Forced Bratva Possession (Vadim Bratva #15)

Chapter 1 - Arko

I watched Beatrice Lebedev from the safety of my car, my black-tinted windows rolled right up. It was a hot day, and the aircon was on full blast, but the heat still clung to the leather seats, as if offended by my judgment.

I was, after all, stalking a twenty-four-year-old woman. For a forty-year-old man to do that wasn’t considered polite by most, but her family and I? We went back a long, long time.

Beatrice exited her vehicle, her convoy lined right up behind her chauffeur-driven SUV. Three men stepped out and escorted her into the dainty little café while the cars drove off to park and wait.

I pulled out my binoculars and peered through them, noticing over a dozen people stop and stare at the raven-haired beauty as she walked in to join her friends for the afternoon. I wondered what they thought.

Was she a movie star?

An influencer?

A billionaire’s daughter?

She was much, much more powerful. The youngest sister of Caspian Lebedev, a name every family that mattered in New York knew to fear and respect, whether politician or criminal.

The Lebedevs, along with their allied families, the Vadims, Ajellos, and Ustinovs, were becoming the rule of law in the underworld, and they had to be stopped before they became too powerful to contain.

The little Lebedev princess had a laugh that carried. I watched her tilt her head back, her dark hair falling in waves, as she sat surrounded by her equally privileged friends. She laughed so full of life, with soft little dimples on her young face, that I almost felt bad.

She was innocent, but not unaware. She enjoyed the privileges that came with belonging to a Bratva family the world feared, and never attempted to leave those criminals behind. She enjoyed that life, didn’t she?

And that made her just as culpable in my eyes.

I saw her smiling at the waiter, the poor chap blushing at the respect she gave him, which he clearly mistook for attention.

Sure, she looked as sweet as cotton candy. But taking her would be anything but sweet for the Lebedev family. That thought alone warmed the coldest corners of my heart.

She gestured animatedly, those light brown eyes sparkling as she told some story that had the other girls wiping tears from their eyes.

She existed like she’d never seen the ugly side of life.

Maybe she hadn’t. After all, the Lebedevs protected their precious baby girl as if she were made of fine china.

For two weeks, I’d followed her around. Aware of her address, I’d stalked outside her house in my car, chasing her all over the city.

But so far? I hadn’t had a single opportunity to take a swipe at her.

She was always fucking surrounded by bodyguards that looked like they’d been trained by the US Marines.

And I was getting desperate. Angry.

I wasn’t the most patient man.

I lowered the binoculars and tried to rub away the pain in my head, but it wasn’t going anywhere. It had been there for three months now, ever since the deal I’d sealed with Marc Montes—that rat bastard of a prosecutor—failed to come through because of his own stupidity.

Montes, once upon a time, was a promising prosecutor. In exchange for the right amount, he did things for me that let me get ahead of the other families. He was in my pocket, on his knees, ready to do anything I said.

Until the bastard fucked up.

He had promised his daughter, Alisa. It was meant to be a simple arrangement to allow him to retire peacefully.

With the dirt he had on me, I couldn’t just let him live out his life and pray he wouldn’t spill secrets once the cheques stopped coming, could I?

So, I offered him protection and peace in exchange for one last barter—his daughter’s hand in marriage.

It was a test of loyalty, to see if the man would actually deliver his own flesh and blood on command.

He failed. Spectacularly.

Not only did he not deliver, but somehow the Lebedevs got involved. Next thing I know, Dante fucking Lebedev shows up at an auction Alisa was never supposed to be at, and snatches her away right in front of everyone.

A direct challenge. A goddamn slap to my face.

And now? Marc Montes was dead, and the Lebedevs had installed their own man in the prosecutor’s office—someone ‘clean’. Someone who wouldn’t touch Bratva money with a ten-foot pole, unless, of course, that man came with the last name Lebedev.

And the cherry on top of the cake? Alisa Montes was now married to Dante fucking Lebedev. That cunning, sniveling snake. For a while, I thought of snatching her back, but then I thought about how to hit them where it hurt the most.

And nothing screamed revenge better than stealing away the family princess. I smiled, thinking of the chaos that would cause.

I was about to pick up the binoculars again when my phone rang. Seeing that it was one of my guys, Daniil, whom I had tasked with finding out what he could on Beatrice’s movements, I immediately picked up.

“I’ve got my eyes on her,” I said.

“Yes, sir. It’s not about where she is now, it’s where she’s going tonight.”

My ears immediately perked up.

“Boss, we got into her phone,” he explained. “Little Miss Lebedev’s going out tonight to Club Enigma, with her sister Elena and those other two—Kate and Autumn.”

“How very interesting.” I felt my lips curve into a thin smile. “A family day out for the ladies. And where is Alisa?”

I knew I shouldn’t have cared, but it still stung not to have what I was promised.

“Still on her honeymoon with Dante. Maldives, last we tracked.”

“At least someone’s having a good time,” I muttered, remembering how Dante took over my power at the prosecutor’s office after taking my woman. “Get me a table at Enigma tonight. Call the manager, tell him Arko Pavlov’s asking, and he’ll make sure I get a corner booth. Get me one in the shadows.”

“As you say, boss.”

I hung up, started the engine, and pulled away from the curb. Let the Lebedevs think they had me crushed already, never to be thought of again. Tonight, I’d show them that I wasn’t a man to be underestimated.

***

“Drop me off at the back,” I told my driver when I noticed the lines at the front of the club. Even skipping past those people and walking up to the bouncers in the front felt like a task I didn’t need to undertake.

“Of course, boss,” my driver nodded as he took the turn into the alley that would lead us to the back of the club. “And should I wait right here?”

“Yeah. Wait up at the back. And you called the safehouse?”

“Yes, boss,” my driver nodded as he came to a stop. “The papers are ready, and your men are working on setting the plan for tonight in motion. Once contact is made, you’ll have twenty minutes before they act.”

“Perfect.” I waved him off when he made a move to exit the car and stepped out myself. He rolled down his window for any last instructions.

“Stay right here. Stick to the plan. Things don’t always go as we expect.”

“I know the drill, boss.”

“Of course you do.” I gave a single nod before heading to the doors. I trusted my men, but there were variables I couldn’t predict tonight. Everything depended on how well Beatrice’s bouncers did their jobs, and for my sake, I prayed their brains were as small as their bodies big.

When security saw me, they instantly opened the door for me, letting me pass.

One of them walked with me, step by step. “Your table is ready, Mr. Pavlov. Quite in the shadows, space for just one. We understand you want no company tonight.”

“Yes, just need to clear my head,” I lied smoothly, sliding a hundred-dollar bill into his hand before taking my spot in the corner booth.

The nightclub was pumping, hundreds of bodies crowded everywhere, people dancing and weaving through the tight space, intent on having the time of their lives. Which meant the crowd was basically drunk and unfiltered, making it easier to blend in.

The lights flashed to disorient, to make people forget time, forget themselves. Any other night, I would have used a night like this to let loose, but tonight, I had to stay as sharp as I could. When the waitress came by, I ordered myself a sparkling water and lime.

Beatrice, her sister Elena, and their sisters-in-law, Kate and Autumn, weren’t here yet. My table was dark, secluded, and with a perfect view of both the main entrance and the VIP area where the Lebedev women would undoubtedly be seated.

A few single women walked by my table as time passed. Some batted their eyelashes. Some gave me a look over their shoulders. I ignored them all. I hadn’t come here to fuck some random club girl desperate for some cheap fun.

I settled in to wait and kept my eyes fixed on the door. The Lebedevs had always been a thorn in my side. They were old Russian money, old Russian blood, mingled with Italian connections through the Vadim family. It was simply too much power concentrated in too few hands.

Our Bratva had been at odds with them for generations over territory disputes, business conflicts, and the occasional blood feud. But we’d maintained a certain… equilibrium.

Until Marc Montes fucked it all up. The man had been useful until he wasn’t. A prosecutor on my payroll meant cases disappearing, evidence going missing, and witnesses suddenly developing amnesia. He’d been good at his job until the Lebedevs got involved.

And now Dante had the Montes girl, and in the process, made me look weak.

Tonight, I was going to give that family a taste of their own fucking medicine.

I’d aim straight for their heart.

Beatrice Lebedev. The baby. The treasure. The one they all doted on and protected. Her loss would shatter not just one brother, but the entire family.

My new drink arrived just as the Lebedev women arrived. I spotted Beatrice walking in with her arm linked through Kate’s.

For a second, I forgot that it was Beatrice Lebedev. Damn…she cleaned up well.