Chapter 1
Kasimir – (Twenty-Five Years Later)~
My sister-in-law was seven months pregnant, and it was driving us all fucking crazy. More specifically, it was driving my brother crazy, and he wasn’t keeping that shit to himself.
One year ago, my brother had been forced to marry Aurora Marchetti, the only daughter to Roman Marchetti, the Marchetti Crime Family Don.
To say that the match hadn’t been wanted would be an understatement, but that wasn’t the case anymore.
Viktor’s love for his wife was well-known, and even though he hadn’t ever said the words out loud, I knew that if he ever had to choose between his family and her, he’d pick her.
Granted, it was hard to blame him when his wife was as badass as she was.
In fact, her kill count was as impressive as my own, and that was saying something.
For all that Aurora and her family had been considered the enemy for so long, her pregnancy was turning all the Korolev and Marchetti men soft, which was okay since no one outside the families knew it.
See, St. Moran was occupied syndicate territory, and it was divided by the Russians, Italians, Germans, Romanians, and Chinese.
The Italians, which were the Marchettis, owned the entire northern section of the city and state, and now that we were family, I couldn’t lie and say that their range and power wasn’t beneficial.
Next was us in power and territory, and we owned the entire east side, something that was almost impressive as the Italians, though not quite.
If only by a hair, the Italians still outnumbered us, which hadn’t ever sat well with any Korolev, though that hardly mattered now.
With Viktor married to Aurora, our power was now unmatched.
So, that left the Romanians, Chinese, and Germans to divide the rest, and the Romanians, which were the Aleas, control the west, leaving the Schmidts and Zhangs to share the south.
Now, while we’d all been managing to color inside the lines, last year, my father had gotten wind of how the Germans, Chinese, and Romanians had been talking about combining forces to run us out of our territory, and they might have succeeded if we hadn’t called a truce with the Marchettis to avoid that possibility.
Granted, while that might sound like a lot, it really wasn’t.
Having been raised in the bratva lifestyle, crime, money, death, and power was all that I knew.
My father, Aleksei Korolev, held the position of Pakhan, and next in line for the job was my brother, Viktor.
Currently, Viktor was our Sovietnik, and if you followed Mafia pop culture, then he was akin to a Mafia consigliere.
I was our family’s Obshchak, which was the bookkeeper for all intents and purposes.
I kept track of every nickel that came and went, and not for nothing, I was very good at my job.
Next in line were the Brigadiers, then the Boyeyiks, and finally the Shestyorkas, and again, if you were familiar with the Mafia hierarchy, then the succession would be Capos, Warriors, and then Associates.
Every title came with responsibility, and anyone that couldn’t earn their paycheck was dealt with very severely, as it should be.
Of course, with death ingrained in our blood the way that it was, it hadn’t surprised anyone how quickly Viktor and I had taken to this life, my brother having earned the title of Sovietnik very young.
At thirty-six-years-old, Viktor had been guiding this family for a little over ten years now, and with good reason.
As for me, I was thirty-four and wicked smart if I did say so myself.
I was very good with numbers, computers, and it wasn’t often when I was stumped about something.
I had a very...creative imagination, and so I was also very good at troubleshooting.
Honestly, the only person that could throw me off center every now and again was my sister-in-law.
The woman was unlike any other person on the planet, and we all knew it, especially Viktor.
Which was why this pregnancy was driving us all crazy. Not only was Aurora carrying the first Korolev heir to the next generation, but with each passing month, she was spending more and more time with her family, and my brother did not like it.
In fact, he hated it.
Nevertheless, though I loved my mother, Irina Korolev, dearly, she and Aurora had nothing in common, and so Aurora rarely spent any time with her.
Now, that wasn’t to say that my mother was a horrible person or anything like that, because she wasn’t.
Irina Korolev was just...she was irrelevant, and though that might sound like I was talking shit about my mother, I wasn’t.
She’d just rather shop, gossip, and stay out of the way than have any further involvement in her husband’s activities, and my sister-in-law was just the opposite, though she stayed out of Korolev business as much as she could.
I mean, married to a Korolev or not, Aurora was still a Marchetti at heart, and she had every intention of raising her kids with both last names, and honestly, their children were going to be stronger for it.
Aurora Marchetti-Korolev was one hell of a crime lord, and despite why she and my brother had gotten married, I’d give my life for that woman now, no questions asked.
The only downside to their domestic bliss was that my father was now eyeing me, wondering when I was finally going to get myself a wife and some kids, but it wasn’t that easy for me. Regardless of all my strengths, I was very aware of my emotional struggles, and so I couldn’t date just anyone.
When I’d been only six or so, I had accidentally walked in on my father and some brigadiers torturing someone, and to say that it’d done a number on me would be an understatement.
As much as I had tried, I couldn’t get the man’s screams out of my head, so rather than try to run from the horrors of that night, I’d chosen to embraced them, and after a couple of years, death had begun to feel like a security blanket for my nine-year-old mind, and we had become good friends, death and I.
At any rate, the rumors about me were that I was a cold-blooded psychopath with no conscience, and the rumors weren’t wrong.
If it didn’t involve my family or family business, then I was pretty much indifferent to it, which made me our family’s number one enforcer when one was needed.
I enjoyed killing, and torture just turned me on.
So, was I a psychopath by the clinical term?
Yeah, probably. Nevertheless, that wasn’t a complaint.
I liked my life exactly the way that it was, and even if I could, I still wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
As I finally got out of the shower, my phone began to ring, and it took me only a few seconds to wrap a towel around my waist before picking it up off the bathroom counter. I couldn’t help but smirk when I saw my sister-in-law’s name flashing across the screen.
“Well, if it isn’t the mother-to-be,” I greeted cheerfully. “How are you this fine morning?”
“If you don’t do something about your brother, you’re going to be next in line for Pakhan,” she said, and while most people would think that it was the pregnancy hormones at work here, it wasn’t. Aurora didn’t throw empty threats around casually.
“What’s he done now?”
“I have a doctor’s appointment today, and he’s grumbling again,” she answered, making me grin.
Aurora was insisting on using her regular OB/GYN for her pregnancy and birth, and Viktor’s been doing his best to convince her to choose one of our doctors, though he really should know better by now.
“C’mon, cut the man some slack,” I chuckled. “He’s never been pregnant before.”
“YA ub'yu i tebya,” she replied in flawless Russian, and while she’d told me that she’d murder me too, it sounded beautiful and lyrical falling from her lips. Also, did I mention that my sister-in-law could speak and understand a total of nine different languages and had a photographic memory?
Definitely too good for my brother.
Still chuckling, I asked, “What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know,” she huffed. “Burn down a warehouse or dump a shipment into the river...just anything to keep him occupied while I go to my appointment.”
“That’s rather extreme, don’t you think?”
“Extreme would be killing your brother,” she countered. “So, how badly do you want or not want to be next in line for Pakhan?”
I grinned again.
Aurora really was something else.
“I’ll call a pretend meeting with Father,” I told her. “What time is your appointment?”
“Two o’clock,” she answered. “And before Viktor tries to bullshit you, it’s a routine check-up. Nothing special, and my mother is planning on going with me.”
“I’ll do my best, but no promises,” I told her. “Everyone’s aware of just how your pregnancy has my brother by the balls.”
“I can only hope that my children don’t inherit your Korolev’s crazy,” she grumbled.
“Because you Marchettis aren’t just as crazy?” I shot back. “Don’t forget, I’ve met your family.”
“Just get him away from me,” she said, refusing to be called a liar by denying the claim. “If you don’t, I will not be responsible for what happens next.”
That got me chuckling again. “I’m on it, Aurora. I promise.”
“Thank you, Kasimir,” she replied sincerely. “I really do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” I said before hanging up, then heading into the bedroom to get dressed for the day and for my pretend meeting later this afternoon.