32. Vasili
VASILI
I watched as my children left my office, whispering to each other. Probably already scheming on how to give me more gray hairs. Too fucking late. I was pretty sure my head was full of them.
My entire life I’d been dealing with my family’s chaos. First my brother Sasha, and just as he settled, my own son started to act just like him. And then there was Marietta, who was almost just as bad.
Was the whole world conspiring against me?
At least Sasha wasn’t on Nikola’s side. Thank fucking God, because this world wasn’t ready for those two together. In fact, my dear brother had every intention of murdering his favorite nephew.
His earlier threat of burying Nikola “so deep not even the devil would find him” wouldn’t bode well for my son when Sasha eventually woke up. After seeing the shit my son had pulled, I couldn’t even blame him.
He thought of Skye as his own daughter. She had always been part of our family, a big sister to Sasha’s son, and an innocent, shy cousin to Alexei’s, Tatiana’s, and my children.
I honestly never fathomed Nikola would have any interest in her. They were polar opposites.
Fucking Christ, why couldn’t we just have a normal family? I thought again.
First I had an unhinged, slightly psychotic brother to raise.
And I wasn’t talking about Alexei. He was a fucking saint compared to Sasha.
But no matter, I happily stepped up and raised Sasha and my sister.
Minus a few incidents where I wanted to murder them and become an only child, I’d done a pretty amazing job.
Yay fucking me.
But then I was rewarded with a son who came with his own slightly psychotic tendencies. Nikola thrived on stirring the pot and getting everyone worked up. Most of the time he acted first and faced the consequences second—if at all.
I wasn’t even sure when it all started. It just became glaringly obvious one day.
I stared at the video of my son with disbelief.
“There’s no disputing it,” Sasha indicated, pointing to the screen. “It’s clear as day that it was Nikola in that car.”
The street surveillance captured my sixteen-year-old son perfectly as he drove his Ferrari into the oncoming traffic of the French Quarter. He even damaged a few cabs, but thankfully nobody was hurt.
“Aurora pulled a few strings to make the charges go away, but Nikola’s getting way too reckless,” Alexei added in his usual calm tone.
The three of us were in my home office where we usually discussed business, not how to keep our children out of jail. Fuck.
“I don’t get it,” I muttered. “One day, he’s a good kid.
The next, he’s off the rails.” Silence enveloped the room and I peeled my eyes off the screen to look up at my brothers.
Both of them looked slightly uncomfortable.
Or constipated. There was definitely more to all of this than just Nikola’s reckless driving.
“What?” I demanded. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”
The two shared a glance, then Alexei shrugged, wordlessly letting Sasha take the lead and explain. “Don’t you think it would have been better to wait a few more years before putting that burden on his shoulders?”
My brows furrowed, clearly not following my brother’s line of thinking. “What burden?”
“Your plans to hand over the reins,” Alexei added.
I stared at them, dumbfounded. “I shared that news with him years ago. He’d known it since he was a little boy. What does that have to do with anything?”
Sasha shrugged. “Not sure, but it seems ever since you laid out your expectations, Nikola’s recklessness took a turn.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Do you realize I’m fucking old? Much older than you two. I could fall over any day. Of course I want Nikola to be prepared. I was prepared.”
“But you didn’t have a choice,” Sasha interjected. “Our parents were blind and selfish assholes who put way too much on you. Should we do the same to our children?”
I glanced down at the screen, watching for the hundredth time as that fucking red Ferrari sped down the street full of people. It was a miracle he hadn’t killed anyone. Although Nikola was an exceptionally good driver, it took one drunken visitor to step out onto the street.
“Nothing’s going to happen to you,” Alexei continued. “If something does, Sasha and I can step in.”
Before I had a chance to answer, the doors to my office opened and my son walked in with a stupid fucking shark smile on his face. It was like being transported back to the past, to a younger Sasha.
“What’s up?” he drawled, throwing himself on the couch. He shifted sideways and propped his legs on the armrest and closed his eyes as if he was ready to go to sleep.
All the reason flew out and my temper flared. “What’s up?” I roared, turning the screen around 180 degrees. “This is what’s up. My son almost killed people in the French Quarter while driving recklessly.”
Nikola waved his hand nonchalantly, not even bothering to open his eyes. “All’s well that ends well.”
I had no idea how I found myself out of my chair and towering over him. “Fucking ends well! Are you out of your fucking mind, Nikola?”
He finally deigned me with a cracked eyelid, those pale blue eyes staring at me flatly. “No more or less than the rest of our family. It’s what makes us fucking special. That and our criminal empire.”
“Those were innocent fucking people on that street,” I roared so loud even my own ears rang.
“Duly noted,” he drawled, closing his eyes again. “Next time, I’ll ensure it’s exclusively criminals on the street.”
I was just about to shake some sense into my son when Bella entered the office and dragged me out, insisting we both needed to cool off.
The fact of the matter was that Nikola was way too cooled off. Any more cooling and he’d be a fucking ice cube.
“Vasili.” My wife’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “I know it sounds bad?—”
“ Sounds ? It’s bad, malyshka . Real fucking bad.” We remained sitting in my office after I properly scolded my son—although he deserved to have his ass kicked—because I wasn’t in the right headspace to go out there and not wring his neck.
“You saw the video?” she asked quietly.
“Enough of it.” The truth was there was nothing X-rated to actually see, but Dante Leone and Sasha didn’t see it that way. I couldn’t even blame them because if it were my daughter, I’d fucking rip the boy to shreds.
“That bad, huh?”
I pulled my wife against my chest. “It wasn’t explicit, but it sure did insinuate enough.”
“Oh my?—”
“If I was Dante, that boy wouldn’t be breathing right now.”
“Maybe the fact that Nikola is still breathing is a good sign,” she said hopefully.
“Dante’s unconscious upstairs, thanks to your drugs. Sasha too,” I reminded her, then let out a tired breath. “If he takes his wife back home and comes back alone, then we have to worry.” Isabella shot me a confused look, and I explained. “He would never allow his wife to see him kill someone.”
“Oh, shit.”
Oh, shit was right. The only time Dante Leone left his wife behind with his family was when he planned on getting his hands dirty. He didn’t like Phoenix seeing that side of him.
Not that I could blame him, because I left most of the corruption of our criminal world at the door before I entered my family home too.