Chapter 4
GAVAN
“Fucking finally .”
Konstantin grins, looking up as I step through the front door. He strides over and grabs me in a huge bear hug. I hug my brother back, clapping him on the back as I shove and twist the mask back into place.
The mask of normalcy. The mask of power and control, to hide the chaos and darkness roaring beneath.
“Sorry I’m late.”
He grins and shakes his head. “Hey man, it’s your place. Thanks for hosting tonight. Lukas and your sisters just got here.”
I grin back.
It would be easy to look back on my life and focus on all the things that were taken from me: my mother, my birthright as a Reznikov for so long.
My innocence, and my ability to smile normally after the age of thirteen.
And at times, I do allow myself to wallow in the hatred that comes when I consider all that was stolen from me. But when it gets too dark inside my own head, I try to focus instead on the things I’ve been given.
An empire and wealth beyond comprehension, for a start. But also a family, and friends. Discovering that Konstantin was my half-brother opened a world of new faces to me: his enemies-turned-friends from the exclusive private school he’d briefly attended his senior year.
At Oxford Hills Academy, Konstantin became friends with three other Bratva heirs who were also dark shadows on the otherwise pristine, venerated, old-money school: Lukas Komarov, Misha Tsavakov, and Ilya Volkov.
Through my brother, and through sitting at the head of the Reznikov empire with him, these friends became my friends as well.
But it wasn’t just friends I made through discovering my past. I found that Konstantin wasn’t the only half-sibling I had.
Konstantin’s wife, Mara, and her twin sister Lizbet, Lukas’ wife, are in fact the daughters of the man who assaulted my mother. Needless to say, the subject of fathers is pretty much not discussed within our circle.
It can get a little confusing, especially when you’re trying to explain it to someone unfamiliar with the family and they’ve got that “what in the Jerry-fucking-Springer shit is this” look on their face. But basically, Konstantin and I share a mother, and Mara, Lizbet and I share a father.
Konstantin and Mara/Lizbet are, however, in no way blood related. I’m just the missing link between them.
“Hey, you!”
I grin, not even needing to fake it when Mara jumps out of her chair and rushes over to hug me as I step into the kitchen area. It’s an impressive feat, given that she’s twenty-nine weeks pregnant.
With twins .
“Thanks for fitting us in and having us all over!”
Konstantin and Mara do have a place here in New York. But they’re mostly in London these days—in fact, Mara is flying back there tomorrow to settle in for the last stage of her pregnancy.
I roll my eyes. “Right, like I wouldn’t come over to say goodbye before you jet off to England and disappear into babyville for the next who-knows-how-long.”
She grins, pulling away from me to let Lizbet give me an equally rib-crushing hug. When she slips away from me, she pulls a face.
“You do know that Lukas is cooking tonight, right?”
“Oh, fuck you.”
I chuckle, turning to grin at Lukas as he looks up from something he’s sauteing on the stove, while simultaneously juggling my one-year-old niece, Luna, in his other arm.
“Lukas!” Lizbet hisses at him. “Really?”
He beams at her before pulling his gaze back to his daughter and kissing her tiny forehead. “It’s fine. She’s not picking up words yet.”
“Umm, yes she is?”
Lukas just shrugs, nuzzling Luna’s nose with the tip of his own and making her giggle in a way that’s impossible not to smile at. Lizbet sighs with exasperation, but you can tell by the way she’s looking at her husband that there’s nothing but adoration there.
“When her first words are ‘eat a dick’ or ‘fuck no’, I’m going to kill you.”
“Woah, Liz,” Konstantin admonishes. “Let’s not use the f-word in front of the kid, okay?”
He and Lukas crack up as Lizbet glares at the pair of them.
“Okay, seriously, fuck you both.”
Mara laughs as she nods at me. “Can I pour you a drink?”
“Nah, I think I’m okay—”
“Uh-uh. I want one and I can’t , so you’re drinking for me tonight. Here ya go, it’s a Burgundy.”
I chuckle as she all but smashes a wine glass against my chest. Lukas turns off the burner and heads over, where I gladly take Luna off his hands and into my arms. I grin as I nuzzle my niece, letting her giggles melt away some of the tension throbbing in my head.
“Oh, hey, by the way,” Lukas’ face shadows with one of his “serious Lukas” faces, as Lizbet loves to call them teasingly.
“What’s up?”
He nods his chin across my expansive downstairs area to the massive staircase that leads to the second floor. “I restocked your emergency kit. Luna’s adrenaline pen has a five-month expiration date. So, you know. Since I was here anway… ”
He shrugs in a way that’s clearly meant to look casual, even though I can see the seriousness on his face.
I mean, I don’t really blame him.
Lizbet was born with a heart condition that has since been fixed. It’s rarely hereditary, and so far, not a single doctor has found anything that would suggest Luna has it as well.
But Lukas saw my sister almost die once.
Suffice to say, “over-prepared” doesn’t begin to describe his mindset when it comes to his daughter.
The “emergency kit” is a worst-case scenario safety net against the extremely unlikely, almost non-existent chance that Luna has some sort of heart episode while they’re at my place.
It’s basically a baby-sized defibrillator, an oxygen mask and tank, and an epi-pen loaded with adrenaline.
I smile as I lean in to kiss my niece’s cheek. She’s completely healthy. But fuck it, if it makes Lukas breathe easier having one of these emergency kits basically everywhere he’d ever take her, so be it.
“You ready for the big day, Gavan?”
I roll my eyes at my brother as Lizbet scoops Luna out of my arms. “Why does everyone keep acting like I’m heading off to my first day of fucking kindergarten?”
Konstantin grins as he clinks a wine glass to mine. “Come on, man. It’s a bit of a big deal. I’m psyched for you.”
“I think I’m the most psyched of anyone,” Mara adds, sliding against Konstantin’s side as he wraps a muscled, inked arm around her. “Having you all to myself and such.”
“See, you say that now,” my brother snickers. “But I don’t think you’re actually ready to have me around full-time. I give it a month before you’re begging me to pick up a hobby or something.”
“Diapers and midnight feeds. That can be your hobby!” Lizbet crows as she and our other sister crack up.
Konstantin groans, shooting me a pleading look. “You know what? Maybe let’s rethink this whole temporary transition of—”
“I will cut you in your sleep,” Mara mutters through a sarcastic grin. “ Cut. You .”
I shrug at my brother. “Looks like the plan’s locked in, man, sorry. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the chair warm for you.”
“Yeah, just don’t fucking fart in it, prick.”
“No promises.”
It is and at the same time it isn’t a big deal.
Currently, Konstantin and I rule the Reznikov empire as equals.
But there’s also the Bratva High Council—seven seats, one for each of the major Bratva families worldwide.
It’s sort of like a criminal United Nations.
It doesn’t mean any of us have an official truce or anything.
But there’s an agreed-upon pact of non-aggression, let’s call it that.
War, at least between Bratva families, is, generally speaking, terrible for business.
But even though Konstantin and I rule our own empire together, the High Council rules allow for only one vote and one chair per family. Since he’s the oldest, and the late Antin’s son, my brother currently has that chair and vote. That’s about to change.
At the Council meeting this week, Konstantin will officially announce his temporary departure from his role as co-head of the Reznikov family. He’s taking a year off—or at least mostly off—to be with Mara as she gives birth to their twin daughters. Bratva paternity leave, basically.
And along with that departure from our own organization, he’ll be passing on the vote and the chair at the Council table to me.
Like I said, it’s not a big deal, but it also is. Because for the next year, the weight of the crown is just on me.
No pressure, right?
But for now, I shrug that off, intent on savoring this moment. I don’t deserve any of this—this life, this family, these friends. And I will not let them down.
Even though trouble is already knocking. Hard.
Lizbet juggles a giggling Luna as she pouts at Mara. “You’re sure I can’t convince you to stay in New York? I mean, c’mon. I’ll baby-proof the hell out of your place for you if that seals the deal.”
Her—our—sister grins. “I know, I know. But I love my OBGYN in London. And I kind of have this fantasy of bringing the girls to Regent’s Park, letting them see all the street musicians, and chalk artists, and—”
“Chimney sweeps in magical animated fantasy lands?”
Mara turns to arch a brow at Konstantin, as he grins at her.
“Mary Poppins. You’re literally describing Mary Poppins.”
“Oh, we’ve got jokes for the pregnant lady, have we?” She glares at him. “Keep it up, mister funnyman, and you’ll go so long without a spoonful of sugar you’ll be begging for it.”
“Are we talking about the same ‘sugar’ that helps a certain pregnant lady with her backaches and pelvic floor stretches? That sugar? Cause, I feel like she’s the one asking for that on a twice-daily basis—”
“ Kon! ”
Mara turns bright scarlet as Lizbet cracks up.
I make a face. “Dude, lest we forget, that’s my sister ?”
“Sorry I knocked up your sister, man.”
I shake my head, chuckling as Mara jabs Konstantin in the ribs. “You are so gross.”
“Yeah, but you love me anyway.”
“Unfortunately, yes. Hopelessly.”
I can’t help but smile when he leans down to kiss her.
Yeah, I don’t deserve any of this. But I’ll fight to my dying breath to protect it.