply took it.

That success would be more than enough incentive for them to try again. Hell, once word inevitably spread to the families of New York, we'd have everyone and their distant cousins on our doorstep.

I had to put an end to that idea.

Scrubbing a hand down my face, I shook my head. "This can't fly. We need to know who did this, and what else they might be planning. And where the hell is Lukyan?"

"He should be on his way," Kir murmured, glancing down at his phone.

"Right here," Luk said as he entered the room, immediately brought up short by the tense atmosphere in the room, largely charged by my anger. He glanced around before handing me a fresh folio. "I have that intel you wanted. Some guys are still working on it, but this should stave you off for now. Does the name De Luca ring any bells?"

There were many dominant families in New York, some more prevalent and vocal than others, but still active regardless. Many names floated around, all with varying reputations. Some popped up from time to time to form alliances and reinforce their turf, while others came onto the scene aggressively, throwing everything at the wall hoping something might stick.

De Luca, however, had been the quiet type. The kingpin, Edoardo, had reached out to Andrei before for an alliance, but when he didn't have enough to bring to the table, the offer was rejected. It seemed he must've harbored some bad blood since then. It made me wonder if Andrei would even recognize that name if it came up again.

Likely not.

"It certainly does," I murmured, leaning back in my chair as I considered what that meant, leafing through the printed pages.

"I figured as much. The name was highlighted in the database," Luk added, dropping himself onto one of the leather chairs in my office.

"There's a brief history with him and Andrei," I returned as I looked down at a black and white copy of Edoardo's picture. "It didn't end in his favor, so I can only assume he was ready for some retribution."

"But why attack us? Andrei doesn't work too closely with us," Kir questioned.

Letting go of a breath, I closed the folio and placed it on the desk. Ben was quick to look through the contents for himself. "Because De Luca thinks we don't have the same teeth as Andrei and his ranks. Since we aren't as established, he probably assumes we don't have the numbers or forces to fend for ourselves."

"I'd say we proved otherwise back there," Ben murmured as he flipped through the pages.

"I doubt he'll try again after that. He may have gotten away with some inventory, but it was a slaughter on his side," Luk chipped in, not seeming all too bothered by any threat posed.

"He may not try again on his own, but there's no telling if he'll come back with reinforcements. He could use the profits from what he stole to leverage an alliance with another family on our bad side. Or perhaps he just wants to smear our name throughout the city—let everyone know he pulled a fast one on us. Either way, Edoardo cannot get away with this," I said, using my voice of authority.

My brothers looked between themselves, surely wondering what was to come next.

I was pissed that the old man assumed he could push us around and poke at our defenses without us biting back. Assuming I was little league and wouldn't properly defend what was mine and my family's.

It seemed my time to prove otherwise had landed right in my lap. The chance to flex what made me a Levov.

"Get me more information on the De Luca family," I murmured, stroking my chin absently as I thought.

Kir lifted his brows with curiosity. "What are you going to do?"

"Something drastic. Something that'll show Edoardo and his family that while I'm not Andrei, I'm a completely different beast he'll have to contend with now," I said, brainstorming on the spot. "Soon enough, he'll wish he never rocked the boat."

While they still didn't completely know what that entailed, they exchanged glances, anticipating something that would truly show what we were capable of.

My brothers and I may be another vein of the Levov name, but we were just as willing and determined to secure our legacy as Andrei and the others had. We had our own battles to conquer and reputations to create.

And De Luca was about to find out the hard way.