Page 2

Adrik

Failure was never an option for anyone in my Bratva brotherhood.

My predecessor, Yuri Velichko, discovered this the hard way.

The old man was weak, but he made me the most powerful man in Russia through his harsh lessons.

Through his men’s sadistic tutelage, I evolved to become who I am today. Anyone who crossed me suffered the consequences of doing so.

“V Bratve neudacha nevozmozhna,”

I said to Níka in a cold voice devoid of the fury that simmered beneath the surface. Failure is not an option in the Bratva.

The man who compromised my entire operation for a titty email knelt before my desk with his head hung in shame.

Killing people was second nature to me, from my first sloppy kill at the age of twelve to becoming more—creative over time.

I needed them to suffer. It was never about money in the band of brothers. It was all about respect and power because, without it, people thought you were weak.

“Hold his head,”

I snapped, and Pyotr moved forward to lift Níka’s head by using a handful of his hair.

The stench of fear was seeping out of his every pore. His face was covered in dirt, sweat and blood. It was his wide, bloodshot eyes that gave me the most pleasure.

The desperate look in them, knowing he would perish within seconds. They had a quality of crazed wildness when he saw my dagger. Everyone in the room knew his fate was sealed.

“Slabost' nepriyemlema,”

I said before I plunged the pointed dagger through his nasal cavity until it hit the top of his skull. Weakness is unacceptable.

His warm blood ran down my hand, and I watched his eyes twitch until the final twinge of light vanished, leaving a vacant look.

My grim satisfaction didn't last long because it wasn't enough. I pulled my dagger out and reached for the cloth Pyotr held for me.

Níka’s lifeless body fell on the plastic sheet as I cleaned the blood from my hand and dagger.

“Otchet,”

I said as I sat behind my desk to look at my laptop. Report. Díma stepped forward as two others began to roll up Níka’s corpse.

“Denís believes it to be the work of a hacker named the White Rabbit, Pakhan. We are searching for the individual, but by the time Denís got a location for us, the hacker was gone, and the place had been torched,”

he said, keeping his eyes lowered.

A rabbit? I’d heard of this hacker a number of years ago, but I was unable to find the individual who had refused my invitation to work with me. It would seem that fate handed me an opportunity.

“Put a bounty on the hacker's head, use legitimate channels and the dark web. Tell Denís that I want the word spread in every part of Russia. I want the hacker breathing,”

I said to Díma. “Once we have the hacker kill Denís.”

I wasn't a computer scientist, but Denís was responsible for our online security. Due to the number of enemies in my midst, a simple antivirus wasn't enough for me. He wasn't a member of the Bratva, so his death was inconsequential.

“Da, Batushka,”

he said before he turned and nodded to his captains to leave. Yes, Father.

“A wolf hunting a rabbit. It seems appropriate, Pakhan,”

Gavriil said as he waved his hand for his men to leave.

The volk and the krolik. I almost smiled.

Gavrill and Díma were both equal in the position of my second in command, but Gavriil joined my side at the age of seventeen.

He was the one person who was unwavering in his loyalty.

The other was Viktor, my personal guard.

He was there when I was a scrawny, emaciated child.

We had a blood oath before we were officially part of the Bratva.

The captains reported to them, and their role was to collect my profit from the various businesses under the Bratva’s control.

Trust? I trusted no one, and the last Pakhan made the mistake of trusting me. It did not end well for him. Gavriil may have vowed his loyalty to me, but it was in exchange for the position I gave him.

“We need this hacker,”

I said, tapping my fingers on the desk. “The Krolik refused me many years ago, but now they will have no choice. Do we know if it is a man or a woman?”

“Anyone who has used the hacker’s services has never had face-to-face contact. It was always done remotely. The person hides behind a screen,”

Gavrill said with a frown. “I will utilise all the manpower we have.”

I nodded at him, watching him leave before I pondered on the belyy krolik.

White rabbit.

It would be more advantageous for me if the hacker were a woman. Women are weak and easy to exploit. Either way, they would do whatever I wanted them to. I had my ways of motivating people. It was my gift.

“What do you want me to do, Batushka?”

Viktor said, stepping out of the shadows.

“Keep your ear to the ground, my friend. There is more happening here than meets the eye,”

I told him.

His slow smile appeared, and an unholy light was lit in his eyes because he knew we were on the hunt for a traitor. I had my sights on the two people who stood to gain the most from my destruction. Gavriil and Díma.

If I was the father of agonising pain, then Viktor was death incarnate.

***

The barber’s Adam's apple bobbed up and down like a yo-yo.

When I glanced at his hand, a slight tremor made the blade unsteady.

I glanced at Viktor, who rolled his eyes and stepped back.

Between my presence and Viktor’s scarred face standing over me, it would make any normal person nervous.

I closed my eyes and felt the blade move over my skin.

It was the final stage in ensuring my beard was groomed to perfection.

Personal hygiene was an obsession since I grew up in filth—the thought of it made me feel sick.

I still felt the hunger gnawing at my insides until I ate rotting food from the garbage.

The layers of grime covered my skin, along with the stench of the house. At times, it felt as if it were inside my pores.

“Any word on the krolik?”

“Whenever we get close, she hops away,”

Viktor said, causing my eyes to snap open. “The woman is—resourceful.”

“A woman? Interesting. Have they found her next location?”

“They are still working on it.”

“Make sure I am the first to know as soon as they have a location,”

I said, closing my eyes again. After all, a rabbit is a wolf’s natural prey.”

I had enough men on the ground for me not to get involved in the majority of my operations, but this was a personal attack on me.

The sex of the person didn't matter to me when someone crossed me.

I was all about equal opportunities when it came to personal matters.

There was an implosion of ideas regarding what to do with the krolik, each one more depraved than the last.

It wouldn’t take long to tear the krolik’s mind apart.