Chapter 4
Nikolai
T hese past five months have been unfulfilling to say the least. Even after annihilating the last Rocci son five months ago, I’ve been left hollow and unfocused. I don’t know the other party that was involved in Helana’s death, but I deemed killing that family was enough.
It has to be.
It’s also been five months since my father’s ultimatum. Five long, gruesome months of searching and rejecting every prospect he pushed my way. He set up date after date with just about every eligible Bratva princess from here to New York, still I chose none of them.
My father won’t wait forever though. That deadline is drawing nearer, and he will cash in on his threat, no doubt.
I can’t say I’m entirely ready to play husband again. How would she handle the fact that she’s marrying a failure?
It doesn’t matter.
I’m no longer the man I used to be, I’ve long forgotten how to be gentle and selfless.
Whoever gets the misfortune of being tied to me, I pity her soft soul because there will be no love between us.
No sweet intimate moments. This is only an even exchange.
I get my seat as Pakhan, and she’ll get money and the power of being my wife.
This will be completely contractual. We will be carrying on with our obligation of the Bratva publicly and lead different lives behind closed doors .
It will be fine.
I drive my fist forward into Sergei’s flat glove. The sounds of gloves hitting gloves reverberate off the gym’s walls.
“Elbows in,” Sergei orders.
Correcting my stance, I drive my fists forward again. Bouncing on my toes, I sidestep him and punch his chest. He stumbles back, then catches himself on the ring’s rope. I wipe at my brow, swiping away the sweat I’ve been building up.
You have until January, Niko.
My father’s words still haunt me. That’s seven days from now. If I don’t find a bride, I’ll be forced to marry the one he chooses.
Would that be awful?
“Niko, where’s your head at?” Sergei’s words cut through my thoughts, I shake it off. “That’s it. One-two combination.”
I punch him in the chest and then swing my fist over his head.
“Move your feet!”
“Nikolai!” Quinn’s voice booms across the gym. She frantically enters the ring. “Igor was shot.”
I don’t even hesitate, I grab Sergei and rush us out of the gym, going straight to my father’s office. He’s already waiting for us.
“Uncle V, what happened? Where’s my father?” Sergei asks first, concern biting into his voice.
My father stands from his desk. “Sergei, he’s in the family ward. He’s stable.”
“How did he even get shot?” I ask. My uncle is far from an easy target, that man is stealthy so to hear he’s been hit is alarming.
“That’s the million dollar question.” My father takes his seat behind his desk in calm sure movements. Sergei and I follow suit and sit in the chairs in front of him.
I lean forward with my hands on the table. “Was it the Italians?”
He rubs his beard thoughtfully. “I wish, because then it would make sense since you started and ended an outright war with the Roccis.”
“They started it, I just… ended it.”
“It was the Swedes. The werewolves filled him with wolfsbane lead.”
Fuck. How is he even alive?
Sergei reels back. “Why was my father even in Sweden?”
“We’re expanding. There’s a warehouse in Solna for wolfsbane antidote research. We found a team there to work on an antidote to counteract wolfsbane. Since Sweden has a large population of werewolves and access to said werewolves, it was the ideal place.”
“And my father was to… what?”
My father leans into his chair, his Pakhan face in full effect, the titles of father and uncle no longer in the room. “Igor was overseeing the setup, making sure it was a smooth transition and meeting with the chemists when the werewolves attacked.”
I run my hand over my face.
“This was an unexpected and unfortunate event, but the doctors are expecting Igor to make a full recovery.” Standing, my father motions to the door. “He should be awake by now. His surgery ended about an hour ago—”
“And you’re just now telling me? I know I work under Nikolai, but we’re family. I deserved to have known sooner.” Sergei clenches his hands.
My father stands to his full six-foot-five height, Sergei’s shoulders stiffen. “It’s because you are my nephew that I waited to see the outcome. If I had any thought he wasn’t going to survive once he got here, I would have told you sooner.”
I grab and shake Sergei’s shoulder. “Let’s go see him.”
When we get to the family’s ward, from the window of the room, we see Igor is hooked up with so many cords.
His skin is chalk-like and looks waxy, but his eyes are open.
Sylvia, his wife and Sergei’s stepmother, is by his side stroking his short platinum hair from his face. Her eyes are swollen and rimmed red.
“Go to him, Sergei,” my father commands and he obeys.
When Sergei enters the room, Igor struggles to smile at him, and Sylvia pulls him closer to his father. My uncle winces when he stretches his arms out to Sergei and rage simmers under my skin.
Maybe I should take a quick trip to the Swedes tonight.
To investigate.
“How would you have responded, if that was me in that bed?”
I take a deep breath and slowly release it. “Probably already in Solna, setting that land on fire.” There would be no room for negotiating. Just total retaliation.
I still have time to do it. I can make it quick but at times like this, you need to send a clear, distinctive message. For my uncle I will, I can disrupt the Swedes entire ecosystem.
“Exactly,” he pats me on the shoulder and turns to leave.
My father doesn’t say words to be ambiguous, he means something by them exactly.
I shake off the unease my father’s words just gave me. After a moment, I go in and greet my uncle. Sergei escorts Sylvia out of the room leaving me alone with him, giving me privacy.
The only sound between us is the beeping of his heart monitor, it’s irregular but that’s how every single vampire heartbeat sounds.
“I thought I lost you there,” I say as my form of greeting.
“It’s going to take more than several bullets to keep me down,” he chuckles before he finds himself in a coughing match from trying to laugh.
I hand him his water cup with a straw. “Take it easy,” I say with a ghost of a smile. “What happened uncle? Why were werewolves shooting at you?”
“When we got to the warehouse, one shouted ‘you will not traffic our people’,” he says with raised eyebrows.
Even I’m confused. “Traffic?”
“Yes, I tried to explain but then they opened fire. I wasn’t wearing protection so,” he waves a hand down the cords in his body. “One minute I was lying in the snow and then the next I was in this bed.”
I bob my head. “Do you think they meant human trafficking? I have been receiving intel that large amounts of people have gone missing. It’s not just one location, it’s everywhere.”
He coughs again, then sips water from his straw. “I’ve been hearing something like that, but that warehouse and its functionality is public knowledge in Sweden. Their government knew what we were doing. We had to file permits and apply for work visas to conduct business.”
The more Igor talks, the worse his cough fits get.
I stand and lightly squeeze his shoulders. “We can talk more tomorrow. Rest. ”
“Are you looking after me, nephew?” Even in moments like this, he can joke.
I shake my head. “Someone has to.”
He puts his hands in fists and he makes air jabbing motions. “The doctor says two days’ worth of blood treatment, I will be in better shape than you.”
“You wish,” I laugh. “Just keep dreaming, old man.”
“I used to be a hundred years once too, nephew.”
“Oh, I know.”
“And I still got it too. I can take you down, just watch when I get out of here.”
“I’m sure you do and I know you can.” I bend down, holding the back of his neck, I bring our foreheads together. “Love you.”
“Love you.”
I stand up and walk towards the door. “Rest. I’ll see you tomorrow, old man.”
***
After I saw that my uncle was ok, I had my driver take me to my apartment outside the compound.
I have a penthouse downtown too for when I want something more permanent.
In order to try to move on from Helana’s death, I decided I needed a new scenery.
Everything in our home at the compound was haunted by her.
The gardens.
The koi pond.
The library .
They all held the memory of her. It made me sick, feeling her but not seeing her in spaces we used to share.
Just as I step out of my shower, my doorbell rings. Wrapping a black towel over my waist, I pad to the front door with wet feet. Clicking the wall monitor by the door, I see who it is.
Quinn.
What the fuck does she want? I have been seeing her off and on for five years. It started as both of us coping together with Helana’s death. Then drunk nights happened. Then sober nights happened. Then guilt happened. Then acceptance.
I open the door. “What are you doing here Quinn?”
“I wanted to make sure you are ok. I know how much you care about your uncle.” She reaches up to cuff my face.
I know what this is, another crafted scheme.
She’s right though. I spent a lot of time with my uncle. My father was often busy with Pakhan work when I was a kid. Igor picked up his slack. Him, Sergei and I took a lot of fishing trips in the mountains. He taught me how to hunt. He taught me how to flirt with girls.
One girl.
Helana.
“I’m fine,” I tell her, stepping away from her affection.
She sighs. “Can I come in?”
I step aside, giving her room to come into the apartment.
She shrugs off her fur coat revealing her tight red sleeveless, breasts on full display, halter dress. “I thought I could cheer you up.”
I rub my beard. She does this often, use sex to comfort me. Sometimes it works .
This time it won’t.
“Not tonight, Quinn.”
She jerks away from the rejection. “What is it this time? You have refused to touch me for months now. Is it because of what I said, about having a future together?”
Partially. “No.”