17. ANDREY

Chapter 17

ANDREY

A few hours later, I'm sitting at Marco's dining room table, where the meeting with the Mafia and Bratva councils took place earlier. The table is extravagantly long, a testament to Marco's need to showcase power and wealth. The council members, my father and Marco, have left, leaving me with James, Sergei, and Urie.

The room is quiet, the tension from earlier still lingering in the air. I look at James, then at Sergei.

"Does anyone know what the hell we were drugged with? In all my medical training, I can't recall a drug that has such a potent effect."

"As we didn't find any traces of the substance that took down an entire army, and they took the bottle of vodka and glasses from Marco's office," Sergei answered, "I'd say it was NeuroVeil. Especially if the Zhukov were involved and their primary mission was a non-lethal extraction."

"I've never heard of it. But I think I might have been sprayed in the face with it the night my brother was murdered."

Sergei's voice is calm and measured, giving me the impression that he's giving me the cliff note version. "NeuroVeil is a drug that can be ingested, sprayed, or injected. The most effective method is the spray, as it evaporates quickly and leaves the bloodstream just as fast."

"Where is it made?"

Sergei sighs, shaking his head. "Someone called the chemist makes it and no one knows who they are."

"Is this some CIA super weapon shit?"

"No, they wish they had it," James adds. "It is made purely for the Zhukov Special Forces."

"Do you know anything else about it?"

Sergei looks at me, and instinctively, I know his eyes are about to reveal a truth I'm not ready to hear. "I know that two people who know about the drug are dead and that Zhukov is running out of it. One of the people who knew about it died a year ago"

A prickling sensation scrapes at my nerve endings, at the look in Sergei's eyes. I can tell Sergei is not happy to talk with James and Urie there.

"Give us the room." I glance at Urie and James as my mother, Grace Belov, walks in.

"Mother," I stand and greet her.

She kisses my cheek. "I believe congratulations are in order, Pakhan."

"Thank you." I smile. "Sorry, Mother, I don't want to be rude, but Sergei and I were just about to have a discussion ."

"I heard," my mother says, taking a seat beside Sergei. She looks toward Urie, nodding for him to close the door. "I'm sorry I had to leave your wedding so early, but I started to get a migraine."

I nod at her apology. "Mom, Sergei and I need to discuss something sensitive." Fuck, I don't want my mother to hear what I'm about to ask. Especially if I think Sergei was hinting that my brother was one of the people in the world who knew about NeuroVeil.

That would've been a significant motive to kill my brother. However, I'm not sure why Konstantin would kill him if he's the head of the Zhukov Special Forces. Unless he's trying to dethrone his uncle by killing the people who knew about Roman's secret weapon.

How do I speak about my brother with my mother here? The wound of his death is still fresh in her heart. My mother still refers to my brother as being gone or having to leave us like she hasn't accepted he's dead.

Catching Sergei's gaze, my eyes signal for him to help me get my mother out of the room but he shakes his head. What the fuck! So much for being loyal to me. Right now, he's siding with my mother.

"Grace has a lot of the answers you need." Sergei's words have my brows shooting up in surprise, then my hands itching to throttle the man when I see the look of affection filter through Sergei's eyes when he looks at my Mother. "Grace, he's back."

At almost sixty, my mother is still one of the most beautiful women on the East Coast, and men have envied my father not only for his power but for having her on his arm. The daughter of a wealthy shipping family with ties to multiple crime families. Velvet Transport Corporation became hers when her father was killed—the company is highly valued by various crime families as it transports goods for them.

"No!" My mother's eyes widen. I have no doubt Sergei is referring to Konstantin, but instead of fear in her eyes, I see— hope? "Did you see him? Speak to him?" She turns, looking at me wide-eyed.

"By him , I take it you're referring to the fucking bastard Konstantin who not only took out all my men, he stole my wife !" My voice booms around the dining room but does not faze my mother. She turns toward me.

"Konstantin has Isabella?" My mother's eyes widen and she looks at Sergei for confirmation. He nods and her eyes shoot back toward me. "He would never hurt Isabella, and if he has her, Isabella is in the safest place she can be with the Zhukov Special Forces protecting her."

Is my mother sticking up for the prick that I've already fantasized about giving a slow, painful death while I stand and watch every excruciating painful drop of life drain out of him. My surgical training taught me everything I need to know to do it just right.

Sergei flashes me a warning look, and again, my brows shoot up. I know I'm keeping him around as an advisor to help Urie and to strengthen our security, and he's been with my father a long time, but I'll be fucked if I let him treat me like I'm still a kid in training.

My mouth opens to remind Sergei of his place, but my mother intervenes. She knows me well and must have anticipated what I was about to say.

"Andrey, while you may now be Pakhan, I am still your mother." Her eyes narrow warningly. "And let me remind you that I am still very much alive and in control of Velvet Transport."

"What has that got to do with anything, mother?"

"Velvet Transport is the one thing I control completely, and I can shut down any and all non-legitimate cargo from leaving my docks on my ships or trucks." She raises her chin. "Without me, part of your power dissipates. So be very careful who you disrespect in my presence, including me."

Grace Belov is truly a sight to behold when riled. Her blue eyes turn to chips of ice, and her tone drips with warning. While my father managed his side of the business—laundering money, protection, drugs, and weapons—my mother has always run Velvet Transport.

My father once told me it was better for Grace to have complete control and for him to stay out of it. That way, the company could maintain a legitimate front. Her expertise and firm hand ensured that Velvet Transport remained beyond his reach and any attempts to compromise its legitimacy. It also helped for the company to maintain the trust of the other crime families that used it.

Grace's connection to her family's shipping empire runs deep. She took over after her father was killed when she was in her early twenties. Despite her young age, she showed remarkable resilience and shrewdness, quickly earning the respect of the board and the employees. My father could never wrest control from her because she had solidified her position with an iron will and strategic acumen—only two people had the key to get into the biometrically locked system that ran the non-legitimate side of the business.

"Andrey," she continues, her voice firm, "do not underestimate what I'm capable of. Velvet Transport remains untouchable because I have made it so. I made sure never to make the same mistake my father and my best…" Her eyes darken with emotion but it's quickly gone. "Than others I have cared for did, and up until two years ago, I made sure that my sons and those I promised to protect remained safe by leveraging my position."

Where is this going? My brow furrows a little more, watching my mother make sure I know her position now that I've taken over as Pakhan.

"Velvet Transport has transported goods for crime families all over the world," Sergei reminds me. "Your mother can bring a world of hurt to every one of them, including Belov Bratva."

The threat hangs in the air, a potent reminder of the power my mother wields. Grace Belov is not just a figurehead; she is the backbone of our legitimate and non-legitimate operations, a force to be reckoned with. She has obviously gained Sergei's loyalty and affection by the way he looks at her, and he is my father's most trusted underboss, brigadier, and advisor. My father relied on Sergei heavily.

Jesus! My heart jolts when it hits me just how powerful my mother's position makes my father by association. I always knew he'd made himself basically untouchable, but it wasn't him they were afraid of. I realize now that it was my mother.

Up until seven weeks ago, when Velvet Transport was hacked, no one dared cross my father. They needed to be able to transport their goods, but they also needed someone who knew how to handle their cargo to ensure they never got caught.

But then there was also the fact that my mother kept meticulously coded records. Records that a group of faceless hackers were trying to access as they held the rest of Velvet Transport and Strategic Packaging hostage.

At first I thought it might be for the records of the crime families or maybe Isabella. But now I'm not so sure as they would only communicate with Marco and, according to my contacts, were demanding Marco and Ivan give them something. I wonder if its the missing documents Marco and my father were talking about?

My father's alliance with Marco Moretti, who not only was a mob boss but also the criminal defense attorney for a lot of major bad guys, also wielded the power to bring down whoever he wanted. With high-up judges in their pockets, they were a force to be reckoned with. A cold feeling starts to creep up my spine, and I'm beginning to feel uneasy about how quickly my father and Marco have stepped aside.

They hadn't even tried to defend themselves to the council. Marco and Ivan had accepted defeat and bowed out, giving James and me their crowns with their blessing. My gaze turns to Sergei and narrows suspiciously. He, too, pledged his loyalty to me a little too quickly, switching sides without the blink of an eye. Fuck! He's my father and Marco Moretti's mole.

A mole I can deal with at any time and can use to my advantage. My worry is, who the fuck these hackers are that would dare challenge the likes of Ivan Belov and Marco Moretti? Could it be Zhukov? Did he get the hackers to send a crate of Painted Ladies his way to revert suspicion from him so Konstantin can extract Isabella and take revenge on Marco and Ivan?

The headache I still have from that NeuroVeil shit I was drugged with is starting to get worse with all the questions I have swirling in my mind. What a mess my father and Marco have us in. It's a mess I'm going to have to clean up if I don't want a war on my hands. At least not yet anyway, while I've just taken power and need to rally all the men, as well as Marco's men.

While I'm sorting this mess out, I still have to find my wife and kill her brother, which is sure to bring the Zhukov down on us.

"Andrey!" my mother snaps, pulling me from my thoughts. "Have you heard a word I've said?"

"Sorry, Mother, I have a lot on my mind." I sit back, resting my arms on the chair and steepling my hands.

"You have questions about NeuroVeil," she says, her eyes meeting my surprised ones.

My father ruled over my brother and me with an iron fist. Although my father was a lot stricter with my older brother. My mother, while equally steely, governed with a touch of softness, her authority padded with velvet—her favorite fabric.

"Sergei was about to reveal information about two of the people who know about the shit." My eyes travel questioningly to Sergei. "Well?"

He glances at my mother. Is he looking at her for permission? What the fuck is going on here? I'm starting to get pissed off. "I don't who the new chemist is," Sergei tells me. "But we had a suspicion who the previous one was."

"Darling, calm down." My mother's voice has changed to the soothing, defuse-the-situation one as she must see the anger brewing in my eyes. The voice she used to use when my brother and I would get into a fight and try to beat the crap out of each other. "You don't want to have a mini-stroke."

"You mean a TIA?" I add. "Trust me, I'm fine, but I think my blood pressure is on the rise because of the anger boiling inside me. I'm tired of not getting the answers I've asked for, and I'm going to resort to more persuasive measures in a few seconds if I don't."

"Don't threaten your mother like that." Sergei's eyes flash angrily. "She's done everything to protect you at her own risk."

"Look how well that worked out for her eldest child!" I point out, then turn to my mother. "Stop fucking hedging." My eyes flip from my mother to Sergei. "Was my brother one of the people who knew about NeuroVeil, and is that what got him killed?"

"Yes, we believe he knew about where or how NeuroVeil is made," my mother replies. "But that's not what took him from us."

"No, that fucking deadman walking Konstantin took him from us!" The growl rips from my throat. "Just like he took my wife, and when I find him, I'm going to enjoy painfully draining the fucking life from him."

"You will do no such thing!" My mother stands up, kicking her chair back, and is at my side in a flash. Her eyes are blazing with an anger I've never before seen on her. "You asked why me bringing Velvet Transport up was relevant—because of Konstantin. You will not harm him, is that clear?"

While she might wield power with her shipping company, I'm sure I'll find a way around it if I have to. What I won't have is being told not to kill the man who took my brother's life and stole my wife. Mother or not, I'm no longer a child or someone to be manipulated by my family—I control the family business now.

"Sit down, Mother. " My voice is low and controlled. My eyes hold hers in a battle of wills. I can see why my father has always been besotted with her. At that moment, I realize why I fell so quickly under Isabella's spell—she has the same fire, and strength my mother has. Fuck! I married my mother! "You may be able to wield your control over Father, but I'm not lazy like him. There are plenty of shipping companies out there. Fuck, I'll start my own if need be. I know the business well enough, having grown up with it."

"You wouldn't dare!" My mother looks at me in disbelief.

"I'm having a rather shitty day," I warn. "Besides the obvious that my wedding day was ruined and I'm not going to be enjoying my wedding night…" Sergei stands and pulls my mother back to her seat. "I've been drugged with some weird super drug, found out my father has been marked by the same fucking bastard that killed my brother and took my wife. Oh, and then I learn that fucking bastard happens to be my brother-in-law, the leader of the Zhukov Special Forces and heir to the Zhukov throne."

"Andrey…" My mother's voice drops to her soothing one again, and remorse flashes in her eyes. I hold up my index finger, silencing her.

"Not only is there a container of painted ladies heading straight to Zhukov, compliments of the Belovs from some mysterious hackers, but my mother is also defending the fuckhead who's probably behind it all so he can claim what was stolen from him—whatever that may be."

"Konstantin is not behind the painted ladies." Segei's voice is filled with certainty. "Like Grace, he has a distaste for human trafficking born from personal experience."

My head shoots toward my mother. "What the fuck does that mean?" I knew there was a story behind my mother and her father never allowing that kind of cargo on their transport. I can't say I can stomach it either, but it has been like an obsession for my mother. But she never told us why, and my father never spoke about it.

"Mom, were you taken?" I don't know how else to put that.

"No," My mother says, shaking her head. Her eyes darken. "But my mother and younger sister were." She swallows, closing her eyes for a few seconds, gathering herself. "They were kidnapped and used to try to leverage my father."

"Jesus, Mom." I lean forward on the table and put my hand over hers. "I'm sorry. You never told us."

"It was never a story I like to remember, let alone share," my mother tells me with a tight smile.

"You said Konstantin has personal experience with human trafficking?"

My mother purses her lips and nods. Her eyes are misty from the dark, haunting memories.

"Your late grandmother and aunt were kidnapped," Sergei tells me, "but Konstantin was sold."

"By whom?" As soon as the question comes out of my mouth, I feel I already know the answer to the question.

"Marco!" my mother replies.

Fuck, no wonder he hates his father! "That's why he hates his father. But why does he hate mine?"

"Do you think Marco ever does anything without your father's help?" Sergei's eyes flash with malice and disdain.