Chapter Two
Being the boss of a crime family isn”t all it”s cracked up to be. Most of the time, being the firstborn is more of a burden than a reward. This is one of those times.
”Tell me how bad it is.”
”Five million is missing,” Dmitri replies.
His head hangs as he sinks into the chair in front of my desk. The lines of my little brother”s face are deep with frustration.
We all have a place in the family. I”m the boss. My youngest brother, Kaz, is the assassin, and Dmitri is the fixer. He”s the charmer I send in when I want to negotiate. He”s the guy that catches problems before they even become problems. But he missed this problem.
”And Taylor? Where is he?”
Kaz clears his throat from where he”s leaning against the wall. ”Missing.”
I sigh. Thomas Taylor, our American money cleaner, has been radio silent for two weeks. Which is a big fucking problem. Wherever he is, he”s taken our money with him, which is an act of war. Usually, I would”ve never left such a big chunk of our fortune to a sleazy American, but our cousin, Nico, vouched for him.
”Fucking Nico,” I mutter. ”Did Oleg and Ivan find anything?” I ask about the men I sent to Vegas to hunt Thomas down last week.
”His place was already tossed,” Kaz replies. ”No sign of Thomas or his wife.”
”That doesn”t mean much. He married a fucking gold-digger.”
Dmitri”s right. Thomas Taylor”s wife was only ever chasing money, and very rarely did that lead her home to her husband.
”What was her name, again?”
Kaz shrugs. ”Brittany or some shit like that.”
That doesn”t sound right, but I barely knew the woman, so what do I know?
”It doesn”t matter,” I say. ”If his place was already tossed, maybe we should consider he”s running from something or someone.”
”He”s a cockroach; they do know how to scatter.”
Kaz nods his head. ”What do you want us to do, Mik?”
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I lean back in my chair. Another burden of being the oldest? Making the hard fucking choices.
”We need to make a trip to Vegas,” I announce.
”Lilianna?” Dmitri asks. ”Her birthday is in two weeks. You can”t leave and risk missing it.”
Damnit. He”s right. She”d kill me if I missed her birthday. God knows I”ve missed enough of her life already.
”Fine. The two of you can go. Start at his house and figure out who saw him last. We need to know everything. Take however many guards you need.”
”It”s just Thomas,” Kaz replies, running a tattooed hand through his shoulder-length hair. ”I can handle him with my eyes closed.”
I nod. ”Leave after the Petrov meeting.”
Dmitri looks at me. Gray eyes that mirror mine fill with amusement. ”Old man Petrov?”
”Unfortunately.”
”What does he want now?”
I shrug. Old man Petrov is practically ancient. He”s damn-near a hundred years old. But he”s still running the game. Well, it”s his slice of the game, anyway. It”s what happens when a man can only produce female heirs and is so stuck in their ways that they”ll never pass the throne to a woman. It”s a pity, really. He”s killing his own kingdom just to hang on to an outdated notion. I know better than anyone how the mafia society looks down on women. As if they”re pawns in their games. Sacrifices for their wallets. My own father had no problem sacrificing my mother or Dmitri”s in the name of initiating his sons into the family. It”s sickening. A disease that poisons our world. One without a cure. A knock at the door brings me out of my thoughts.
A guard pokes his head in. ”Czar Petrov is here, boss.”
”Guess we”re about to find out,” I reply, meeting Dmitri”s gaze. ”Send him in.”
Seconds later, Czar Petrov graces my office doorway. He”s leaning heavily on his black cane. One wrinkled hand clutching the damn thing as if it”s a lifeline.
”Mr. Petrov,” Dmitri says as he stands to greet him. ”Nice to see you.”
It”s not. But my brother is a charmer; he”d never tell old man Petrov the truth.
”Likewise,” Czar replies, a heavy Russian accent mars the word.
He moves further into the room. If I”m honest, he looks frail. More than usual. But I don”t make a habit of associating with men like Czar. Men like him remind me of my father. His dull brown eyes sweep the room, flicking to Kaz before coming to a stop on me.
Unlike Dmitri, I don”t stand or greet him. I”d rather get to why he”s bothering me so I can get him the hell out of here.
”What can I do for you, Czar?”
Keeping his eyes glued to mine, he lowers himself into the seat beside Dmitri.
”I have a business proposal.”
”Oh? Need some help running your business?”
He narrows his eyes at me. It”s no secret that I”m an asshole, and that”s not changing anytime soon.
”Something like that.”
”What is your proposal?” Dmitri asks, steering us back on topic. ”A new venture?”
”I”m here to offer you my kingdom,” Czar announces.
There”s an underlying current of annoyance in his tone. He doesn”t want to be here anymore than we want him here. The last thing he wants is to give me his district. I can”t deny that a reward like that is tempting. I could expand some of my newer gambling rings into it. But nothing that good is free.
”What”s the catch?”
”You get the keys after you marry one of my granddaughters.”
Shock goes through me like a wave. Old man Petrov has lost his mind.
”An arranged marriage?”
”Yes,” Czar nods. ”I want you to marry Nadia.”
”She”s barely twenty years old,” Dmitri mentions. ”He”s twice her age.”
”Doesn”t matter. We used to marry them off at fourteen. She”s lucky to have had this much time.”
”That”s disgusting,” I reply. ”I”m not marrying anyone.”
Old man Petrov raises an eyebrow. He looks bewildered by my response. ”No? Not even for the keys to my kingdom?”
I place two elbows on my large desk and lean forward. ”I wouldn”t do for all the money in the world.”
His district isn”t all that big anyway. It would”ve been nice, but it”s not worth shackling myself to some kid for the rest of my life. Been there. Done that. Never again.
”Katerina really did a number on you,” Czar spits, speaking of my ex.
That makes me laugh. To hurt me, I would have had to care for her. I married her to appease my father. Love wasn”t part of the deal for either of us. But Katerina thrived on drama. Every day it was another meltdown, another fight. It was exhausting. We were barely married for a year before I couldn”t take it anymore. I divorced her, not knowing she was pregnant. Of course, she didn”t bother telling me. Not for fifteen years. By then, I had a mostly grown and furious teenage girl on my hands.
”I”ll throw in half of my fortune too.”
His urgency tells me all I need to know. There”s only one reason a man like Czar would be so desperate. He”s dying.
”What”s your diagnosis?” I ask.
He drops his eyes. ”Stage four brain cancer, but it”s all over me now.”
”Damn. How long?”
”Three months.”
”Sorry to hear that,” Dmitri says.
”Thank you.”
Czar turns his eyes back to me. I think he”s going for the puppy dog look, but it just looks… unnatural.
”I”m still not marrying your granddaughter.”
His saggy face turns red. ”Excuse me?”
”You heard me, Czar. It”s not going to happen.”
He jumps out of his seat, looking sprier than when he walked in here. Interesting.
”The Volkovs used to care about tradition. You”re ruining your father”s legacy,” Czar rattles off as he storms towards the door.
”That”s the plan, Petrov.”
My father doesn”t deserve to have a legacy. His reign over this family was a time of hatred and war. He is not worthy of the history books. He”s one of the few evil men who should not be celebrated.
”You should give your daughters the reins,” I state before he walks out. ”They”d do a better job of running things anyway.”
A string of Russian curses follows Petrov as he leaves my office.
”Why do you always have to start shit?”
”It”s my charm, little brother.”
”Right.” Dmitri rubs his temples. ”I need to pack. Are you going to be okay here?”
”Why wouldn”t I be? This is my home.”
”I mean, with Lilianna. Will you be okay with her on your own?”
His question sends a healthy dose of embarrassment with a side of shame spilling over me. I have to admit, I”m not on great terms with my daughter. Everything I say or do always makes her upset. Some days, she just ignores me altogether. I just can”t seem to get it right around her.
”Mikhail?”
Dmitri”s voice snaps me back to reality. ”We”ll be fine.”
He gives me a skeptical look but doesn”t press the issue.
”I”m going to pack and tell her goodbye. We”ll leave after that. Don”t forget, Mama Volkov will be here if you need help with her.”
I give him a nod. Dmitri leaves me alone, but his words don”t. He was right to worry about me here with my daughter. There”s a distance between us that I”m both desperate and scared to close. On the one hand, she”s my daughter. I fell in love with her the second I saw her. But she fucking hates me. And honestly? I can”t blame her. I didn”t even know she existed for fifteen years. She”s right to be angry. I just wish I could turn back the clock. But it”s too late now. The time is gone, and there”s no way to get it back.