Chapter 3
Gavriil
My footsteps echo through the hallway as I stride toward the meeting room on the second floor of my residence, my jaw clenched tight.
Secrets rarely stay buried in our world, but I had hoped Dominik’s betrayal would last longer than this.
The news has already traveled farther than it should have. It’d be a damn miracle if the Bratva Council was clueless to this embarrassment, but I’m certainly not holding my breath. I’ll handle them when the time comes.
I smooth my expression before entering the meeting room where several of my senior men sit around the long conference table in tense silence. I take my seat at the head of the table and calmly fold my hands in front of me.
“Give me an update,” I say in Russian. People can’t keep their mouth shut around this city, so I’m sure each faction has picked up on something.
Timur, one of my enforcers, sits up straighter.
“We spoke to a trusted contact. He told us that he overheard a conversation between two men about the state of the Bratva. They see Dmitri Ivanov’s move to Vegas, the Volkovs' greediness, and our infighting as a chance to overtake all Russian territory in New York.”
Frustration ignites in my chest at the other families for choosing this moment to cause problems, but the steady expression on my face doesn’t change. Emotion is an uncontrolled reaction, and I will have all things under my control. That’s how we fix this fucking mess.
“Anything else?” I question him.
Timur nods. “Everyone thought of you and Dominik as strong leaders. A team. Since Dominik was seen as the one who handled most of the Bratva business, you now look…weak without him, all because he betrayed you.”
Do they think I didn’t notice that our men looked to him before me?
I did, and I hated it.
My brother was born for business and war strategy. He’s smart but ruthless when needed, and he can better predict what’s going to happen next than most people.
But I don’t need him to crush our enemies under my boot.
“Well, they’re mistaken,” I reply, my voice unwavering. “And if anyone tries to test us, we will retaliate and put them in their place.”
“Sir, I think a coordinated attack is already being planned,” Matvei says from the left side of the table. He flips open a folder in front of him before passing a few photos down the table toward me.
I gather the images in front of me and start to slowly flip through them, my gaze falling upon various vans and luxury but plain-looking cars with tinted windows in areas that I recognize. Areas that aren’t even that far away from my estate.
“Are these stills from our security cameras?” I ask Matvei as I continue inspecting the photos. The vehicles don’t look familiar, but I believe that’s the point. They’re plain enough that most people would overlook them.
But we don’t overlook anything.
“They are,” Matvei replies. “We’ve been reviewing footage throughout last night. Within a span of eight hours, those four vehicles were driven and parked throughout our territory. Just sitting there and waiting hours before eventually leaving.”
They were doing recon, seeing if they could find anything interesting to report back to their bosses. Hopefully, they just wasted their time, but the fact that they’re moving so damn quickly makes me uneasy. Word did spread fucking fast.
“There’s something that concerns me,” Leon speaks up across the table from Matvei. “I don’t believe those vehicles are from the same organization.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask him as I spread the photos out in front of me.
“Because organizations typically use a fleet of similar vehicles. They buy them from the same seller or dealership like we do to help us identify which ones are ours and which are not,” Leon explains before leaning forward and tapping one photo. “White van. Older model. Expensive make.”
My gaze follows his finger as he gestures to the next photo.
“Black van. Newer model. Another expensive make.”
“They’re all different in some way,” I murmur under my breath as my eyes sweep over each vehicle parked in different areas of our territory. “But they arrived around the same time. You believe that multiple mob families just happened to send vehicles to do recon at the same time?”
“It might not have been a coincidence,” Timur replies, his words making the air weigh down on us that much more.
“A collaboration,” I state as the damning picture begins to become clearer and clearer.
Dominik would have anticipated this. And still, he betrayed me, knowing full well how everyone in our family would suffer for his mistake.
“And they didn’t just do recon,” Matvei tells me before sliding his phone over to me.
I look down to see a paused video feed from one of our security cameras. The one pointed at the expensive black van. I tap on the play button and watch the van pull back onto the street and drive out of view. A few seconds later, I hear a popping sound, followed by the feed going black.
“They destroyed our cameras,” I say.
“Several of them,” Matvei replies with a grim look on his face.
My jaw tenses for a second as I hold back another wave of annoyance. Someone is deliberately testing us.
The vehicles don’t have any clues as to who owns them, and I know that we won’t find any signs of who was driving them either. Even if they drove right in front of the cameras, they were probably wearing masks and had fake plates.
I lean back in my seat and rub my bearded jaw, forcing it to release all the tension built up in it. “I don’t believe the bikers my brother dealt with are involved in this. I think we sent a strong enough message to them.”
All of my men nod their agreement.
It’s not completely rare for local organizations to unite against a common enemy, especially a powerful one like the Bratva. Our territory in the city is beneficial logistically and strategically, and I don’t doubt that there are plenty of other people who want a cut of it for themselves.
What better time to join together and strike than now, when it seems like we’re falling apart from the inside?
“I want extra patrols nightly in those areas,” I tell them as I push the photos to the side. “Repair the cameras within the next hour. I want video to keep track of their every move.”
More nods as spines straighten and eyes narrow in determination. What looks bad on me looks bad on them too.
We obviously have some damage control to do in terms of our reputation, and I don’t plan to become the weak fool that these other mobs see me as without Dominik.
“Timur, assemble a group to begin watching for suspicious vehicles tonight. If they get a chance, have them tag the parked vehicles with trackers,” I order him. “We need to figure out who is behind this so we can retaliate.”
If they’re already getting this bold so quickly, then it won’t be long now before they try to strike first.
“Yes, sir,” Timur responds in Russian.
“I want a better update in the morning,” I tell the others before dismissing them all with a wave of my hand.
When I’m alone again, I finally exhale. I’ve always had to make sacrifices for my little brother, but losing everything our ruthless father built, an empire I had to take on before I was ready, isn’t going to be one of them.
Dominik’s disloyalty is already costing me, and things are only going to get worse from here on out if I don’t stomp out the pests trying to take my territory.
I breathe in deeply through my nose before standing and leaving the room. My thoughts automatically drift to the woman in my cage. She hasn’t been acting as I expected at all, though. Not a single word has left her mouth, and no food or water has gone into it either.
I meant to sleep in my bed, but I passed out in my office chair last night. Who knows if she got any sleep or not.
I turn the corner of the hallway towards my bedroom and hear faint clinking and thuds from inside. My eyebrows rise as I approach the open door, faintly detecting the sound of Simeon’s voice, the guard in charge of bringing Alina food, water, and whatever else she needs.
“Ungrateful bitch!” he bites out in Russian after I hear a clattering sound from inside.
I storm into the room just in time to see Simeon grab Alina’s arm and drag her across the cage floor away from the mess of spilled food and water on the ground. I blink, and I’m already in the doorway of the cage, my hand clamping down on Simeon’s shoulder.
“Take your hands off her,” I growl.
Simeon’s face pales the second his eyes meet mine.
I don’t give him a chance to say anything before I grip his black t-shirt and yank him out of the cage. His feet trip over themselves, but he doesn’t even have the time to fall before I slam his face against the bars.
Simeon groans in pain, his body stiffening in fear as I hold him there.
“What the fuck happened?” I question him in Russian, keeping my voice steady despite the way my breath quickens.
“She knocked over the food I brought her!” Simeon tells me, voice strained.
“And that gave you permission to lay a finger on her?” I ask, digging my fingers into the back of his neck. My eyes lift to peer over his shoulder, immediately spotting Alina. She sits at the head of her cot where she rarely moves.
Her bloodshot eyes stare back at me as she holds her knees against her chest, not a sound leaving her.
She can knock over her lunch but not say a word to me.
“I’m sorry, sir. Please forgive me,” Simeon begs in Russian, his right cheek still crushed against the bar.
I want to do worse, but I don’t. I have more important things to do than break faces. I have a prisoner who won’t consume anything.
“Go get a towel and clean this mess up,” I tell him before releasing him.
I’m enraged because I’ll have to keep a closer eye on Alina via the security camera from now on when I’m away, when there are much more important things I should be doing.
With his head bowed, Simeon hurries out of the room, leaving me alone with Alina.
I might as well be completely alone. My brother’s wildcat is becoming a goddamn ghost.
“You need to eat or at least drink something instead of making a mess all over the floor and sulking in the corner,” I tell her in English. There’s a sharp edge to my voice that I’m usually able to keep at bay.
When she swallows, her whole body tenses like it’s painful. I don’t miss the slight tremor in her hands as they rest on her knees. She looks exhausted.
“Did you sleep last night?” I question her as I step closer to the bars. “Answer me. At least nod or shake your head.”
She does neither. She just sits there. And I swear that I hear her stomach growling.
I clench my teeth in irritation. Instead of making sure that my enemies aren’t touring my territory like it’s their next home, I’m here fixated on how tired and weak she looks.
I was eager to play with her, to expose the desires for me that I suspect she hides deep down. But what’s the fun in unraveling her if she doesn’t even have the strength to face off with me?
All she does is sit there with that cold look on her face, not revealing even a mere glimpse of what’s going on behind her vibrant green eyes.
She reminds me of myself more than I care to admit.
I don’t like staring at my own reflection, and I especially don’t like that she’s kept up this infuriating charade for this long.
I tear my eyes away from her when Simeon comes back into the room with a gray towel in his hands. “Be quick about it. And bring her another plate of food and another glass of water when you’re done.”
“Yes, sir.”
I’m not going to stand here and stare at her being docile when I have plenty to do, even if there’s a part of me that feels uneasy about leaving her, especially when she’s in this state. She’s hurting herself on purpose.
The thought sends an uncomfortable prickle up my spine.
If anything happens to her, Dominik would kill me.
“No more messes, Alina,” I warn her as I back away from the cage. “I’d rather you use your words if you’re pissed off with me.”
I don’t bother to wait for a response before leaving the room, knowing that it’ll take more than that to get a reaction out of her. Maybe if I get her mad enough, she’ll finally break out of this blank stupor and say something.
I’ll take her cussing me out. I’d love for her to tell me how pissed she is at me if it gets her to talk.
And I hate how badly I need to break her silence.
I should be happy that she’s quiet and nonreactive so that I can focus on more important things.
But I’m not. Far from it.