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CHAPTER 39

MIKHAIL

I use my shoulder to push open Vox’s door and step into complete chaos. I might have to blow this place up for the trouble it keeps causing me.

A simple collection for protection, yet countless times has ended in bar fights.

The Reapers, since Brody and his father’s death, have been a tiny operation, they never rebuilt. They aren’t a threat.

But fuck me, the ones that remain like to make a scene. And it’s about time I taught them a lesson.

I watch from the sidelines as Jax beats a man’s head on the bar and Alexei strangles another with his thighs on the ground.

Blood flies from Niki’s mouth onto the floor as he approaches and claps me on the shoulder.

“Why this time?” I ask.

Nikolai shrugs, “I’m not entirely sure. I thought the Reaper shit was done with.”

I scratch my mask.

“Not unless they’re still in contact with Father.”

I scan the room. They look pretty useless. Not any help to Ivan.

Jax tosses the guy on the floor, and I call him over.

“What happened?”

He rubs his hand across his forehead.

“Fuck knows. Bill came out with a wad of cash. As I went to grab it, that asshole I just beat down tried to snatch it. Then more of them appeared.”

So they knew it was collection day. It was calculated.

“Take Bill and shove him in Niki’s car. Let’s see what he knows. We have to take care of any leads to Ivan.”

They both nod and head over to the bar.

“Alexei, with me.”

He looks at me with a wicked grin and rolls himself off his victim then jumps to his feet.

“Can I drive?” Alexei asks as we walk out to my Corvette.

“Not a chance in hell.” I swing the keys around my finger as we approach my matte black beauty.

“No fun.” He pouts and I slap him on the back of the head.

“You have enough money. Go buy your own.”

“Nah. The bike keeps me entertained. Don’t need another death trap.”

Alexei is unusually quiet as I drive to the warehouse, his leg bouncing up and down.

“You think Ivan is going to come back?”

“Here? No. I think we are going to have to take the fight to him. He knows it’s too risky to step foot on my territory.”

He nods, deep in thought. “When?”

“When, what, Alexei?” I grip the steering wheel tighter.

“When can we take him out? I know Lara is worried he’s going to come back for her. I just want to kill him so she can stop worrying.”

I sigh. I’ve just gotten back from Russia. We aren’t ready. Especially now that I have Galena and Ana to protect.

“Enzo is still investigating the information on that drive. It might have answers we need. Or the leverage to get us backing in Russia. We have to do this right. I’ve got the scars to prove what happens when it goes wrong going up against him.”

Ivan will keep doing shit like this to show he can get to us. It’s nothing we can’t deal with while we wait.

“For now, we protect what’s ours, understand, Alexei? And when the time comes, we end that fucker, okay?”

I know how he feels. I won’t live my life constantly worried about my father coming after her.

This has to stop.

“Can we throw a party once he’s dead? You know, like when royalty dies?”

I chuckle.

“No clowns this time.”

As we pull up to the warehouse, Niki and Jax are dragging Bill into the building. I slide out the single-edge razor blade from my inside jacket and hold it between my thumb and finger.

“Don’t bother taking him inside. I don’t have time to drag this out.” I tell them, grabbing the older man by the throat and pinning him against the wall.

“Simple yes or no. Are you working with Ivan Volkov?”

The fear in his eyes amuses me. I’m sure he’s just realized I am more of a threat to him than Ivan ever was.

I’m not one that comes out to play often. I let my men deal with it for me, except when I do decide to appear, I seem to put the fear of god in everyone.

“N-no.” His voice shakes.

Taking a page out of Ana’s book, I stare into his eyes. He rapidly blinks, his green eyes becoming less clear as his pupils dilate.

“You’re lying. Let me rephrase that question. Are those Reapers working with Ivan?”

He tries to swallow against my palm. I squeeze tighter, making his eyes bulge.

“Maybe,” he croaks out.

I sigh, shaking my head.

“Okay, how about a deal? You tell me the truth. If you are working with Ivan but admit your treachery, I might think about keeping you alive. You lie to me one more time, however, I will find your wife, slit her throat—” I hold up the razor in front of his face. “—and make you watch.”

I release my grip, and he sags against the brick wall.

His hands are shaking by his side as his skin pales an awful gray.

“Fine. Yes. Ivan orchestrated the robbery.”

I run my hands through my curls.

“Anything else to tell me? Directly with you or with the Reapers?”

He avoids eye contact.

“With me. I got the Reapers in to help me. He threatened my family, Mikhail.”

I let out a menacing laugh.

“And you think I won’t follow through with my threats?” I hold the blade against his throat and press under his chin.

“It’s funny. People often think Ivan is worse than me, but they don’t know me. You see, there is a reason I stay hidden. I lock this evil away from the world. The monster Ivan himself created. I am your worst nightmare, Bill. Not Ivan.”

“P-please don’t hurt my wife.” His bottom lip trembles when I lean in.

“See, that is where me and my piece of shit father are different. I respect women. He does not.”

A quick slice across his neck, and warm blood gushes over my hand.

I release him and throw him to the ground as he suffocates to death on his own fluids.

“Niki, you got a towel or something in the trunk?”

He shakes his head and laughs.

“Umm, I got something in there.” He scratches the back of his neck as I head towards his black Hellcat.

“Careful!” Nikolai shouts as I open up the back. I leap back as a bloodied Reaper in a leather vest hurls himself at me.

Throwing my hand up, I launch my fist straight at his nose, hearing the crack against my knuckles, and he falls to the floor.

“What in the fuck, Nikolai?” I hiss at him, shaking out my fist. “If I’d have known, I’d have my brass knuckles on.”

“Good punch though, Miki. You’ll be in the ring in no time,” Jax chuckles as he grabs Bill by the feet and starts to drag him inside the warehouse.

“Towel’s on the back seat, Mik,” Nikolai grunts, bending down and picking up the unconscious Reaper from my feet.

“Have fun. I’m going home,” I tell them, wiping off my bloodied hands.