Bratva Prince (Bratva Series Book 2)

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Zander?” Nik asked me. I could see the trepidation in his eyes, the anxiousness rolling off his skin.

He’d made it very clear where he stood with this, and I understood where he was coming from. He made some very good and valid points. But I was confident this was the right course of action.

“Yes,” I nodded, giving him a hard stare.

I sat in my office, Nik standing on my right and Lukyan on my left. Illayana was in front of my desk, leaning back against it with her legs crossed at the ankles and her arms folded over her chest. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife. My siblings didn’t agree with my plan. They thought it was too risky. ‘Fucking crazy’ Lukyan and Illayana had said. But they weren’t in charge here, I was. And I was sure this would work.

And if it didn’t, well…

It had been a week since the attack and we were still no closer to finding Father. We’d tapped all of our resources, reached out to all of our contacts and so far, nothing. It was like he’d just dropped off the face of the Earth.

Grandfather hadn’t given a shit when he heard the news. Not that I was really expecting him to. He just told me I could handle being Pakhan, reminded me about the agreement with the Tarasovs and then hung up on me.

Son of a bitch didn’t care at all that his son was missing. He didn’t even care that it was Dominik behind it all. He just laughed and said, ‘That boy had bigger balls than I thought’.

It baffled me how he could care so little about what was going on here, about this war happening between his own children. It was like it didn’t matter to him. As long as a Volkov was Pakhan, he was happy for things to just play out and see how they ended up.

Something needed to be done about Grandfather, but that would have to wait until later.

My eyes swept to Drea and my heart lightened. Just looking at her calmed me down. It soothed that chaotic storm brewing in my chest and gave me clarity. She sat on the hard surface of my desk, legs crossed, knife spinning in her hands.

The relationship between us had moved fast. Exceptionally fast. Not that I was complaining. After she had killed Mila and spent the entire goddamn day torturing me with her body and seductive touches, she’d called her brother and told him she wasn’t coming back to Columbus. That she was going to stay here. With me.

I almost couldn’t believe it.

Juan didn’t react well, which was to be expected. Drea had to go meet with him personally because he wanted to make sure she wasn’t being coerced into anything. I let her go, along with two soldiers to watch her back.

She had returned a few hours later, eyes red from crying and completely, mentally exhausted. Her mother had been there too and tried convincing her to come home. But Drea had still chosen to stay, had chosen me.

I was afraid she’d be upset about giving up her role as Don of The Los Zetas cartel, but she’d assured me she wasn’t, that with a little guidance, Juan could be just as great as their father. Better even. She was confident her brother was capable, and with their mother there to help him she knew he would be fine.

Drea had promised to check in and visit regularly, which would be hard for me because any time she was out of my sight I felt anxious and annoyed, like I was a heartbeat away from smashing someone’s face into a wall if they so much as looked at me funny.

I’d never had anything as precious to me as her before. Drea had the power to absolutely ruin me. To break me. If anything ever happened to her, I don’t know how I could go on. She was the most important thing in my life.

I gained a newfound respect and admiration for my father. If he felt even a modicum of what I felt for Drea for my mother, I had no idea how he was still functioning. The idea of someone taking Drea from me the same way my mother was taken from my father terrified me. It made me want to take Drea and run somewhere safe where she’d never be in danger.

But I couldn’t do that. I had a responsibility to my family. To my father. He was counting on me to find him, and I wouldn’t rest until I did.

Someone knocked on my office door.

“Vkhodit’,” Enter, I commanded, my voice ringing out across the room.

The door opened. Czar poked his head through. “He’s here.”

I cracked my neck, taking a deep breath in. “Bring him in.” Czar disappeared. Any unease about my plan vanished from my siblings as the door opened and in walked Dominik.

The overwhelming urge to cut that stupid, smug smile off his face slammed into me and it took every ounce of strength I possessed not to lunge across my desk. When Dominik had first made contact, I thought I was dreaming. Surely he wasn’t that fucking stupid.

Turns out, he was. He’d requested to meet, and I almost couldn’t believe my luck. After weeks of searching for him, he was going to come to me. But once the surprise wore off, my brain started to work through the situation and I quickly realised Dominik held the upper hand.

As long as he had my father, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to him. Dominik was the type of man to have contingencies in place. He’d have a backup plan for his backup plan in case his original plan didn’t work. He always thought three, four, sometimes five moves ahead. I knew that if anything happened to him, I’d be signing my father’s death warrant.

My siblings of course knew that too. But they were blinded by worry and anger. They wanted to just take him the moment he stepped foot on the property and torture the information out of him. At least, Lukyan and Illayana did. Nik was a bit more clear headed. He was able to put his emotions to the side and see what I saw.

He thought it would be a better idea to meet Dominik elsewhere though, not at the house. But I disagreed. I wanted Dominik to see his attack hadn’t worked. That despite the (as much as I hated to admit it) impressive army he’d managed to bring together, we were still in one piece. Still strong. That even though he’d kidnapped our King, the Prince was ready to take the throne.

I stayed seated in my chair behind my desk as Dominik walked in, my siblings surrounding me and presenting a united front. Nik and Lukyan at my back, Illayana at my front and of course the beautiful Drea sitting on my desk to my right, knife still spinning casually in her hand.

Dominik had four men with him, all wearing motorcycle vests with different patches on them. The Reapers, The Warriors, The Chaos Lords and The Brotherhood. They were all small-time MC Gangs, because I hadn’t heard of a single one of them. The Dirty Vultures were noticeably absent, and I wondered if the death of their Prez during the attack meant they were down for the count.

“Plemyannika,” Nephews, Dominik said warmly, opening his arms as if he expected us to embrace him in a hug. “I plemyannitsa, tak priyatno vsekh vas videt’,” And niece, so lovely to see you all.

The four guards I had stationed in the four corners of the room whipped out their guns and Dominik laughed, stopping in his tracks.

“Hell of a way to greet your only uncle, children,” Dominik chuckled. The men at his back slowly reached for their weapons, but Dominik signalled for them to stop. “It’s okay. This is my family. They wouldn’t hurt me, would you children?”

The innuendo was clear: hurt him and my father would suffer the consequences. The fact that he was calling us ‘children’ didn’t slip by me either. He was trying to make us feel smaller than he was, like he was the one in charge.

“You wanted a meeting Dominik, so here it is. Why don’t you just tell me what you want so we can move on?” I said, sounding bored.

Instead of answering, his eyes swept to Drea. “And who is this lovely little bird?”

Everything in me wanted to pluck his eyes out for the way he was looking at her, but I kept my composure, silently grinding my teeth. It was important that Dominik not sense an ounce of discomfort from not only me but any of my siblings. He needed to see we were a united front. Stronger than ever.

Drea lifted her left hand into the air, showing Dominik the diamond ring on her finger. “I’m Aleksandr’s wife.”

The flash of surprise on Dominik’s face was priceless.

Things in our life always moved quickly. Death was around every corner. You couldn’t afford to waste the time you had, because you were never sure if your time was coming. So, once we’d finished dealing with the aftermath from the attack, I organised a surprise for Drea, to show her how much I cared for her. How much she meant to me.

I had an extension built into the warehouse, a large room that mirrored the Rage Room she’d taken me too exactly. It was my gift to her. Somewhere for her to go any time she wanted to be alone or had the strong desire to beat the shit out of something. I wanted to give her a new safe haven. And yes, it just so happened to be on property grounds—the closer I could keep her to me, the better.

She was so excited about it, she’d ripped off my clothes and demanded I fuck her in the middle of the room. To christen it. Afterwards, I pulled out the ring I’d bought for her and asked her to marry me. Neither of us were interested in a big wedding, so we eloped the next day with just our families in attendance.

Dominik placed a hand on his heart. “I’m hurt I wasn’t invited to the wedding,” he said, a sulky look on his face.

“Given what happened the last time you attended a wedding, I’m sure you can understand why.”

Dominik laughed. “Touché, nephew. Touché.”

“Why did you come here, Dominik?” I pushed, staring him down.

It was something I was dying to know. Why did he risk coming out of hiding? Why did he risk coming into a house with people who wanted nothing more than to see him dead?

“To take what’s mine, of course,” he smiled. “You’ve got a decision to make, little nephew. I’m sure you’ve figured out by now I was responsible for the attack last week. Yes, you always were the smart one. You know I have Dimitri, and you know I have no problem killing him. So, if you want your father to live, you and your siblings will renounce all your rights to the Bratva and hand it over to me. You will leave this house, this country, and never return. If you do as I ask, I will release your father and allow you all to live. Do the right thing for you and your family and concede to me here, now. Accept you’ve been defeated and I will have mercy. We both know that without your father, your days are numbered. You may be a tough son of a bitch, Aleksandr, but you’re no Dimitri Volkov.”

He must have actually thought I was an idiot, because only an idiot would accept any kind of deal from a man like him. Dominik was the epitome of an untrustworthy man. The moment he got what he wanted, he’d turn around and kill us all. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind about that.

I chuckled lightly, interlocking my fingers on the desk. “A very…interesting offer, Dominik. Truly. Here’s my counter.” I let the silence drag on for a moment, building the suspense. “We settle this the old way.” Drea hopped off the desk, coming to stand by my side.

“The old way?” Dominik frowned.

I slowly got to my feet, shrugging out of my suit jacket. “A fight to the death.” My siblings moved on cue, grabbing all the furniture, the desk and the chairs, and pushed them up against the wall, creating a wide-open space.

“You and me,” I continued, never taking my eyes off him, “one on one.” I handed my jacket to Drea and began unbuttoning my long-sleeved shirt.

Dominik watched, unease flashing across his face. He wasn’t sure if he could take me, that much was clear. It was in the way he shifted uncomfortably on the spot, the way he licked his lips nervously.

He was a big man, like my father. But he lacked the same skills in a fight. My siblings thought it wasn’t worth the risk. The fact that there was a small chance Dominik could win didn’t sit well with them.

“If you win, my siblings won’t fight your claim to Pakhan. But if I win, I get my father. You’ll give one of your men his location so that when you die, I know where he is.”

Dominik tried to hide his anxiousness with a boisterous laugh. “So confident you’ll win are you, little nephew?”

This whole ‘little nephew’ nonsense was new. He was using it as a derogatory term to try and make me uncomfortable. It didn’t work. The word ‘little’ didn’t apply to me, regardless of the fact that Dominik was my elder.

“Confident enough.”

Dominik studied me closely, his eyes narrowing slightly. “As tempting as this challenge is, I don’t see why I even need to bother with it. You can’t win against me and my men.”

I arched an eyebrow, giving ‘his men’ at his back a judgemental glance. “We both know your men are no match for ours. It’s why, despite the element of surprise and your higher numbers, you still lost.” By the time we were done cleaning up the mess from the attack, our final count for their dead was thirty-nine.

Dominik clenched his jaw but he didn’t deny it.

“You have a chance right now to claim what you’ve always wanted. All you’ve got to do is beat me.” I took a step forward, spreading my arms out wide in invitation.

Because I knew Drea so well, I could tell how anxious she was. One look into her eyes was all I needed to see she was nervous, worried about me. No one else would be able to tell. She had a mask of complete confidence on her face, like my siblings. They didn’t want to show any unease, but I knew they all felt it.

Dominik ran his tongue over his teeth, assessing me. We stared at each other, the tension building in the air between us.

My heart pounded in my chest, adrenaline surging in my veins. Say yes, motherfucker. Say yes.

Shaking his head, Dominik scoffed, taking a step back. “You’re not going to trick me into this. Last chance, little nephew. Hand over control or your father suffers.”

I said nothing.

“Fine. Remember I tried to offer you a way out. You’ve made your bed, now you’re going to have to lie in it. What happens next is on you.” He spun on the balls of his feet and stormed out of the room.

I looked at Lukyan. “Follow him.”

My brother nodded, taking off after Dominik.

“Can you believe the nerve of that fuckwit?” Illayana growled, glaring out the door. “Did he honestly think you’d agree to just hand everything over?”

I don’t know what he was hoping for. What he was expecting. Dominik and I weren’t close, but even he should have known I’d never take his oh-so generous offer. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. My father would have my fucking head if I negotiated control of the Bratva for his life.

Fear and worry overtook me. I’d just sealed my father’s fate. Whatever happened to him now was on me.

Soft hands stroked my lower back. Drea stepped up to my side, her face warm and comforting. “We’ll find him,” she said softly, sensing my thoughts.

Yes, I knew we would. But what condition would he be in when we did?