Chapter 21 - Roman
It’s amazing how quickly a bad situation can turn around, how an impossibly difficult thing can suddenly become a positive.
Even while that hope has been a more familiar feature in my life as of late, I still can’t ignore the whispers of something else lingering on the horizon. The reminder that not everything is settled yet.
Vegas is still in my grasp, but it isn’t difficult to feel a touch of shakiness in its foundation. The stirrings happening behind the scenes make me uneasy, and that isn’t a feeling I can appreciate.
We have numerous offices and warehouses around the city, with some on the outskirts where we house our more elicit goods, and the others are nestled among the other businesses to blend in.
Standing in our main base in the heart of downtown, I watch as the usual bustle unfolds around me.
The building is sleek and functional, but I can’t deny there’s a lingering cold to it.
It isn’t as lively as our front-facing businesses like the clubs or casinos, but a small part of me already knows it isn’t what the building has that makes it feel bleaker than usual, despite its worth. It’s what it lacks…
More specifically, Victoria isn’t here to warm the place or to provide me with the comfort of stability I’ve come to appreciate with her.
There’s an instinctive craving within me to bring her with me and to keep her by my side every day, but I know how unfair that is. Not to mention how dangerous it would be to keep her so close to my empire.
The world knows of her now; they know she’s my wife and my weakness.
As anticipated, word traveled quickly, and there’s no doubt that the announcement has shaken up my world and all the big players within it.
To have the Pakhan married and off the market…that’s a big deal in and of itself. But with speculation circulating about Victoria’s identity, it’s even more so.
At home, she doesn’t say it, but I know she can feel a subtle sense of unease. I see it in the way she holds her stomach like a crutch, even if the pregnancy is still early.
Ever since we reached that place of silent understanding with one another and couldn’t hold back any longer, she has settled in more than she had in weeks. She seems calmer and more willing to hear me out, but she’s still quiet in certain ways.
With the pregnancy confirmed, we both have something to look forward to—a middle ground we can return to when we need to lean on the other.
Drifting back to my chair, I lean back and pull in a slow breath. The state of the city and my dealings may be a bit unsteady as of late, but it still feels like a victory anyway.
I have Victoria, who is finally opening up to me after refusing to offer me any kind of cooperation for far too long. And now, we have a little one on the way. My family is growing, and now, more than ever, I have much to fight for.
Even if I feel as though the world is in my hands, I can’t let my guard down.
Mikhail’s name lights up my cell, making it buzz on the table.
Without hesitating, I grab it and put the phone to my ear. “What is it?”
His voice reaches me clipped and laced with a solemn undertone I don’t hear from him much. “There’s a problem. Ivan found it on his way back from the docks.”
Taking pause, well aware of how serious it sounds, I lean forward slightly. “What happened?”
He pauses. “It’s Maxim…he made a mess of the warehouse nearby.”
My brows furrow, and I can already feel my blood pressure rising. I picture the warehouse, well aware of what one he’s referring to.
My jaw clenches. “How bad?”
Mikhail hesitates another moment, then murmurs, almost like an admittance. “Bad.”
Not needing to hear much more, I’m already on the move as I rise from my chair and leave the office. “I’ll be there shortly.”
Every step through the warehouse makes me feel like I’m being weighed down by the inevitable. With an immediate drop in my mood, the air around me feels thick with tension, and the employees I pass don’t say a word. Soon enough, they’ll catch wind of it, too.
The drive there is a blur. All the while, I try to keep myself level, hoping not to lose my cool before I’ve even seen the aftermath for myself.
But the moment I arrive, it's even worse than I anticipated.
The smell of blood hangs in the air, heavy and acrid. Even if it’s not something I shy away from, it still turns my stomach.
The warehouse is a small one tucked out of the way and serves more as more of a convenient hiding place than anything else. For someone who doesn’t know any better, they’d assume the place is abandoned from the outside—exactly as intended.
But at that moment, it’s a crime scene.
The bloodied bodies catch my attention first. Scattered around the floor like nothing more than trash on the city streets, a handful of my men are dead. Their lives were completely wasted.
There’s a gaping hole in the middle bay door, and tire marks scar the concrete. Further inside, several pallets of cargo are gone.
With my men slaughtered and product hijacked, it’s a double loss…and one I can’t take lightly.
Standing there, taking it all in, it’s apparent how gruesome it all is. How much more intense it seems compared to Nikolaev’s usual bullshit.
Before, his actions were mostly petty and idiot, but this…this is reckless. Suicidal, even.
The vile scene feels like a punch to the stomach, but I move through the warehouse anyway, finding Ivan and Mikhail there, talking with a few others who managed to reach the scene.
With each step, I hear the crunching underfoot…be it gravel, glass, or likely even bone.
Despite the rage unfurling just beneath my skin, I stay quiet. I keep deathly calm. Beyond that wrath, I’m straight-up shocked.
I’ve seen many brutal things during my time in this business, but something about this scene feels so intentionally awful.
It’s a message—a warning.
With the smell settling in my lungs, I can only stand there and assess the damage. The mission inventory. The shredded bodies and their pools of blood stained the concrete. Half of them aren’t even recognizable anymore.
Up until this point, our skirmishes have maintained a relatively low body count, despite how long it has dragged on.
To me, this kind of hit didn’t require this many sacrifices. Instead of stunning them, grabbing what they wanted, then leaving and not looking back, it looked more like my men were completely stunned. Blindsided, then murdered on the spot.
There was no attempt to take what was wanted while minimizing damage.
No…the damage seems to be completely intentional.
Maxim wanted me to see this grotesque display. It isn’t just a warning, but a declaration of sorts. I just know it.
Taking slow steps towards what had been the table some of the men were apparently sitting at, something white and far too clean-looking catches my attention.
With a gloved hand, I reach for it, finding a card with no name or signature on it. Instead, scrawled in Cyrillic reads:
Bold of you to continue stealing what’s mine, Pakhan…
I don’t need to read a signature to know exactly who it’s from.
The corners of the card bite into the leather of my gloves, but I can only stand there and stomach the implications while they burn on the way down.
He knows.
Maxim surely knows Victoria is my wife now, as do many others. Even if flaunting the new marriage was my retaliation, it suddenly feels like a misstep.
But at the same time, this was inevitable. I needed to know the truth.
And now I’ve got it.
“What did you find?” Mikhail asks, tone still somber as he and Ivan approach.
Wordlessly at first, I hand him the card, still barely maintaining my quiet rage.
After a moment, I murmur. “I’ve married Viktoria Nikolaev after all.”
Mutual surprise moves through both of them while they meet my gaze, taking the time to truly wrap their minds around it.
“You’re certain of it?”
Forcing out a breath, I pull my glove off and scrub a hand down my face. “This is the clearest confirmation I’ll ever receive…Victoria has to be his sister…and now he knows.”
“And this is his big retaliation,” Ivan murmurs, filling in the blanks.
I nod, jaw tight from holding back. “This is likely just the beginning. I have every reason to consider this a declaration of war. He’s going to try and get her back, one way or another.”
Grim looks cross at their faces, but neither of them objects. The whole thing is rather cut and dry.
After a moment, Mikhail reins himself in. “What now?”
My eyes rove over the scene once more while I consider what’s ahead of us. “This place needs to be gutted…no evidence left behind. Identify these men and contact their families. Tell everyone to be on alert for anything coming our way.”
They both nod before dispersing, getting right to it.
As the tasks are delegated and the clean-up begins, I stand there with my hands in my pockets, unable to move just yet.
Maxim has never been one to show much remorse. But this…even this seems beyond him.
He slaughtered these loyal men for nothing more than to let me know the game is just picking up. He wanted to let me know he’s well aware of what I’ve done.
Nikolaev wants to get his sister back, but that isn’t going to happen.
I damn well won’t let it.