Captivated by the Bratva (The Valkov Bratva #4)

1. Maxim

1

MAXIM

F or the second time today, I rushed into Alek’s office. My oldest brother wasn’t the same kind of Pakhan our uncle was. Alek was fair and never told any of us brothers to knock first.

But I did slow in my steps and try to be as quiet as possible once I spotted him pacing slowly. And bouncing in his step. Alana was only two weeks old, and if my niece was proving anything, it was that she was a colicky little girl. That, and she had us all wrapped around her tiny finger already.

Alek raised his brows, glancing at me as I entered. He didn’t stop doing the baby walk with her, trying to soothe her back to sleep.

“Mila’s still sleeping?” I whispered.

He nodded. “Yeah. She needs it too after a whole night of being up trying to quiet her.”

Alana kept her eyes closed as her father held her, giving no indication that she could ever be a terror of an infant.

“What is it?” he asked me.

I’d come earlier to ask if he could give me a job. A mission. An operation. Something in the field. For weeks, I’d been hinting that I wanted something more than the busywork that I did behind the scenes for the family. The Valkov Bratva was a large organization with many men hard at work, but since Alek took over as Pakhan , a nagging sense of idleness had bitten me. The bite festered. Every day I headed to the office in the basement here at the Valkov mansion, I felt like I was in a rut. Doing the same old. Behind a computer. Seated and restless.

Whenever I suggested that I could do something on the “front lines” and participate in the same kind of things my brothers did, Alek hesitated.

I got it. I was the baby of the family—the youngest of us five brothers. I wasn’t as rough as Nik, Ivan, or Dmitri. My “baby face” always seemed like such a disadvantage, but I liked to think it lowered everyone’s expectations and I could be more manipulative to get my way.

Except with him. Alek didn’t seem ready to relent. He wanted to keep me busy with more administrative tasks rather than give me a chance to go out there and prove I was just as much of a Mafia man as my brothers.

His tone said it all. What is it? Like he counted on my asking the same thing again.

This time, I had a legitimate argument prepared. “I can help find Dmitri.”

He sighed, shaking his head as he paced slowly, still bouncing in his step to keep Alana happy in his arms. Mila was exhausted and sleep deprived, but Alek showed signs of fatigue too. Not just because his baby was fussy and his wife was tired. We’d received word that Dmitri was captured an hour ago, and that news didn’t sit well with any of us.

“You already have been helping,” he countered.

True enough. I had assisted. With the tracking and surveillance tech, I had looked high and low for our brother. It was a work in progress. Soldiers were still out there on the streets and looking for him. Dmitri’s being captured during a fight wasn’t the first time one of our men was taken, and it wouldn’t be the last.

“I can go out there and follow up leads,” I told him. “I can try to find him from the last spot his tracker registered.”

Alek narrowed his eyes, cutting me a stern look. “Until the tracker was disabled, you mean?”

I knew what he was emphasizing here. That the tracker Dmitri had implanted beneath his skin was removed—forcibly cut out. I had no doubts that my brother was being tortured. I also had high faith that he’d get out of the situation without any assistance. He was a tough bastard like that. We all were. Even me. But I’d never had a chance to prove that I was, always delegated to stay here and do things in the office.

“I can help, Alek.” I stood straighter, careful not to raise my voice at all. I loved my new niece too much to bother her. “With everyone else so busy…” I gestured at his sleeping newborn. “Nik is staying close to Amy before the twins are born. Ivan and Becca are dealing with Emily and the pregnancy. You and Mila are busy with Alana.” I shrugged, knowing he had to see how tied up they were.

“That’s what I’m telling you. You already do help, Maxim. I understand that it might seem like what you accomplish isn’t as important as what the rest of us do, but your work is critical. You’ve always been good with the computer and tech aspect of the businesses, and we rely on your intelligence and skill behind the screen to guide us.”

I hung my head, exhaling long and hard. “But now that Dmitri is gone too…”

“He’s not gone .” Alek grunted slightly. “He’s competent to find his way out of being captive. Especially with them taking him.”

I arched a brow. “Do you think the Kastavas aren’t qualified to pull off keeping Dmitri captive?”

He shook his head. “Not for long.” After a glance down at his baby in his arms, he smirked. “Sergei Kastava took his time to retaliate.”

A year ago, Alek interfered with Sergei’s plans to throw a coup for the Valkov power. By dragging Mila—Sergei’s daughter—out from her wedding, Alek claimed her as his wife and practically dismantled the smaller, rival Kastava Family. Sergei had been planning slowly and surely, though, because he’d taken Dmitri during a turf war.

“And I fail to see how he can have the manpower or strength to keep Dmitri captive for long.” Alek’s expression turned deadpan, but I didn’t miss the note of worry he couldn’t fully mask. This was our brother. Dmitri was a strong killer, a lethal man in executing discipline and punishment to our enemies, but he was still taken. Captured. Torture was torture, after all.

“However, if Dmitri needs help, I won’t send you out there to retrieve him from the Kastavas.”

I lifted my hands at my sides and let them fall.

“ Not because you’re not qualified,” he added dryly. “I know you are. Father had us all train in the same ways. Even though you’ve done things in the offices more than on the street, you are a Valkov brother. And you are trained and able to do everything we do.”

“Then why would you stop me from stepping up to help now?”

“Because I’ll be damned if I lose him and you. I’m not dismissing Kastava. He had to have found backers to help him build back up after I took Mila from him and thwarted his plans to end the Valkov rule. He’s a threat. And I won’t let two of my brothers be caught victim in whatever the fuck he’s doing.”

It almost sounded like he was ready to sacrifice Dmitri, but that couldn’t be accurate.

“I have others looking for Dmitri. Crews of soldiers are on it already. I sent men out to retrieve our brother the minute after I was informed Sergei fucking Kastava had dared to capture him.”

But not me. It didn’t matter how many times he insisted that I was qualified and good enough. He’d never put action behind his words. Why shouldn’t I think he viewed me as less than?

“In the meantime,” he said on a long sigh, “I do have something you can handle for me.”

I didn’t want to seem too eager. I schooled my features to avoid looking too excited with this change of news. Finally, after asking him for an assignment outside of the offices downstairs, he’d give me something? I’d already trained the soldiers to handle the surveillance I already did. They didn’t need me hovering and supervising nonstop. I trusted the men I’d prepared to handle those tasks.

“It’s something I can’t ignore, and in light of Dmitri’s capture, you are the last brother available for this sort of thing.”

I crossed my arms, curious.

“Something I’d only trust one of my brothers with, due to the representation that’s required with this job.”

“I’m listening.” I fought the urge to shift my weight, impatient for orders and the chance to do something.

“Gregory Petrov has been contacting me over the last few weeks with a concern he has about his daughter.”

I furrowed my brow. “Petrov? In Jersey?” The name sounded familiar. I couldn’t bring a face to the name for Gregory himself, but I swore the Petrovs were a smaller outfit that the Valkovs protected. Numerous smaller families fell under the umbrella of our protection. If I had to guess, the Petrovs helped with an element of the distribution of guns, but they weren’t a major or significant cog in the overall operations the Valkovs oversaw.

“Yes. Gregory Petrov. His daughter, Nadia, refuses to follow through with the marriage he’s arranged for her. Reports from Gregory himself indicate that Nadia won’t marry as expected, and he fears she is running and hiding now.”

Interesting. “He doesn’t know whether she is running or hiding?”

“No. She’s away at university, studying. It sounds like Gregory’s attempts to get her home and marry her fiancé are falling flat. He’s hoping that one of the Valkovs will make sure she follows along and does what’s expected.

While it almost sounded like a babysitting mission, I understood why Alek preferred one of us five brothers to handle it. If he, the Pakhan and boss of the Family, told Nadia to get in line and marry her groom, his word would be a direct order no one could disobey. Having one of us, his brothers and top men, would be just as strong of a message. Sure, he could send one of the soldiers to handle this, but that familial name and representation would be diluted.

“She has spoken out about marrying the man, and Gregory is at his wit’s end to make it happen. Apparently, her groom was chosen upon her birth, and if Gregory reneges, it won’t look for the Petrov name. Nor will it reflect favorably on the Valkov name.”

If Gregory went back on his word with this arranged marriage deal, the repercussions would trickle back to us by association.

And that was a headache we didn’t need right now.

I nodded. “All right.”

Alek studied me, rocking in place slightly to keep Alana asleep. “You’ll do it?”

I nodded again. “I’d rather be more helpful in going after Dmitri, but…” I shrugged. “I’ll do whatever you expect of me, Alek.”

He huffed. “Except stay… how did you put it? ‘Holed up in the offices behind the computer instead of fighting like our brothers do’?”

“I’ve always done that.” Even when our uncle Pavel was the Pakhan , I was delegated to the offices to handle the books and whatnot. Taking over surveillance tech gave me a better sense of purpose than accounting ever did, but I couldn’t shed this unease that I was pushed to the background. Forgotten. Dismissed.

“Because you’re good at it, Maxim.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t do anything else,” I argued.

“I know that. I never implied that you were inferior to the others.” He rubbed Alana’s back, slowing in his motion and yawning widely.

Guilt hit me. Here I was, making him stressed about how I might have felt left out.

Enough of that. I wanted a job, and he gave me one. Now, I’d damn well do it.

“I’ll retrieve this missing bride,” I confirmed. “You can count on me.”

He yawned once more as I headed for the door. “I always knew I could, and always will.”

I hesitated. “But once I’m done with this assignment, if Dmitri is still missing…”

“I doubt he will be by then.”

I wanted to share in his confidence. But it sounded like doing so would jinx it all.

As I left his office, I held my head up higher, determined to see through this job as quickly as possible to make sure I’d remain available if Dmitri would need to be rescued.

After all, how hard could it be to drag a stubborn bride to her father and groom?

Nadia Petrov, I’m coming for you.