Chapter 2 – London – Same day – The double wedding
CHAPTER 2
MIKI
LONDON – SAME DAY – THE DOUBLE WEDDING
S ighing heavily, I shook my head and rubbed at the back of my neck as I read through the file of information Marko had compiled for me on the lawyer, Nigel Simpson. My shoulders ached, and I was tired, bone weary.
My eyes narrowed as I stared at the picture of the fucker on my screen with the young man, the very young man. Oh yes, Marko had come up with the goods and now we had what we needed to confront the bastard. Ash had wanted me to do it sooner, but I had waited. I’d made too many rash decisions recently, resulting in mistakes that had almost cost me my sister and cousin. So, I was determined to ensure I never made such a mistake again.
It seemed like I’d been knocking my enemies down like tenpins at a bowling alley lately. The problem was for every strike I got; more enemies racked up to take their place. Hopefully, Nigel Simpson and whoever his unknown boss was would be the last of them. At least for a while.
Pouring myself a shot of vodka, I downed it quickly, closing my eyes and enjoying the burn at the back of my throat. It had been a tiring few months, and I was extremely relieved that things had worked out.
After placing the photographs back in their envelope, I slid it in the file and locked it away in my safe. I’d soon be paying Nigel Simpson a visit and when I did, he would provide me with the information I needed to root out the last of our enemies. He just didn’t know it yet. I’d tug the puppet’s strings until he revealed the puppet master, and then I would eliminate them both.
However, that was something to be dealt with another day. Today was a day for celebration, a double wedding, and I planned on forgetting my problems and enjoying this special time with my family and our friends.
As if conjured by my thoughts, my uncle Maxim, Ash, Marko, and Romi entered the office, all suited and booted, looking their best, with huge smiles on their faces. I poured them all a shot and then another for myself.
“Nostrovia!” we cheered, before downing our drinks and heading out to the waiting cars.
A short while later, I watched my uncle walk my aunt Marta down the aisle towards Glowacki. Sonia and I followed behind them and as I walked her towards a thrilled-looking Romi, I couldn’t help thinking about just how close I’d come to ruining everything.
Glowacki and my family had an alliance. Five years ago, we had united through grief and a common enemy during a war with the Albanians who had killed my parents and Glowacki’s eldest son, Tomas. The alliance had continued to grow in strength over the years as Glowacki’s family and mine came to know and respect each other. Even after the murder of my sister Krissa.
However, until now, we had kept the fact that we had a strong alliance quiet from our enemies, thinking that it gave us an edge. In hindsight, that had not been the best idea. Believing our association was on shaky ground had encouraged several enemies to unite against us, and we’d been forced to go to war with them.
When Glowacki initially proposed strengthening our alliance further with an arranged marriage between his son Dariusz and my sister Sonia, I had said no, not believing it was necessary. However, when the attacks had first begun, I thought perhaps the idea had merit after all, and agreed without considering the consequences.
Sonia was not happy about that at all. While Dariusz had not really wanted to get married either, he had agreed to it for his father’s sake. However, my sister hated the idea and had been against it from the start. Initially, I had hoped she would come around, because Dariusz was a great guy, but she didn’t.
When we discovered the relationship between her and Romi, my brothers and I reacted badly. Especially me.
Carrying on a relationship with each other had seemed wrong on so many levels at first, and I had been bloody furious.
Romi was our cousin through his mother’s marriage to our late Uncle Petior. Technically, it wasn’t an issue because there was no blood connection, but morally, it had felt wrong. Also, he was older than her by seven years, and it seemed like he had seduced her. I now know it was more likely the other way around. However, at the time, all I could see was my innocent little sister with an older, more experienced man.
Then there was the fact that Romi had sworn an oath as a Bratva Blood Brother. Years ago, when we were all young, a bunch of us took a blood oath to always protect each other and our families, especially our sisters. All of us Blood Brothers—me, Ash, Marko, Romi, my best friend Luca, and Ash’s best friend Anton—all felt different levels of betrayal when we found out Romi was sleeping with Sonia. That was not the type of protection we had vowed.
Also, indulging in a relationship with Sonia while she was technically engaged to Glowacki’s son was a massive issue for me as Pakhan. The problem was that such arrangements were unbreakable once shaken upon by two mafia leaders, unless a suitable alternative was found.
Breaking the agreement without an alternative arrangement would have been an insult. Glowacki would have had no choice but to retaliate or be seen as weak among the rest of his Brotherhood. That would definitely have threatened, if not completely shattered, our alliance.
Luckily, we had kept the arranged marriage agreement quiet because we had been busy dealing with the war with the Malia Boys and Broxys. So, when Glowacki and my aunt Marta became close as she helped nurse him back to health, he had agreed to amend the terms of the arranged marriage to them instead. It had been a godsend.
Especially after Sonia had been kidnapped, and Romi was shot while rescuing her. None of us could deny the depth of his feelings for her then, nor hers for him when she was inconsolable and refused to leave his side until he was over the worst. It was then we realised that nobody else could be better for her than Romi, our cousin, friend, and brother.
My folly could have ruined our family forever, something I didn’t want to contemplate. I vowed never to make such a foolish, inconsiderate decision again, no matter how overwhelmed I sometimes felt as Pakhan.
The music ended, tearing my thoughts back to the present.
As Sonia took her place beside Romi, the joy on both of their faces made my heart clench. I wished my parents were here to see this; they would have been overjoyed at seeing her wed.
Stepping back from the pair, I went to stand by Uncle Maxim, who smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it slightly. He was probably thinking about my parents, too, especially my dad.
Uncle Maxim was Dad’s twin, just a few minutes older. They were identical, so spending time with him always gave me mixed feelings. I loved my dyadya and seeing his face was comforting, but it always made me sad, reminding me of happier times when my dad was alive.
Watching today’s proceedings made me wonder what my dad would have thought of the double wedding.
Before we came to the UK and my father became Pakhan, the Polish and Russians had been rivals who barely tolerated each other. When Glowacki took over as head of the Polish Mafia, he was young and ambitious and tried to muscle in on our territory several times.
My father had subdued him quickly each time, and despite their rivalry, my dad had always treated Glowacki fairly. Eventually, they both came to a truce that grew into a grudging respect for each other, and the semblance of a friendship had begun just before my dad was murdered.
When I’d become Pakhan, I had felt way out of my depth, and often still did. However, Glowacki had offered me his hand in friendship, and I had taken it.
I was glad I had.
United in our grief, we formed an alliance, took on the Albanians, and thankfully won. Glowacki had been a good friend to me since and acted as a mentor. I respected him.
Dad had respected him too, but would he have agreed with the continued alliance and uniting our families?
“He’d be proud of you today and happy with how things have turned out,” Uncle Maxim said, as if able to read my thoughts.
The registrar started the service, and Glowacki’s smile widened as he gazed at my aunt. She beamed back at him, looking radiant as always. Aunt Marta was my dad and Uncle Max’s younger half-sister and, at thirty-eight years old, was twelve years younger than Glowacki, but they were a good match. They had a lot in common.
My heart warmed as I nodded at Uncle Maxim. Yes, I’d made the right decision.
My gaze flicked to Sonia, who looked equally radiant, standing beside Romi, who was grinning like a buffoon. I’d never seen him look so happy.
Thank god, things had worked out.
As I observed the proceedings, I couldn’t help sporting my own huge grin. Ash’s fiancée, Gracie, was Sonia’s bridesmaid and Glowacki’s daughter, Magdalena, was Aunt Marta’s. They all looked beautiful in their dresses.
Glowacki’s son was his best man, and Ash was Romi’s. Marko and Glowacki’s other sons, Daniel and Sebastian, and our friends Luca and Anton, were the groomsmen, looking very distinguished in their finery. If I didn’t know better, I’d even believe them to be the civilised beings they currently looked like. I smirked.
Outwardly we looked the part of polished businessmen, but underneath the veneer of civility lurked a darker place we often inhabited. The same place our enemies operated. That thought brought my light mood crashing down.
Scanning the grounds of my large estate, our home, I checked our security was in place, as expected. We’d gone a bit overboard for the wedding because even though we’d recently eliminated a huge chunk of those enemies, I refused to take any chances.
As the couples exchanged rings, I felt a pang of envy. I wanted someone who looked at me the way Aunt Marta looked at Glowacki and Sonia looked at Romi. Not that there was anyone in my life at the moment. In fact, there hadn’t been for ages. It just never seemed to be the right time for me to pursue a relationship.
A little voice in my head said there never would be a right time, but I ignored it. There was no point thinking about love when there were far more important things to deal with, like having an enemy to track down.
On top of that, I wanted to concentrate on dispersing with some of our criminal activities over the next few years. Being born into the Bratva, my family and I had no option but to live a criminal life. But now I was Pakhan, there were things I could do to change that. Or at least minimise that part of our lives.
Uncle Maxim was based in St. Petersburg and he was the overall leader of the Rominov Bratva. His oldest son Viktor was in New York, and I oversaw the UK, but we both answered to Uncle Maxim. Thankfully, after everything that had happened to us in the last five years, Uncle Maxim understood why we didn’t want to be a part of this life anymore and agreed we could leave so long as we found trustworthy allies to take our place.
Like myself, Uncle Maxim could be brutal when running the Brotherhood, but he was also a reasonable man who loved his family deeply and would do anything for them. Even if that meant letting them go.
So, my intention was to offload most of our criminal activities, a bit at a time, and concentrate on the more white-collar crime we had been specialising in of late.
The drugs smuggling route we managed for Uncle Maxim and our cousins in the States would be the first to go.
As we broke for photographs, I pondered my next moves.
Finding the right groups to take over the various parts of the route from us would not be easy, but I had some in mind. I needed to meet with them and make sure I chose wisely.
When you ran a criminal organisation, you couldn’t just walk away. Not with all the enemies ready to seek revenge. It was necessary to set things up to ensure we remained surrounded by allies. Our future, and the future of my Bratva family in Russia and America, was at stake.
My father had always tried to keep a low profile here in the UK, which was helpful, and since taking over, I had done the same. I worked hard at maintaining the image of Russian Oligarchs and staying off the radar of the authorities, and I would continue to do so.
It was my dream for us all to be fully legitimate one day, but it was complicated and would take a lot of planning and I couldn’t afford to make the wrong choices. Love would have to wait. I didn’t have time for it.
As everyone gathered for a group photograph and I watched all the smiling faces, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Today, everyone was happy and safe. I hoped it stayed that way. Unfortunately, I didn’t believe it would. I had a sense that things were far from over and I only hoped that whatever was coming next, we could all survive it.
But that was a concern for another time. For now, life was good, and it was time to celebrate.
Unwilling to let my thoughts disrupt my enjoyment of the rest of the day, I pushed them aside, plastered a smile on my face and headed off in search of a drink.