Chapter 30
Gavriil
I don’t have regrets.
I live with precision and control. There’s no room for error in my life.
The other day proved me wrong.
I regret watching Alina and Dominik.
I lost an alliance that could have turned this war.
I crossed a line with Alina. I kissed her and spilled my fucking guts.
I started today with a cold shower, a clean suit, and a scheduled meeting because my lieutenants have new information to share. I refuse to repeat the previous days’ mistakes.
“Get ready,” I tell Alina as she sits on her mattress eating breakfast, savoring her cinnamon coffee.
I wish she wasn’t so damn beautiful.
I couldn’t understand how Dominik foolishly fell for a girl he just met in such a short amount of time.
Now it’s starting to make more sense.
“Why do I need to get ready?” Alina asks between sips.
“There’s a meeting in an hour that I need to attend,” I reply as I put on my watch, my eyes avoiding hers. She knows what I mean. And I know that she won’t bother trying to refuse because she likes being involved.
Alina puts her mug down to get to her feet and walks over to the sink to brush her teeth, not saying anything else. Not about last night. Not about what I said. Not about our kiss.
Forgetting it would be convenient.
I’d attend the meeting by myself and leave her in here to put some distance between us, but keeping her close has become a necessity.
One I hate. But she grounds me and keeps me level.
It’s better than wondering about what the hell she’s doing or thinking while we’re apart.
Or watching on video when she’s too far out of my reach.
It’s sad. Pathetic.
My father would have enjoyed beating this weakness out of me.
Alina turns on the water for her shower before pausing and looking at me, her fingers fidgeting with the dark fabric of her dress.
“You’ll be getting a new outfit,” I tell her as I walk to the bedroom door, resisting the urge to watch her undress because I know how sexy she looks underneath her clothes. “Leave the old one next to the cage door to be collected.”
I don’t let Alina ask me any questions before I step out of the room. I pass Ulyana in the hallway, nodding to her as she carries a wardrobe bag and a toiletry bag.
Ulyana nods back and continues on to the bedroom to get Alina ready for the meeting.
My appetite is nonexistent this morning, so I go straight to my office instead of the dining room. My lieutenants aren’t on the grounds today, so our meeting will be conducted over the phone instead so that they can report from where they’re stationed.
Once I get situated at my desk, I look over some messages left for me overnight. Status updates. Reports. All the shit Dominik used to do. I’m so fucking tired of juggling it all.
I read until my vision starts to blur, pressure building between my temples. I can only hope that Pyotr and Matvei deliver good news or at least helpful news that points us in the right direction of what the hell to do next. Admittedly, I’m running out of ideas.
Valentin and Eduard enter the room with Alina between them, immediately drawing my attention away from business.
She tucks her hair behind her ear as she stands between them in a thin-strapped, black mini dress with and tights underneath, wearing ankle boots instead of flats today.
While I’d like to see Alina in that little dress without the shirt and tights underneath, I don’t need her shivering throughout the night. And I certainly don’t want my men ogling at her while she sits in on our meeting.
“Take a seat,” I tell her as I pat the top of my desk.
Alina tenses at my command. “There’s no chair?”
“I want you right here,” I say as I pat the left side of my desk again.
Irritation sparks in her eyes, but she doesn’t argue and perches on the edge of my desk instead. She crosses her legs and rests her hands in her lap, looking as stiff as a statue.
I tear my eyes away from the beauty on my desk and pull my phone closer to start a group call between Matvei, Pyotr, and me.
The phone rings only once before both of them answer, their voices projecting loudly through the speaker.
“Update,” I say in English as I stand from my chair, unable to sit still as the anticipation grips me.
“I tracked down an old contact who does business with just about everyone around town,” Matvei reports to me. “I had to apply some pressure since he wasn’t willing to talk for free, but I got an interesting piece of information from him.”
I pace around the room as Valentin and Eduard stand on either side of the door. “Tell me.”
“There’s a small but organized group who have recently moved into the city,” Matvei replies. “He didn’t know a name or an origin for them, but he has heard from other contacts that there’s a group scouting for territory to take over so that they can set up shop here.”
“And they’ve decided to try to push us out?” I question him.
“He said they’re small, but they seem very organized and driven. They must’ve found out that we’re being targeted by the Irish and saw an opportunity to make a deal with them for a portion of our territory,” Matvei says.
I grind my teeth as I walk past Alina, our eyes meeting for a second while she sits there quietly. The memory of our kiss crackles through my thoughts like lightning, disrupting my focus as Matvei keeps speaking.
She kissed me back until she tasted the vodka that I drowned myself in. If she hadn’t noticed, would she have kept going? How far would we have gone?
“Sir?” Matvei’s voice pulls me out of my own head.
My face heats with frustration as I put my back to Alina and walk the other way. “What was the last thing that you said?”
“I was saying that I’m unsure if they’re behind any of the attacks or not,” Matvei says. “Their capabilities are unknown so far.”
I fidget with the collar of my shirt, feeling like it’s uncomfortably tight for some reason despite it being buttoned as usual. “Did your contact have any other information?”
“No, I got what I could out of him,” Matvei replies. “But I do have him tied up in the basement of the house on Fuller. Maybe we can convince him to sniff out some more information for us.”
We own a few houses throughout our territory that we use for a range of purposes. Storage. Events. Interrogation.
“Keep him on standby,” I tell him. “Go, Pyotr.”
“My recon mission was successful,” Pyotr reports.
“I tracked down a man who visited three different known Irish-owned establishments over a period of two days. He was caught and interrogated, and I can confirm that the Irish are working with the Armenians and the unknown organization Matvei mentioned.”
“Fucking Armenians,” I breathe out as I pause, my eyes automatically flickering to Alina. She steadies me, even if she looks perplexed. “You’re certain?”
“The man I tracked down is part of the Armenian crew. Well, was,” Pyotr replies.
“Did he give up any more information?” I question him as I rub my right temple, trying to alleviate the frustrated ache pulsing through my head.
“He did. They’re coordinating an assault on our strongholds.”
My heart forgets how to beat for a second as I remain frozen in place, processing his words. Not businesses or warehouses. Strongholds.
Like these grounds. This house.
“What’s in it for them?” I ask Pyotr once I find my voice and resume pacing, my mind racing all over the place.
Three different organizations want our territory for themselves and our bodies in the ground. The Irish are huge on their own but adding the fighting power of the Armenians and the other group into the mix makes them an even bigger threat.
How can we fight them off alone? How can I begin to plan a defensive measure effective enough to fend them off?
“Territory. A mutual enemy wiped off the map.”
My heartbeat picks up as a flicker of panic ignites in my chest. If I don’t figure something out, we’ll lose everything. Our businesses. Our products. Our lives.
And that’ll be on me and me only.
“They don’t typically accept allies,” I say. “And we haven’t clashed with the Armenians in over a year.”
“They’ve been quietly waiting for an opportunity,” Matvei replies.
“Or they just caught wind of what the Irish were up to and said why the hell not?” Pyotr says with an edge of bitterness in his voice.
We’re like a bleeding, vulnerable animal laying out in a field full of hungry predators. Of course, they’re going to catch a whiff of our scent and join the hunt.
“I think we’re past the point of dissuading them from attacking us. We need to prepare for an all-out war,” Matvei tells me. “We’ve got a big assault heading our way any day now.”
“What do you want us to do, boss?” Pyotr asks.
I remain silent as my mind goes blank, offering me no words to speak. They just handed me some of the worst news that I could’ve received, and they want an answer now?
I have no idea what the fuck to do next.
I don’t know how to stop the wave of violence about to crash down on us.
“You need Dominik’s help.”
The room goes dead silent.
My eyes snap to Alina after she speaks up, and my stomach fucking sinks because I don’t want her to be right.
“The Pakhan doesn’t need that traitor,” Eduard says in Russian as he pushes off the wall. He steps toward her, his jaw tight and palm open like he’s going to punish her for disrespecting me.
I don’t think. I just move.
My arm flies out, slamming across his chest, knocking him backward hard enough to make him fall to the floor. “Don’t even think about laying a hand on her,” I warn him.
Eduard scrambles away, putting his back flush against the wall as shock fills his eyes.
Valentin goes rigid, and he does the smart thing by keeping his mouth shut.
I turn away from them to look at Alina, losing my breath when she stares right back at me silently, her expression unreadable.
I shouldn’t have done that. I should’ve waved Eduard off and told Alina to keep her mouth shut.
But I didn’t.