Stepan
After a few weeks of tweaking and refining, I finally put together a few teams Roman can use for his deliveries, and a good group of men, with Kazimir's help, who can increase security around the fights.
Today the team has gathered at the fight club to introduce Roman to his new teams. The men line the wall of the conference room with their shoulders squared and their chests out, proudly representing the best of the Kuzin organization.
Roman's seated at the table with his sleeves rolled up and a cup of coffee in front of him. He looks at the men and then at me. "Walk me through what you've put together." He taps his fingers on the table and surveys the men. They're a good group, and I doubt I could do better in this city.
I step forward and start at the left end of the line.
"We'll start with your delivery team first. Nikola and Draven will run point on the two primary routes.
Both came out of the Radin crews, and both have experience running transport security.
They're solid fighters, and they both have military training. "
Roman offers a grunt of approval at my selections. I'm confident in their being ex-military because it means they know how to watch each other's back and stay on their toes for the unexpected. Plus, I've seen them in action fighting. They won't run the rings, but they can do fine on the street.
"Angus is our UK contact's recommendation. He's been running contraband through European ports for the last five years and knows customs rotations better than anyone I've talked to. He'll handle our coordination with the western routes along with two men from the Czech Republic."
"He speaks Russian?" Roman asks.
"Enough. And he understands money, but your lead men will do most of the talking.
What he understands is combat. We tried to get him in the rings because we know he'd dance circles around Rostik, but he doesn't want to be a fighter.
He's content with smuggling." I flick a glance at Kazimir who winks at me.
He knows I've done well picking Angus, though I don’t need his approval.
He's just too busy to do this job himself.
Roman's mouth twitches, but he doesn't say a word so I keep moving.
"Christos is our point man on the southern corridor.
He's a Greek national with ten years of law enforcement experience.
He's connected to distribution networks in the Balkans that we may want to tap into down the line, and his team of two fighters go with him wherever he is.
" I grin at Roman. "They are heavyweights out of Spain, and you should see them fight. "
Roman sits taller and straightens his tie, cocking his head to one side. "Do they have ties to any other family?" He lifts an eyebrow.
"None—they're clean. And a few of them have criminal records, but nothing to be concerned about." I pat Angus on the chest and smile at him, and he nods as I gesture toward the door. The line of men begins to file out to wait in the hallway for further instruction.
"They'll do," Roman says when I'm done. Then he looks at Kazimir. "You trust them?"
"I trained them," Kazimir says from the doorway. "I think Step chose a good bunch, Ro."
Roman offers his signature grunt again and turns back to me. "The shipment comes through on Thursday. I want the delivery teams paired with Radin contacts on every run until I'm comfortable they can operate cleanly."
"Done." I pull a chair out across from Roman and sit down, feeling relieved that part of the job is over. I'll have a separate meeting with Kazimir later to discuss his fight security, and given the stakes on fight nights, he's likely to be pickier. But for now my job is done.
"Kazimir, coordinate the pairings. You know the Radin guys better than anyone.
Put the right people together." Kazimir jerks his chin up at Roman’s word and follows the men out, pulling the door shut behind him.
With the room quieter now, my cousin turns to me, ignoring Timur who has his face buried in his phone.
"How's the girl?" Roman asks. It's just like him to not pull any punches. He cuts straight to the next topic of discussion and doesn't leave me wondering what he's thinking.
"Moving forward," I say. "She trusts me. We've been seeing each other regularly and she's opened up about the arrangement with Orlov, the alliance, why her family is pushing for the marriage."
"And?"
"And she's not happy about it. She'll go through with it because her father's told her to, but there's no loyalty to Orlov. She sees herself as a sacrifice."
Roman turns his coffee cup in his hands. "What about the other side? What do we know about Orlov?"
Timur sits forward and finally looks up from his phone to open a folder lying on the table in front of him. He spreads three printed pages on the desk in front of Roman.
"Orlov's operation is bigger than we thought," Timur says. "He's running product through Yekaterinburg on four separate routes and he's been expanding south for the last six months. His crews are well-funded and well-armed and he's recruiting hard."
Roman scans the pages. "What about the marriage? What's his angle?"
"That's the interesting part." Timur taps one of the financial summaries.
"Our sources say Orlov isn't looking for a partnership with the Belovas.
He's looking for an acquisition. The marriage gives him legal access to Belova's contacts, their territory in Perm, and apparently, a hefty cut in on their profit.
Once the families are merged, he intends to absorb them.
Sergei thinks he's gaining a partner. What he's actually gaining is a buyer who plans to own everything he has within two years. "
Roman narrows his eyes at me. "Sergei doesn't know this?"
"Sergei sees what he wants to see," I say.
"A strong family offering his daughter a good match.
He's not looking past the wedding because the wedding is the only thing keeping him alive right now.
If he knew Orlov's real intentions, he'd pull out...
I think he just has his eyes on those trade routes and thinks it'll help his family survive the Radin-Kuzin merge. We're swallowing a lot of his sales."
Roman sits back and sighs. I know he's really thinking that stopping that alliance is key.
We can't allow Maksim Orlov to take over the Belova empire.
If he does, he becomes so powerful, he wouldn't just threaten the new smuggling operation.
He'd also threaten the fight club and everything Roman and two generations before him built.
"What if we approach Sergei directly?" he says. "Show him what Orlov really is. Offer him an alternative."
"We could," I say. "But he won't take it.
Sergei Belova has hated the Radin name his whole life.
His father hated it. It goes back generations.
You could walk into his study with proof that Orlov plans to gut his entire operation and he'd still choose Orlov over us because at least Orlov isn't a Radin, and we're married to that name—literally. "
Roman exhales through his nose with pursed lips. "You're sure about that?"
"Sergei's stubborn, proud, and terrified.
He'd rather hand his family to a man who's going to eat him alive than accept help from us.
" The intel Timur gave me really helped me understand what we're up against. Spending time with Marina was icing on the cake.
I've soiled her good now—ruined that pussy of hers for any man, and if Orlov found out, he'd start a war. One he would lose, but a war, no less.
But it would end the alliance to Marina's family and preserve ours. Still, I know there's a better way now. One that won't end in Marina being caught between us.
"Then the original plan stands," Roman says. "You compromise the girl and Orlov walks."
"No."
Timur eyes me cautiously because the fucker knows I have no intention of doing that anymore. Marina is so much more than a bargaining chip. How do I walk into her life to manipulate her after having her so intimately and knowing what her father has done, and then do the same thing? I can't.
"The original plan was to ruin her for Orlov," I say, leaning back.
I have to share this delicately so I don't upset my cousin, but it has to be said.
I'm not letting her go. "It works, but it's wasteful.
If we destroy the girl, the Belovas go back to being weak and isolated and eventually, someone else picks them up or they disintegrate on their own.
Either way, we don't gain anything. We prevent a problem, but we don't gain a single thing from it. "
Timur clears his throat, and I notice his glare but I ignore him. "And then Orlov could move against us." Which wasn't something we worried about before, but hearing how big his empire is, it may be more of a threat than we thought.
"What are you proposing?" Roman asks, furrowing his brow. "Because it sounds like you have some scheme cooked up in your head."
"I plan to take her for myself." I say the words and let them fizzle out when they get no reaction. Then I add the punch. "If I convince Marina to come marry me instead of that douche Orlov, we align with the Belovas and they'll be forced to side with us."
"A hostile takeover?" Ro asks, shaking his head.
"In a way. The point would be to disarm Orlov so he can't fight back and to strengthen our side. With the Radins, adding the Belova weight behind us would mean an unstoppable force Orlov can't fight against."
Timur shifts his weight but says nothing. Roman is very still as every risk runs through his mind.
"You want to marry this girl?" he asks.
"I want to take her from Orlov and use her to flip the Belovas. If that means marrying her, I'll marry her." Why does my throat constrict as I say that? And why am I feeling a strange twist in my chest that warms and spreads outward as I think of marrying Marina?
"That's not what I asked." Roman leans back in his chair. "I asked if you want to marry her."
The room is deathly quiet as I think about it for a second.
I've never thought of myself as the type who would get married, but Kaz has a lady now, and so does Roman.
They're happy and in love, and I'm tired of being alone.
Marina or some other woman—either way, I'm ready to have a partner, and she is an incredible woman.
Plus, it would represent a huge win for the family. It's a no-brainer.
"Yes," I say.
He stares at me with eyes that search me like he's testing my word to see if it's true. And when he looks away, flicking his eyebrows up once, I know he understands I’m still figuring it out. Then comes his warning.
"This changes the game, Stepan. You understand that. You're not running an operation against the Belovas anymore. You're tying yourself to one of them. If this goes wrong—if Sergei retaliates, if Orlov comes after you, if the girl turns on you—you're exposed. You can't take this back."
Then he sighs and runs a hand down over his unshaven jawline.
"The strategy is sound. The Belovas come to us, Orlov loses his bride and his access to Perm, and we consolidate the gun trade without firing a shot... I just don't know."
When he stands up and looks to Timur, I believe I've convinced him.
"For what it's worth," he says, "I hope she's worth it." He walks to the door, gesturing for Timur to follow, and the anxious tension in the pit of my gut loosens slightly.
I don't know if Marina will ever go for this or how stubborn she'll be. And I don't know if her father will react the way I hope, but once you've tasted forbidden fruit, you're an addict, and you will never settle for less.
Besides, if Orlov gets in my way or even thinks of hurting her, he's a dead man. Then there will be no man to marry her off to in an alliance.
And that might just be what it takes to help her break her stubborn loyalty to men who only have her pain in mind.