Bratva Prince (Bratva Series Book 2)

I met Thomas in the driveway, his slightly chubby frame stepping out of his white sedan at the same time I walked down the front steps.

He was wearing a cheap dark suit a few sizes too big for him, his blonde hair the same shade as the pornstache over his upper lip. His face was etched in irritation, his thin lips pursed, his olive-green eyes narrowed on me as he slammed the door shut.

“Aleksandr,” he greeted in an annoyed tone.

I inclined my head. “Thomas. Did you bring the fingerprint scanner?”

“Yes.” He pulled out a small device from his pocket. “What do you need it for?”

“What do you think?” I replied, giving him a deadpan look. One scan of Firecracker’s finger and I’d know exactly who she is. The prints were checked against the government and federal databases containing fingerprints of anyone taken into custody in the past as well as any non-citizens who had entered the country. I’d bet a million dollars she was in one of those systems.

I took the scanner from him, giving it a once over. I was familiar with it. This wasn’t the first time we’d called Thomas to use it.

“I’ll need it back as soon as possible. My captain will notice it’s missing.”

“Come back tomorrow for it,” I told him, pulling out a roll of $100 bills. We paid the $5,000 a month as a retainer, essentially to keep him on call 24/7. Whenever he did extra things like this, I always liked to pay him a bit more on top.

One thing I discovered watching Father interact with his contacts was that they all held a high level of loyalty and respect for him because he treated them well. He was tough, and didn’t take any shit, but he always made sure they were well compensated for the work they did for the family.

Thomas nodded, taking the money. He tucked it away. “Is there anything else you need?”

I thought about it for a moment. Father’s conversation from last night streaked through my mind. “Do you have any intel on an MC gang called The Dirty Vultures?”

Thomas’ brows snapped into a frown. “Out of North Las Vegas? Yeah, they’re on our radar. Been causing some troubles for the locals there.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Just low-level stuff. A couple B&Es, some reports of harassment and intimidation. They’ve also been approaching local businesses demanding a small cut of their profits for being in their ‘territory.’” He put that last word in air quotes. “We can’t prove any of this, of course. It’s all just circumstantial at this point. We have no evidence, and all of the residents are too scared to testify against them.”

It was a really good thing Father refused to deal with them then. They sounded like trouble, through and through, and we had enough of that shit going on as it was.

“Who are they?”

“Just a bunch of ex-cons, from what I can tell. All recently released from different prisons across Nevada. They’re smart though. They’ve got their prospects doing all their dirty work so they can keep their noses clean. They never miss a check in with their parole officers. Never fail a piss test. If you looked at nothing but their records from the moment they all got out of the joint, you’d think they were all upstanding fucking citizens.”

“I want you to send me everything you’ve got on them.” The more information I could gather, the quicker we could deal with them before they became a threat.

“Consider it done.” Thomas opened the driver’s side door of his car, leaning against the frame. “They causing you trouble?”

“Not yet.” But I had a feeling they would. Very, very soon. I raised the scanner in the air, shaking it slightly. “I’ll have this back to you by tomorrow.”

Thomas gave one quick motion of his head. “Appreciate it. Talk soon.” He got into his car and left, driving back towards the main gate.

One of the things I liked most about Thomas was he didn’t waste time on pointless, idle chit chat. He came, did what he needed to do and then left.

I put the scanner in my pocket and headed for the warehouse. A glimmer of excitement coiled low in my stomach. And I fucking hated it.

I shouldn’t be excited to see Firecracker, shouldn’t find the idea of engaging with her thrilling. Exhilarating. I shouldn’t hope that she somehow got out of her cuffs and was ready to attack me the moment I stepped into the room. Ready to fight me, claw me, bite me.

Great. Now I was hard.

I adjusted myself with a grumble, rearranging my cock to hide my now-raging hard on as I flung the warehouse door open in anger.

I was a man of control. Order. Discipline. I didn’t let my emotions, my feelings dictate my actions. Didn’t let my most basic urges rule me. Control me. I controlled them.

I refused to allow Firecracker so much power over me. To let just the mere thought of her make me ache with need.

I refused it.

I fucking refused it.

So why are you still hard then?

I gritted my teeth and, in the end, chose to ignore it. I headed straight for the steel door at the back of the building. A few of our men were working out on the machines, pulling and pushing large amounts of weights back and forth, back and forth, sweat shining on their bodies. They greeted me with grunts of acknowledgement and short, brisk ‘hellos’ as I walked past. I returned their greetings with a nod of my head, never losing stride.

When I reached the steel door, I put my finger on the scanner on the wall and it opened with a click, the light above turning from red to green.

Thoughts of Firecracker flitted through my mind as I walked down the stairs into the pit. Those fiery eyes. That hot as fuck angry glare she kept throwing my way. It made my blood heat in my veins.

The room the Los Zetas were being held in was guarded by two men—Sasha and Pavel—their bulky frames standing either side of the door as I rounded the corner and walked towards them. Pavel was young and short, with a long, thick beard and close-cropped hair. Sasha was roughly a few inches taller. He had a round face, broad shoulders and shaggy blonde hair.

I clasped forearms with Sasha. “They give you any trouble?”

He shook his head. “Haven’t heard a peep.”

“Alright, good. Both of you come in and take the male prisoners out. Put them in another room. I want to talk to the woman alone.”

Sasha nodded, signalling Pavel with a wave of his hand to come stand at his side.

I rolled my neck, taking a deep breath in and opened the door.

The Zetas hadn’t moved from where I’d seen them on the camera. Not that I expected them to. Firecracker was right in the middle, her amber eyes burning with hatred. I felt the desire to smirk, but I held it in. My eyes travelled over the rest of them with mild interest. I pointed to three of them.

“Take them out. Put them in another room.” I looked at the one I saw fighting on the camera feeds. Angel, I think his name was. Nervousness vibrated from him, his gaze flitting from person to person as Pavel and Sasha dragged the other three men out. When my men returned, I pointed to Angel, finally letting my smirk fall free. “Put him in the Vault.”

Angel’s eyes widened, his face paling like a ghost. “What-what’s the Vault?”

“Oh, you’ll see.” I looked at Sasha and flicked my head to the side. He walked over and grabbed the back of Angel’s chair, pulling him towards the door.

“Wha-what’s going on?” Angel’s voice cracked with fear, his eyes darting around wildly. “Stop. Just wait a second. I’ll—”

“Cállate, Ángel,” Shut up, Angel, Firecracker growled.

It looked like Angel was going to argue, but in the end, he decided against it.

I leaned back casually against the wall, crossing my arms over my chest as Sasha took Angel out of the room, shutting the door behind him. My eyes trailed over Firecracker. Her long dark hair. That smooth, creamy caramel skin I just wanted to take a bite out of. My primal beast stirred with excitement. It wanted to play. It liked seeing her all tied up, just ready for the taking.

“Are you just gonna stand there all day or are you gonna get on with it?” Fire burned in her eyes, a dark, angry scowl etched on her face.

I did another slow, languid sweep of her body. “Get on with what exactly?”

“Stop fucking around. You’re here to get answers, right? Well, do your worst, but I’ll tell you right now there’s no amount of pain you can put me through that will get me to talk.”

At least she wasn’t pulling the sweet and innocent ‘I-don’t-know-what’s-going-on’ bullshit anymore.

I pushed off the wall, walking towards her with slow, measured steps, like I had all the time in the world. I crouched in front of her until we were face to face. I made sure to stay far enough back, just in case she decided to headbutt me like she did Erik.

“You’re a Zeta.” I didn’t pose it like a question, because it wasn’t one. I knew she was. I didn’t need her to confirm or deny it, but she did anyway.

“Yeah, so what? Women can’t be in the cartel? You sexist as well as a kidnapper?”

“Retract the claws, malyshka. Little girl. Are you ready to tell me who you are yet?”

“Get fucked by a knife and die.” She tugged on her restraints and let out a small growl of frustration when nothing happened.

I gripped her chin, smashing her cheeks together until her lips puckered. “Such a filthy little mouth,” I whispered, my gaze flicking down to her lips and back up again.

Her eyes flared for the briefest moment before they shifted to an angry glare. She ripped her face out of my grasp. “Touch me again and I’ll use this filthy mouth to bite your fucking face off.”

A chuckle rumbled in my throat. “Don’t tempt me with a good time, malyshka.”

“Stop calling me that,” she growled, thrashing in her chair with frustration.

“Give me your name and I’ll call you that instead.”

She raised her chin in the air, clamping her mouth shut. A defiant glint shone in her eyes.

I smirked. “I figured that would be your response. So I brought this.” Pulling the scanner from my back pocket, I held it up in the air, shaking it from side to side.

Her eyes widened. “Where the fuck did you get one of those?”

“Oh, so you know what this is?”

“Uh, no.” She looked away for a second, before nervously glancing back at the device.

I felt like laughing. “You’ve shown your hand already. There’s no point in lying anymore. I’m going to give you one chance. One. You tell me what I want to know, and I’ll consider going easy on you. Might even upgrade you to a nicer room if I’m feeling particularly generous. But you make me use this—” I shook the scanner again, “—and my generosity vanishes.”

Any trace of nervousness from Firecracker fled, replaced with a burning rage hot enough to sear me. “Go ahead. Use it. It doesn’t matter if you find out who I am, and you wanna know why? Because I’m gonna get out of here, and when I do, I’m gonna slit your fucking throat.”

Ah, there it was. That glare. The one that made my cock fucking throb.

“I’d love to see that…” I walked behind her, pried one of her fingers open from her clenched fist and placed it on the scanner. Sixty seconds later, a picture of her popped up on the screen, along with her name. “Drea Ortega,” I finished.

An adorable little growl left her mouth, made from pure anger and frustration. She tried to kick her legs out in what I assumed was her own little form of a tantrum, thrashing and cursing me out in Spanish.

I studied the information on the screen as I walked back in front of her. “Aggravated assault, grand theft auto, destruction of property, assault with a deadly weapon resulting in grievous bodily harm—”

“I wasn’t officially charged with that one,” she cut in.

“Disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, theft, indecent exposure—”

“That charge was bullshit. I took a skinny dip in the ocean at three in the morning. How was that indecent exposure? No one was around.”

“Vandalism, resisting arrest, drug possession—”

“Was only a little weed. Doesn’t count.”

“Defacing public property, dangerous driving—” I looked up from the scanner, my brows raised, “kidnapping of animals?”

“They were experimenting on them! Some big pharmaceutical company. What was I supposed to do? Leave them in there to suffer?” she shook her head. “No. I didn’t kidnap them, I saved them.”

I shook my head, chuckling softly. “How is it you’re still walking free after all these charges?”

She shrugged casually. “I’ve got a good lawyer.”

Nobody was that good. It was suspicious. Another mystery to solve. Maybe she was higher up than I originally thought. Had friends with deep pockets. Reach that extended not only into law enforcement but the judicial system too. That was the only way someone with a record like that wasn’t in jail.

“What’s your position within the cartel?” I asked, skimming through the rest of the basic, personal information the scanner provided. Thirty-one years old, 5’1, born in Guadalajara, Mexico, immigrated to America fifteen years ago with her father, mother and twin brother.

She scowled at me. “Remember what I said earlier? About getting fucked by a knife and dying? Why don’t you go do that?”

I scrolled through the long list of known associates listed in her file. One name stood out, giving me pause.

Interesting. Very interesting.

I spun on the heels of my feet, heading for the door.

“Hey! Hey! Where are you going? Let me the fuck out of here! You can’t keep me locked up in this shithole!”

I turned to face her as I opened the door. I ran my eyes over her body again. Over those thick hips, perfect for grabbing onto. Over all those curves and those huge tits just begging to be sucked, squeezed. So many indecent thoughts flicked through my head.

Her breath hitched, her pupils dilating like saucers.

I wasn’t sure what she saw on my face, but whatever it was made the air snap between us with sexual tension. She trailed her gaze over my body like I did hers, teeth digging into her bottom lip.

This weird, animalistic sexual attraction burning between us was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. She was the furthest thing from my type and yet, I’d never been hotter for a woman.

I was so tempted to loosen her cuffs, to allow her just enough give to escape just so I could hunt her. Chase her down and bring her back kicking and screaming. Maybe when the house was empty—and I was sure no one else was around—I could. The idea made me fucking salivate.

“I can do whatever I want. You’re mine now, malyshka. And as long as you misbehave, you’ll stay down here, strapped to that chair, with nothing and no one. You’ll eat when I say you can eat. Go to the bathroom only when I give permission. Your life is mine to control, to do with as I see fit. If you want that to change, I suggest you start to cooperate.”

“You son of a bitch,” she hissed, any trace of arousal vanishing in an instant.

I tutted. “It’s language like that that keeps getting you into trouble. You have to be a good girl to get out of here, Drea. Behave.”

Her glare was like daggers, sharp enough to cut my skin. “Get. Fucked,” she spat.

“You offering?”

“Not if you were the last man on Earth, estúpido, arrogante gilipollas,” you stupid, arrogant asshole.

A smirk curved on my lips. “Estas segura de eso?” You sure about that? I responded in Spanish.

Her mouth fell open in shock, eyes going wide.

“Hasta pronto, Drea,” See you soon, Drea, I said walking out.

The surprise wore off quickly, and she hurled profanities at me as I slammed the door shut. I could still hear her on the other side, screaming so loud it would only take minutes for her voice to go hoarse.

Sasha and Pavel stood outside. “Everything okay?” Sasha asked, eyes darting to the closed door behind me and back.

Drea was still going crazy, screaming and cursing. “Everything’s fine. Take her to the bathroom and bring her a bowl of rice and beans in an hour. Plastic utensils and cutlery only. Keep her cuffed the entire time. She’s not under any circumstances to be out of her restraints. Understood?”

“Yes, boss.”

I nodded. “Good. Any problems, contact me immediately.” I headed back up towards the top level, pulling my phone from my pocket as I locked the steel door. As soon as I had reception, I called Nik.

“What’s up, Zander?” he asked when he answered on the third ring.

“Zetas second, Juan, what’s his last name?”

“Ortega, I think. Why?”

That’s what I thought. “The woman, her name is Drea. Drea Ortega. She’s Juan’s twin sister.”