Chapter 6
MIKHAIL
“Follow her.”
I don’t wait for a response. They know exactly who I'm talking about. Hell, they followed her in here. It’s cute that she thinks she orchestrated this.
Even though I knew she was coming, I wasn't prepared for how beautiful she was.
Nerdy, yeah, but in the sexiest way I could imagine.
The brightest eyes hiding behind scratched lenses, thick, dark hair pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck.
I imagine pulling on her mane of hair. I imagine pain flashing across her face before she moans when I wrap my fingers around her hair and pull.
I want to see her fight me when I take control.
I wasn’t giving her a warning when I told her about her hair. I wanted her to imagine me gripping it. I wanted her to imagine what I’d do to her when she was at my mercy.
A knock sounds at the door.
"Who is it?" I snap. I'm not in a social mood. When am I ever in a social mood?
“Aleks.”
I grunt in reply, and Aleksandr opens the door.
He nearly slams the door shut behind him, but he's too in control of himself to give way to temper. Unlike the rest of us.
He stalks in and glares at me. "You know her?"
"Of course I don't fucking know her." By the end of the day, I will. By the end of the day, I'll know everything about her.
“But you knew she was coming.”
I nod. “I did.”
Scowling, he doesn’t ask me how I knew. The less we say out loud, the better. I tell my brothers what they need to know, no more, no less. We have informants and allies, and the key to survival is knowing when and how to use them.
"Someone hacked into our data system. Give me ten minutes and I’ll prove it was her.”
I raise an eyebrow at him and he nearly flinches.
He fucked up and he knows that I know. He also knows what that means.
I shake my head. “You don’t need to. I know it was.”
She’ll pay for that. But so will he.
Aleksandr’s eyes grow dark as he glares at me. “And you let her walk?”
I lean forward. “You’re hardly in a position to question my decisions, don’t you think?”
Aleks is suitably humbled. He swallows and hangs his head. “No, sir.” As the oldest, my parents held me responsible for my siblings from a young age. They learned to respect me and defer to my authority, so the transition to me being pakhan was almost seamless.
“No. She only thinks she walked. Do you really think, brother, that I let someone hack into our systems, manipulate their way into my office, and leave unscathed?” I shake my head with a sigh.
“Sometimes, I don’t think you know me at all.
” A glint of a smile ghosts his lips, but he knows he fucked up.
I lean forward, my voice deceptively calm.
“But tell me, Aleks. How did she hack into our system to begin with? Think before you answer.”
He flinches as if struck and nods.
“Give me ten minutes, Mikhail,” he says, unusually subdued and chastened.
“You have five.” I tap my phone and send a message.
Krasnaya trevoga
We need a meeting, now. What if she’s working with others? If she could access our scheduling with ease, what else does she have access to?
But I have another purpose for our meeting.
Aleksandr sits brooding, as his fingers fly over his phone screen. He mutters to himself and stifles a groan.
I tap my computer monitor and pull up the video feed to see my brothers as they join the virtual meeting, one by one.
“We have a situation.”
Nikko scowls from the screen. “Do we have an explanation?”
I lean back in my chair and raise an eyebrow at Aleksandr.
He flinches. “I’m looking into it now. I'll have a report by the end of the day.” Turning to me, his icy blue eyes fairly gleam.
“But I'll tell you this, Mikhail. It takes great skill — unparalleled skill — to bypass what I’ve put in place. Genius. Brilliance.” He shakes his head, half in awe of the expertise she casually demonstrated without even knowing she did.
Brilliance.
My personal kryptonite. Why have I always been attracted to brilliant women?
I want her.
One of my brothers stares at me, his gaze cold and calculating. “You could use this to your advantage, brother.”
“I could.”
“He doesn’t have time to seduce her,” another of them says. They carry on a conversation while I think this through. While they don’t say it aloud out of respect, we’re all painfully aware of my lack of a wife and how crucial marriage is for me.
“Seduce her?” Aleks half grunts. "If he had ten years, he wouldn't have enough time to seduce her. First, she’s not the type to fall very easily. I’m telling you, this woman’s intelligence is off the charts.
I had a firewall and system in place the fucking FBI couldn’t break.
Trust me when I tell you they’ve tried.”
“And let’s be honest,” Nikko says. “Mikhail is good at many things but with all due respect, brother, seduction is not one of them.”
I shrug and don’t deny it. It’s a skill I’ve never needed.
I want to stare into those eyes again. I want to grip her hair in my hands. I imagine myself cupping her ass and making her moan. I imagine the look of fear in her eyes when I overpower her.
I imagine the way she screams when she can’t get away. I imagine the way her face looks when her head is thrown back when she fucking comes.
She’s mine.
Kolya shakes his head at the camera, running his fingers through his short hair streaked with silver. “We don’t have much time to arrange another marriage, Mikhail.”
“We fucking don’t.” I blow out a breath. “Fortunately, she needs protection and money."
He gives me a curious look but doesn't ask questions. As he strokes the stubble on his chin, I can practically see the wheels turning in his mind.
“Excellent,” Kolya finally says. “So the little hacker walked right into your lair and practically bared her neck to you.”
Little hacker.
“She did. And don’t forget she committed a crime worthy of punishment.” I give a short nod.
“How many days, brother?” someone asks. I don’t bother to see who it is.
“Three.”
If I don't get married, I forfeit the alliances and connections a marital statement makes.
Marriage can be a powerful force, yes. In some cases if we marry an influential family, we gain access to resources and support, but in this case, it symbolizes unity and loyalty within our group.
Marriage means that we immediately strengthen the sheer number of our group.
This time, Volkov won’t be able to make a move. He would never suspect I’d marry a penniless fugitive.
The destruction of our assets, the possibility of attack from our enemies, the potential threat they could leverage against the few people that mean anything to us. Even my tribe of panthers isn’t enough.
We’re on the cusp of war if I don’t have a wife, a war we’re not equipped to win.
“I’m having her followed, only to see where she goes and what she does. I know where she’s sleeping tonight. Her temporary refuge.”
Aleks smiles. “Perfect.”
My phone rings. My mother’s ringtone.
I hold up my hand to indicate silence. My brothers practically hold their collective breaths.
I put the call on speaker.
“Yes.”
But it isn’t my mother on the other line.
“Mikhail. How are you?"
Volkov.
Aleks narrows his eyes.
I clench my fist. "Fantastic.” He waits for me to reciprocate the bullshit formality, but I don’t.
"Fine, fine. I was just sitting here with your mother. We were having a nice dinner."
I grit my teeth and force myself to stay calm. Bashing this phone against the wall is a childish move that won’t solve anything.
My mother. Of course. She doesn't know who Volkov truly is, and there's a part of her that still trusts him. He's family, after all, but she doesn't know what he's capable of. How he only values family inasmuch as he can use them.
I keep my tone light. “Mama. How are you?”
“I’m well, Mikhail. I miss you. Come for dinner, soon?”
I look at Aleks as my mother continues talking. On the conference screen, Nikko makes a fist, Lev scowls at the camera, and Kolya’s body tightens.
We all know why Volkov is there. It’s a silent but very real threat. If I don't get married, he attacks. And yes, we lose money and assets but he's not above kidnapping or hurting my mother. He won’t give a fuck about retribution.
I have to get married.
“We were just looking at the calendar," Volkov says. "I've suggested a little trip back to Mother Russia. You know we have family there. Your mother says she misses it, Mikhail. Your father never allowed her to go back to Russia."
Of course he didn't. Enemies, history, former lovers. Russia was ripe with memories of my father’s past. My mother, though…
"It's hard to believe it's been thirty-seven days since your father's death," he says. "I offer my condolences." He speaks in Russian to my mother, and I clench my hands into fists.
"Leave her alone."
"Leave her alone? What are you talking about? We're just here for a little visit. I wondered if there was an invitation somewhere along the line that I've missed?"
I make a fist. “If you hurt her, old man…”
“Mikhail,” my mother says gently. “You’re too distrusting, son. We’re just having dinner. Come see me this weekend, will you?”
I close my eyes briefly. I can see her now.
The matriarch of our family, strong yet graceful, sitting upright with her impeccable posture.
People call her a timeless beauty, but it’s her indomitable strength they truly admire.
Her decisions are made with a blend of intuition, wisdom, and strategic foresight.
Now, though. Now that my father’s gone, I value her input, but final decisions rest with me.
“Of course we’ll have dinner,” I tell her. “Though I’m arranging for you to come to me. I have a surprise for you.”
I can practically feel Volkov’s tension.
“Oh, excellent,” she says with a smile. “I love surprises.”
I get a text from my assistant, Chantelle.
Chantelle
We have your information, sir.
I nod to Aleks to open the door.
“This weekend,” I promise her.
“What’s this weekend?” a higher-pitched, clear feminine voice sounds on the line. Polina.
I can hear the contempt in her voice when she addresses Volkov. “Oh. Who let you in?”
I blow out a breath and speak loud enough for all to hear.
“My wedding, sestrichka.”