Page 17 of Hunt Me (Dmitriyev Bratva #1)

The place was crawling with soldiers dressed in casual clothes, pretending they were swilling back drinks. They were even conversing with the influential guests who had no idea they were spilling their guts to members of the Bratva.

“Incidentally, Batya requested your presence.”

Batya . My brother had used the term for years yet had never done so in front of our father. The colloquial for ‘old man’ certainly wasn’t something the former Pakhan wanted to hear or believe.

“Great. Let’s get this over with.”

As we headed toward where he stood with Uncle Ivan and a city council member, I nodded toward several of the guests, a few celebrities who were currently in residence as entertainers at several casinos throughout Vegas.

I was happy to say we had a waiting list of musicians longing to perform in our pristine settings.

“There you are.” My mother grabbed me, squeezing her fingers around my arms. At least she seemed more relaxed today.

A plus for all of us although if I had to guess, I’d say she’d already driven Aunt Galina crazy with her insistence on taking over the festivities.

“I was afraid you weren’t coming.” I bent down so she could kiss me on the cheek.

“Of course not, Mama. I know what you’d do if we missed Nina’s birthday.” I noticed my aunt standing in the background, waving her hand to me as if to beg me to keep my mother away. In her other was a tall glass of wine.

The family dynamics were like anyone else in the world. Only more complicated.

And dangerous.

“She’d cut the biggest switch we’ve ever seen,” Alexsey laughed.

“You outdid yourself on Lilia’s wedding,” I told her.

Her sigh was heavy as she leaned back. “We need another wedding and soon, Mikhail. You’re not getting any younger.”

“I take it you and Pops are reading from the same book,” I told her.

“Ouch,” Alexsey said, backing away before I could pop him.

She pinched my chin. “Don’t annoy your mother. Do your duty as Pakhan.”

“Mother. I don’t need a wife to rule the Bratva. You know that as well as I do.”

“But I need grandchildren.”

“Then bug your other sons. That’s not in the cards.” Not now. Perhaps not ever. Significant others and children were weaknesses. As much as I’d like to think otherwise, I knew better. Right now, the tension within me continued to rise.

There was something brewing in the dark underbelly of the city and beyond.

“Excuse me, Mama, but I need to talk to Dad.” I pushed away from her before she had a chance to get her claws into me.

“She’s relentless,” Alexsey said so our mother wouldn’t hear.

“Maybe that means our father will let it alone today.”

“Who was that girl you were with?”

“I don’t know.”

“But you want to know.”

I gritted my teeth as our father noticed our approach. “Right now, I don’t need any further distractions. I have a very bad feeling we’re in for some difficulties in the weeks ahead.”

“You were always the pessimist.”

Maybe so, but my instincts were usually never wrong. My guard had remained high and would until I could determine what the Irish were up to.

Dad motioned away from the party. With our reputation being stellar within the city, talking shop in front of the guests would never happen.

Kazimir lifted his eyebrows, studying me far too intently. I could tell he was eager to grill me about the night spent with a woman.

Father led us to the cabana by the pool, the expansive building often used for parties. Once inside, he even closed the doors behind us.

“Where’s Nadia?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t noticed her in attendance. My cousin was a badass in her own right. She was military trained, only recently ending her career to return to the family business. A sharpshooter with ninety-nine percent accuracy, she was considered highly dangerous.

And one hell of a fighter.

“She’s checking with some sources she has in LA to find out what O’Shaughnessy is doing.” Dad’s answer brought a round of curious looks.

“Word on the street is that the drug activity has picked up,” Vissarian offered.

“I’ve heard that too,” I said while pulling the glass to my lips. Fortunately, I’d yet to have any issues within Ecstasy.

Kazimir sighed. “A girl almost overdosed in Genesis on Friday. She’d been attending a bachelorette party.”

“Interesting,” Sasha stated. “I had that happen about ten days ago. I didn’t think anything of it, but it was a college girl in from Phoenix. All three of her friends were extremely high.”

“The timing is fascinating with our Irish friend going from one of our clubs to the other.”

Sasha sucked in his breath. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

I snorted. “Is it possible Tristen is planting drugs, trying to drag our reputation into the dirt?”

“With O’Shaughnessy, anything is possible,” my father stated.

“Did either of you discover how they were brought into the clubs?” I asked, shifting my gaze from Kazimir to Sasha.

Sasha shook his head. “One girl incoherently said they were handed little bags when they arrived. I’ve had a sweep done already, but no one seemed to know anything.”

“Goddamn it,” I hissed. “We need to do a better job of searching our guests. Increase the number of bouncers. We can’t have our reputations shot to shit because of illegal drugs.

” Even before we’d stopped trafficking in them years before, we’d never allowed drugs into our resorts or casinos. We weren’t about to start now.

“Agreed,” Alexsey said. “I’ll see what I can discover on the streets.”

“What are the thoughts on what O’Shaughnessy is doing?” Nodding, I asked, glancing in my uncle’s direction.

“The Irish are biding their time, but a storm is brewing.” That was Ivan’s way of saying we should get ready for a battle. The way he was looking at me indicated the reason was still very personal.

“Why now? The timing seems odd.” My question was met with several nods. One thing I knew about O’Shaughnessy was that he never did anything without a purpose and a full plan in motion. Sometimes that was the difference between the Bratva and the Irishmen. We were more emotional.

No one would ever accuse us of such an atrocity for fear of being killed, but it was the truth. We wore our hearts on our sleeves and always had.

“He has a point, Ivan,” my father said. “For Tristen to attempt to overthrow us means he’s emboldened by allies.”

“The police?” Sasha asked.

“They know better.” I had enough control over them I couldn’t imagine the local police departments daring to cross us. “But I’ll double check. Even if a few members of the police were working with them, moving into the territory is a dangerous proposition.”

“They’ve obviously heard about the alliance with the Costa family,” Uncle Ivan said. “Perhaps they realize if they don’t act soon, they’ll be completely outnumbered.”

“Perhaps,” I hissed.

“In the meantime,” Pops stated, “we go about business as usual. With a watchful eye. If Tristen has assistance, we need to flush out their identity and quickly. With the new stadium, new acts, and the new resort, we have a lot to lose.”

I took a deep breath. Suddenly, the liquor had a bitter taste. “If we have nothing further to discuss, I need to spend time with Nina before I leave.”

“Big business?” Alexsey teased.

“I just need to remind an employee certain behavior isn’t acceptable.” I nodded to my father and uncle before heading from the cabana.

I hadn’t realized Alexsey had followed until he grabbed my arm.

“Is this about the girl you were seen with?”

My anger breached the surface. “Why is it that my personal life is suddenly everyone’s business?”

“Not suddenly, Mikhail. You are the Pakhan.”

“I simply need to remind one of our star employees to keep his hands to himself.”

He frowned. “You can’t go beating up our employees because you don’t like what they did to your girlfriend.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend, brother.”

However, I did protect what was mine.

My sudden possessiveness surprised even me. “Fine. I’ll leave him alone. For now.”

But if he dared touch her in the future, the man would suffer.