Page 12

Anatoly

A couple of weeks later.

“The meeting with Maria Popov went well, and she confirmed what you told us, that she never told Otets. She did a great job raising you. I understand why she kept you a secret, being that she knew that you would be in danger. At the same time, it’s sad to know that Otets didn’t know of you; he would have been proud of you,” Pakhan says, looking at him.

“Thanks, Pakhan,” Mikhail says, lifting his chin.

“Mikhail, the Brigadiers meeting is set, so get to our club, the Red Ruby Club, early so you can monitor who talks to who and what the fuck they talk about. I want you to listen to the Brigadiers and report back,” Pakhan says, tapping his fingers on the table and lowering his eyelids.

Pakhan looks at Mikhail to gauge his loyalty.

“Pakhan, I’m your loyal Soldier. I’ll always gather information and report,” Mikhail utters in a strong, low voice.

He’s definitely Kravtsov, no doubt. He’s so damn serious. I wait for Pakhan to give his orders.

Czar leans back into his chair, rubbing his beard, and watches Mikhail. He always considers every perspective to be able to advise Pakhan.

“Da, I know. You’re a Kravtsov; we’re loyal, and we’re Brats. That would never change. On another note, we have the meeting set to meet up with Cartel Oro later tonight, so after you meet with the Brigadiers, return to report,” Pakhan says, nodding.

“Will do,” Mikhail says, stone-faced.

“Czar, I need you to have Mikahil and Anatoly’s Soldiers work together. We don’t know if the Cartel meeting is a fucking ambush,” Pakhan hisses, pushing off his chair.

“Da, will do. I have Anatoly’s Soldiers, Mikhail; I need your Soldiers’ information,” Czar says, typing on his cell.

“Da,” Mikhail says, nodding.

Mikhail pulls out his cell phone, sliding his finger over the screen.

“Da. One more thing: I need you to be available when the time comes for you to marry for the Bratva. I want to make it clear that, as my Brat and Brigadier, that’s what I require from you,” Pakhan says, lowering his eyelids.

“Pakhan, Da, I’m your loyal Soldier, and I will do as you ask,” Mikhail says.

“Anatoly, what is the timeline on the new strip club,” Pakhan asks, looking at me.

“Pakhan, the new strip club is almost ready,” I say, leaning back in my chair.

“What does that mean? A day, a week, what the fuck,” Pakhan asks, raising his brow.

“Da, it means it will be ready as soon as the inspector signs off,” I huff, raising my brows.

“What’s the new strip club name,” Pakhan asks, tapping his fingers.

“We decided on Fiery,” I say.

“Da,” Pakhan says, nodding.

The dark clouds cover the moon, so it’s pitch black. It’s fucking winter in New York City; what do you expect. The Cartel Boss picked this fucking place for the meet. The night is fucking cold, and the fog is starting to get dense around the old warehouse.

Fucker!

I don’t fucking like this; it doesn’t feel right, but Fuentes will be here. It makes it easier to be open. Oro has asked for a meetup, and Fuentes presenting the offer makes it easier to deal with the Cartel. So far, we’ve managed to stay out of our turfs, but now Oro wants a work alliance. Da, it’s more of a forced working alliance since Bratva wants nothing to do with the Cartel.

Oro wants to talk to Lev, the Bratva Pakhan, but that will not happen until we get the full details of his offer.

So here I am, with Mikhail and our Soldiers, to hear the fucking Cartel’s offer.

I look around the old warehouse for any fucking ambush. I fist my hand, grinding my molars. It’s still early, but I thought they would be here early; it’s a fucking essential meetup.

I look at Mikhail, who stands a few feet to my right. He lifts his head, and I nod.

The back door opens, and Fuentes walks inside with one Soldier.

Well, the man has guts.

One Soldier.

Fuck!

I stare at Capo Adolfo Fuentes, one of the Boss Hugo Oro Mexican Cartel capos. He’s a ruthless, shrewd svoloch’. He initiated a friendly rival association months ago by saving my life, so I’m open to listening to him.

The man is in his late thirties, tall and slim. He wears his shoulder-length black and white hair in a ponytail. The man is the Mexican Cartel, and he’s worked hard on strengthening our alliance.

“Fuentes, where’s your damn Boss?”

“The Boss sent me to present the offer. It looks like the Pakhan sent you, so here we are,” Fuentes smirks.

“Your Boss is fucking insane if he thought that my Pakhan will meet up like this!”

“Si, I told you that Oro is a crazy puto! That’s why I reached out to you; remember that I saved your ass so we could have a reasonable working alliance,” Fuentes says, nodding.

“So, what the fuck does Oro offer,” I growl, gathering my brows.

“He wants Bratva to sell his damn Snow,” Fuentes scoffs, nodding.

“Da, we know that but what are the fucking terms,” I hiss, pressing my lips.

“That he didn’t say,” Fuentes huffs, waving his right-hand finger.

“Then what the fuck is the meeting for,” I growl, shaking my head.

“Kravtsov, it’s a done deal. Oro said that we were to select the drop,” Fuentes says, standing tall.

“That fucking svoloch’ is crazy. We have not decided to do this! It’s not a done deal,” I growl, shaking my head.

The gunshots start, and Fuentes and his Soldier get shot.

“Get the fuckers, and get the Range Rover here,” I yell, pulling off my jacket.

“Da,” Mikhail yells and runs to get the Range Rover.

I run over to Fuentes, staring at his wide eyes. I ignore the shower of gunshots because I know that my Soldiers will get the sukas. I focus on pressing my jacket on Fuentes's wound at his side. I look at the gunshot on his arm, but it doesn’t look bad.

“Kravtsov, I need you to do me a favor,” Fuentes gasps.

“Don’t talk,” I hiss, gathering my brows.

“Kravtsov, get my daughter before they do,” Fuentes groans, holding onto his side.

“What the fuck! You can’t die! Your daughter will be okay,” I hiss, staring at the man.

I can’t fucking believe that Fuentes, a friendly rival, is asking me for help.

What the fuck!

“Kravtsov, yes, she’s my little girl. She doesn’t know that she’s in danger. Oro knows of her, and I’m afraid for her. I texted you her information,” Fuentes says, lowering his eyelids.

“Don’t you fucking die! Your daughter needs you,” I hiss, looking around.

Mikhail returns, and he helps me get Fuentes to the Ranger Rover.

We drive down the side streets in a fucking hurry to get back to the office to get Fuentes some medical care. We have a doctor and his wife, who is a nurse, on our payroll. Pakhan has a state-of-the-art medical room to handle anything at our apartment complex. The doctor takes care of the entire Bratva and their families. He’s a busy doctor and damn good.

The doctor takes Fuentes into the medical room and starts working on him.

Pakhan and Czar walk into the waiting room.

“What the fuck happened,” Pakhan asks, raising his brow, resting his hands on his waist.

“We were talking, and Fuentes was telling us that Oro thinks that we accepted and that we should make arrangements to do the drop-off when all hell broke loose. We don’t know who shot us, but they shot at Fuentes and his one Soldier. It’s fucking crazy,” I say, shaking my head.

“Da, but we do have some men that we kept alive. The Soldiers have them in the vault getting information from them,” Mikhail says.

“Czar, make sure to get the information out of them. We need to know who set us up for a fall! They shot Fuentes, the Cartel’s Capo, and that would take us into war because Oro would believe it was us! I need answers,” Pakhan yells.

“Da,” Czar says, walking out of the room.

“Mikhail, get the Soldiers to take care of the cleanup,” Pakhan orders.

“Da will do,” Mikhail says.

He walks out, and I look at Pakhan.

“It does looks like it was a setup, just like the fucking hacking at Fuentes club. Someone wants Bratva and Cartel at war, and I bet it’s Magee Mob. He wanted to kill me; the blonde assassin said that Magee never forgets. That fucker is still pissed that Czar married Mia! Crazy svoloch’! We need to kill him,” I hiss, grinding my molars.

“Da, we just need to confirm,” Pakhan says, nodding.

I am waiting for the doctor to let me know if Fuentes is well. I pull out my cell from my suit pocket to review the information on his daughter. I’m going to send a Soldier to guard her until Fuentes can protect her. That svoloch’ has to survive! He can’t fucking die!

I slide my fingers over the screen and look at the details. My heart skips a beat! It’s fucking surreal.

Georgina Fuentes, my Gigi, is his daughter. Now, it all clicks. The Cartel’s thug that tried to take her months ago.

Fuck me!

How in the fuck did I miss this?

Fuentes is a typical Mexican surname, just as common as Jones.

I should have looked into her, but I didn’t think I needed to. She’s a student studying to be an X-ray tech, and I met her at the hospital.

No red flags.

Fuck!

I need to talk to her!

My cell beeps. A text message pops up, and I look at it with my heart pumping so damn hard, making it hard to breathe. I look at the message.

Gigi ~ I’m going to a frat party with my chicas. This is the address. 555 West 113 th St.

Fuck me!

Anatoly ~ Da. I’m coming to get you.

I don’t fucking care if she wants me to or not, but I’m not going to risk the fucking Cartel to take her. I now know that it’s a real threat coming from the fucking Boss Oro.

I sent texts to Pakhan, Czar, and Mikhail before I left to meet up with Gigi and another one to my Soldier.

Anatoly ~ I need to get my woman; she’s in danger.

Anatoly ~ Bogdan, meet me at my car.

I run out of the apartment complex and into the parking garage. I get to my Range Rover, and my Soldier is waiting for me.

“Let’s go,” I hiss, getting into the passenger side.

“Da,” Bogdan says, nodding.

I enter the address in the GPS, with my fucking heart pounding so damn hard it’s going to explode out of my chest. I swear that as soon as I get my hands on Gigi, I’m not letting her go.

She’s mine.

My woman.

My everything!