Page 7 of Nobody Wants Me (Volkov Bratva #5)

V ictor

Arriving at one of the bars downtown, Ivan and I stepped into the back.

The men knew who I was, and there was no hassle.

We made our way to the private room, where Ivan had asked me to arrange a meeting with Rage.

Again, I was in the dark. Ivan would only divulge what he thought was absolutely necessary.

Rage was dressed in a suit, and it looked so fucking odd on him.

“Ivan,” he said. “Victor.”

I shook his hand.

“Congratulations on the wedding,” Rage said.

Ivan chuckled. “I’d be careful on the congratulations if I were you. He doesn’t seem to be ... happy about it.”

Rage nodded.

“Why the fuck are we here?” I asked.

“You don’t know?” Rage asked.

Clearly, I was the only one in the fucking dark here, and it was starting to piss me off as to why Ivan wanted to keep me that way. Rage shared a look with Ivan, who had gone to stand in the corner.

“It’s to do with your new father-in-law,” Rage said.

I was fast losing interest. I had not spoken to Harris. All the arrangements had been made through Ivan. Harris paid for the wedding. The deal was connected to the Volkov Bratva. I didn’t make waves. Quite simply, it was not my place.

“Are you aware of The Grid?” Rage asked.

“Is this going to be Twenty Questions?” I asked.

“The Grid”

“Is known for being a group of men who hunt men and woman, sell them on the black market for sex, for anything. Slavery, harvesting organs. Anything and anything,” I said.

“Did you know that Harris Harris is a buyer of The Grid?” Rage asked.

Okay, now this I did not know.

“Your point?” I asked. Anyone who was anyone ordered from The Grid. I was not one of those people, as we all knew Ivan Volkov did not allow that kind of shit. I turned to him. “What’s going on?”

“Three days ago, a woman matching Freya Abdulov’s description was placed on The Grid,” Ivan said.

This got my attention as I looked to Ivan then to Rage. “Did Harris request her?”

“No,” Rage said. “He is the one that put her up for sale.”

Now, I was pissed.

“Why did you come to my territory?” I asked, looking to Ivan. “Is that what this is about? You want Freya to be sold?”

“Tell him,” Ivan said.

“He’s put her up for organ donation,” Rage said. “She cannot be used for anything else. Anyone who gets her has to harvest, sell, and distribute every single part of her.”

“You didn’t think to tell me this right away?” I asked, looking to Ivan.

“I figured bringing The Butcher to your territory as well as the Evil Savages MC would help to put some understanding on it, and also I like to do things with drama,” Ivan said.

Yet, he didn’t look the least bit fazed.

“What are you getting at?”

“No one is aware of this, but fifteen years ago, The Butcher had a sister. A very pretty little sister, who happened to meet the description of someone within the Harris Harris household. He buys slaves. He uses women. As you can fill in the blanks, he kills them slowly. Tortures them. I have reason to believe that Freya met her sister,” Ivan said.

I looked at Ivan. No one knew anything of The Butcher’s background. It was a fucking surprise to be learning this shit now. I didn’t know the woman’s age, or even her fucking name. Something told me Ivan knew a great deal.

“Does she know?” I asked.

“Yes,” Ivan said. “Part of the deal with The Butcher is I had the details of exactly who took her sister, who was responsible for her death—and of course, handing them to her.”

“You haven’t done it yet,” I said.

“I’m getting there. You see, the key to any kind of revenge is knowing exactly the right time to do it.” Ivan shrugged. “It’s close to that time.”

I looked from Rage to Ivan.

“Once a name goes on The Grid, it is almost impossible to remove it,” I said.

“Exactly,” Ivan said.

This is why The Butcher was in my home. Rage was in my territory. I had a feeling The Beast wouldn’t go too far.

I ran a hand down my face. “I take it, you have no intention of letting them get to her.”

Ivan laughed. “Not yet. I have arrangements in place to deal with The Grid. At the moment, everything is coming up blank as to how to have her name removed. Harris has fled the country. I’m tracking him down as we speak.

The fucker did all of this in a very short amount of time, and I had a feeling he did it on purpose.

” Ivan stepped away from the wall. “I need this marriage between you and Freya to work. I want it to work.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because someone is going to inherit that empire, and that someone will be you,” Ivan said.

“It belongs to my wife.”

“You can be stubborn, and I get it. You hate what happened to your family, and you don’t want to allow yourself to be vulnerable again.”

“Don’t fucking start,” I said.

“But Freya is innocent,” Ivan said. “She has done nothing wrong, other than be born into a family where no one fucking wants her.”

It was rare to see Ivan filled with passion. He was the man that was filled with calm. He was a man always in control.

But there was something different about this.

I got the feeling that with Freya, this hit a little too close to home.

I knew the tale of his past. I knew his father saw him as weak, because he couldn’t speak properly.

That one of Ivan’s father’s men was supposed to kill him, to remove him from the equation, only that didn’t happen.

Ivan got free. He slowly grew up, and when the time was right, he came back for what was rightfully his. Only, he took the Volkov Bratva, changed it, made it even better. More powerful.

“Freya has to live,” Ivan said. “Do you understand me? She has to live and she will be your wife and the mother of your children. I suggest you get your head out of your ass and start to make this work with her. That is my order to you. Get your wife to fall in love with you. I don’t give a fuck if you have to fake it until you start to believe it.

Either way, you’re not getting out of this. ”

With that, Ivan left the room. I was now alone with Rage.

Anyone else might have been pissed about being reprimanded by their boss in front of someone else. As it happened, I didn’t give a fuck.

“What do you know?” I asked.

Freya had to live. It was my job, my duty to protect her.

“At least five people have checked into The Maiden Hotel within the last twelve hours. All of them people that do not exist,” Rage said.

I nodded. It looked like I was on the hunt.

Leaving the back room, I found Ivan at the bar, sipping on a large glass of dark liquid.

It looked like a good aged whiskey. I got the bartender’s attention and ordered the same.

I was not wrong, it was good whiskey. Ivan rarely drank vodka.

His father used to be a vodka drinker, as was my own father.

I didn’t touch the stuff. There were a lot of things I no longer did because of my father.

“I’ll protect her,” I said.

“What is so wrong with her?” Ivan asked.

This surprised me. He was not known for asking questions. Looking at him now, I was pretty sure I saw a sadness in his gaze. This took me aback. I wasn’t exactly sure what to say to him, or what to do. What did he want me to say?

“I told you I didn’t want to be married,” I said. “I told you I didn’t want to have children.”

“The only way the Volkov Bratva will continue to thrive is if we create the next generation. None of my Brigadiers had a choice.” Ivan took a sip of his whiskey. It didn’t even look like it burned him on the way down. “You don’t get a choice.”

“The way for the Volkov Bratva to continue is by you assuring the next generation,” I said. “You need to find a wife, have children.”

Ivan’s gaze landed on me, and it was like he was dead. There was no emotion, nothing.

“The line will fall to whoever I see fit. Harris needs to be stopped. Freya cannot die. She will make a good wife and mother, if you allow her the chance.”

“I’m not the kind of man that is a husband.”

“Well, maybe with The Butcher staying at your place, she will keep you in line.”

I choked on my whiskey. “What the fuck did you say?”

“You heard me. The Butcher is staying with you. She is Freya’s personal bodyguard until we have her name removed from The Grid. They’re coming, Victor, and when they do, there will be no stopping them.” With that, Ivan finished a second whiskey.

“If The Butcher knows who Freya is, and what that means, why do you trust her with Freya?” I asked.

“The Butcher doesn’t hold that kind of grudge. She is ... reasonable.”

I was so close to bursting out laughing, as it seemed laughable to think of The Butcher as reasonable. She was a killing machine.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“The Butcher wants to bring an end to Harris, but she also has a long-term goal. The irony is, The Beast also has a long-term goal, and it is the same.”

“What?” I asked.

“They want to remove The Grid, once and for all.”

This made me pause.

“That’s not possible,” I said.

“I think I have proven more than once that anything is possible, Victor. The Grid has too much power, and it needs to be removed. I’ve got people working on finding a weak spot, and the moment we do, it will come crashing to its knees.”

“Why do they want to remove it?” I asked.

The Grid had always been around. I’d not had anything to do with it, and I didn’t agree with it. Powerful men and women paying people to get what they wanted. No one could fight The Grid. It was powerful.

“They have their reasons, and it is not my place to divulge them.” Ivan got to his feet. “I think we have a hotel to go to, don’t we?”

****

F reya

After showing The Butcher the whole collection of my wardrobe, we had some lunch, and then at her request, we took a dive into the pool. I loved to go swimming.