29. Maksim
MAKSIM
Pride and hope filled me with the news that I would be a father.
Throughout dinner, the revelation settled in my mind with a deep sense of righteousness.
I would be a father.
Adrik and I would both be bringing in the next generation for the family. Children were a blessing, and in this time of turmoil and change, anticipating our sons and daughters was a way to see a lasting legacy past our times.
Our father was in a coma, lying in that bed upstairs where he slowly died.
It marked a period of loss—of his guidance, his leadership, and his power.
Losing him ushered Adrik into the position of Pakhan, but as with any transfer, rumors could run rife that we were weaker and more vulnerable without a current leadership in action.
Which wasn’t true. Not in the least. Adrik had stepped up immediately after Father’s stroke.
In this time of change, though, the discovery of our uncle being alive and forming a network of enemy factions to band together was another direct strike on our peace and prosperity.
Uncle Gregori killed my grandparents and almost killed my father. He had done so for no other reason than to steal the throne. And like I’d wondered when we were ambushed on the road, he could try to rob us of the throne again.
Children would represent a future to rely on. Our legacy and empire would last beyond all of us, and I was of course thrilled for a chance to meet my first son or daughter.
First, because I knew that I wouldn’t be content with just one.
Not when Carina was so responsive and sensual in bed—which she proved when we got home after dinner to celebrate the news.
Not when the mental image of my wife being pregnant was the ultimate trigger to make me lust for her all over again.
Not when she could soften and lighten up to later admit as we cuddled in bed that she was excited to meet our baby.
Parenthood would be another journey to embark upon together. Sudden, perhaps, almost like our marriage was when it had been thrust upon us. But we would embrace it wholeheartedly.
And worry about it, too.
After I made love to my wife and cherished the good fortune of her giving me a child so soon, we lay in bed and she admitted why she was hesitant to take the pregnancy test.
“What if he tries something?” she asked me honestly, referring to her brother.
“Then he will fail,” I answered simply.
Now, I realized that she had spoken with Elena to some extent yesterday.
She was more aware of how the case was getting more complicated with her brother.
Yet, I hadn’t come out and fully explained that I couldn’t let him linger as a potential issue on the sidelines.
For his inability to stand up to Yusef Antonov’s pressure on the Cartels in this area, I couldn’t let him live.
We both slept in from staying up for the better part of the night, talking and also celebrating how we were starting a family so soon.
I could relax in the relief that she wasn’t ill or being aloof.
She was, like my cousin guessed, simply changing with and reacting to the news that she was pregnant.
After we had breakfast, though, a text had come in from her brother.
My phone buzzed, and at first, I didn’t realize that it was Arturo Garcia’s line.
I furrowed my brow, picking over the number and finally looking back to see that it was him.
“What’s wrong?” Carina asked.
I held up my hand for her to give me a second.
Rereading the texts that he must have had prepared as drafts, I tried to process all that he was conveying.
This was the first time I’d had any word with him since the day I visited the Cartel compound.
His number had last registered on my phone when I took the direct route of calling him the day that arms shipment failed to reach us and instead ended up in enemy territory in Texas.
Garcia: With the news of my sister’s pregnancy, I demand a private meeting.
Garcia: My crew will be awaiting your prompt arrival for this discussion.
He’d listed the time, as if he could be the one calling the shots here, dictating where and when I should show up .
Garcia: It is of utmost importance that you adhere to the expectations of planning this change to our families’ agreements.
“Maksim?”
I glanced up, still scowling, to see Carina watching me closely. “What’s wrong?”
I needed more than a few seconds to reply. To even know how to reply. Thinking fast on my feet was something I had trained myself to do, but this was catching me off guard too swiftly.
“Did you tell your brother about the baby?”
Her eyebrows shot up so high. “What?” Her jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
I was, but it was a stupid question.
“I haven’t contacted my brother in weeks,” she snapped, offended that I’d accuse her of something like this. “When I did reach out to him, it was just to ask how things were going after I first got here.” She was fuming, reaching for her phone and thrusting it to me. “And he never replied. At all.”
I didn’t need her to show me her phone and prove it. I’d arranged for the firewall here to flag when she tried to contact anyone outside the Bratva. As such, I already knew about her vague texts asking how things were back home. I already knew that he’d never replied and never reached out to her.
I didn’t rise to the excitement of arguing with her, though. Taking her phone, I presented her with mine. “Then what the fuck does this mean?”
I watched as she read it. Then again and again.
Her mouth dropped even lower until she snapped it shut and gritted her teeth.
“This is bullshit. And this is exactly what I’m worried about!
” She stared at me, as if I would know what the fuck was going on.
“What does he want to discuss? What does he even have to discuss about our child? He arranged for me to be in this family and he has no stakes in our having a child. It has no bearing on him!” She smacked her free hand on the table.
“Agreements? He wants to talk about agreements? After he dismissed the expectations of the trade agreement my father made with yours?” She set my phone down roughly, letting it skid on the surface of the table, before crossing her arms and shaking her head and glaring at the wall.
“I don’t know what he wants to discuss,” I said. “I’m more concerned about his even knowing that you are pregnant.” She had just taken the test yesterday. News could move fast, but not that damn quickly. And not when communication was strained or limited—nonexistent—between them.
She whipped her head to face me. “I didn’t tell him. I dread his finding out and trying to use it to his advantage somehow.”
I rested my hand on hers, not wanting her to be distressed. “You never have to dread anyone finding out. I promise you that no one will hurt you or our child.” I’d swear my life on it.
While she flipped her hand to hold mine, she huffed out an angry breath. I scrolled on her phone, though, curious how he could’ve found out. And so swiftly.
“I’m not accusing you of leaking the news,” I added.
“It seems like that should be your first guess, though. How else could he have heard this? One of the guards at dinner last night?” She scowled again, as if knowing that was unlikely.
“I told Elena that I suspected I could be pregnant. No guards were close enough to overhear. I accidentally revealed the news when I turned down wine at dinner. No guards were in the dining room.”
I shook my head slowly in agreement. “And no member of the Bratva would leak this news.”
“Then that leaves us. And your brothers and cousins.” She furrowed her brow again. “And they wouldn’t tell him.”
“None of them are even in contact with the Cartel,” I told her. I dealt with the Garcias directly.
I paused my finger on the picture she’d taken of the pregnancy test. She had captured the news photographically. Maybe this was a connection. I turned the phone around to show her.
“What?” She shrugged.
“Do you have sole access to this cloud?” I asked her.
Her angry expression fell. Fear kicked in as her eyes opened wider.
That told me enough.
“Oh, no…”
“Who’s on that cloud?”
She covered her mouth with her free hand.
“Arturo?” I guessed.
She nodded as her eyes turned glossy with unshed tears.
“No, hey. No.” I tugged on her hand as I scooted my chair back. “No freaking out.” I pulled her onto my lap.
“He has access to the cloud.” She sniffled, burrowing into my chest as she sat on my thighs. “It didn’t even cross my mind.”
“It will be okay.”
She gave me a smirk that suggested she wasn’t convinced of that.
“You didn’t share the news intentionally.”
“I would never. I don’t want him to know about this baby until I can know if he would try to use it against us.
Or try something. I only have that old cloud because I don’t want to lose the images of my parents.
I never take pictures. I don’t care to, but I never wanted to give up the access to all the pictures of my parents from when I was younger. ”
I continued stroking her back, annoyed but not mad. It was a mistake, and now, the only thing I could do was react and solve this issue of Arturo knowing about the baby.
Why would he care?
He gave her away without a second thought.
That runner said that Arturo saw her as a nuisance and wanted her out of his way so he could do as he pleased without her reining him in.
What could he try to get out of the news that we’re having a child?
“He’s up to something,” I concluded, “and I will find out what that is.”
She looked up at me with a frown. “I don’t want you walking into a trap.”
I shook my head then pressed a kiss to her forehead. “The only one who’d be walking into a trap is him.”
Although she looked uneasy about this development, I encouraged her not to worry.
As soon as she left the room to go work out in the gym, I picked up my phone and replied.
He could think he had the privilege to tell me what to do, but that wasn’t how things worked around here. If he wanted to text me out of the blue, he could “discuss” this over texts too.
Speaking to him in person would give me more nonverbal cues, but I wasn’t ready to go back down to his territory yet. Not after the last time I was near his turf, when I was run off the road and ambushed.
Maksim: There are no changes to any agreement between our families.
Maksim: State your concerns about my wife and I will determine if they are worth my attention.
I set my phone down, wondering how long he’d wait to reply. Fuck his demands to come see him and talk.
The screen hadn’t locked yet, and three dots appeared, indicating he was replying.
That’s fast.
He must really want something.
But what?
Garcia: We need to meet.
Maksim: You are not and never will be in any position to dictate what I need to do.
Garcia: We should meet ASAP.
Maksim: Why?
I wasn’t bending to his will, but I wanted this to be a productive thread.
Garcia: Now that a child is on the way, it’s time for us to discuss operational concessions in the territory. This child is a representation and token of how strong the alliance is between our families.
“The fuck it is.” I scowled at the screen. Contrarily, his “mistake” of that shipment and his act of befriending someone like Yusef Antonov were tokens of how poorly our alliance had gone.
Garcia: Now that you and my sister are clearly settled into your marriage and expecting, it is past time for us to discuss more details about business in the area.
Where can we expand our routes? What else can we procure for you and deliver?
How much more are you willing to increase your purchases within this quarter?
I fumed, staring at the questions he probably had drafted ahead of time.
Garcia: This is why we need to meet. To discuss what else we can do through our business alliance.
He was really reaching now.
The fact that Carina and I were having a child had no bearing whatsoever on any trade agreement our fathers had made. Arturo arranged for me to marry his side with not a single page of a contract stipulating anything about what would happen after the wedding. Not a word.
Carina was mine.
Our child would be ours.
And that was the sum of how things would be.
“Bullshit.” All that he wanted from me was intel. He was fishing for details, not looking for more peace. Realizing that Arturo would forever be a threat now, I exhaled a long, harsh breath.
Maksim: No.
I left it at that.
Short and simple.
Direct and to the point.
No.
That was all I’d ever have for an answer for him.
He had nothing to offer me but danger. He was up to nothing but aligning with my enemy.
I wanted nothing to do with him except for a window of opportunity to kill him.
It was only a matter of time until I would.
I picked up my phone and called for a meeting with my brothers and cousins, realizing that this solution to the Garcia problem couldn’t—and wouldn’t—wait.