Page 38 of Prince of Control (Bratva Heirs #1)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Baron

Sunday afternoon, I stand by the grill in the backyard of Baranov house, flipping burgers and brats. Melinda is in Ander’s lap on the outdoor sofa. Alex, Feliks, and Phoenix play frisbee with a few other house members.

Zoe’s acting hostess-y and setting out all the side dishes, plates, and silverware. Anya’s playing DJ.

Lara and I got back to Thornecroft a full week ago. We spent the past week recovering from our bruises and catching up on our studies, but today I decided it was time for a house party and invited everyone for an afternoon barbecue.

My beautiful wife hands me a beer from the cooler, and I give her a kiss. We’ve been on honeymoon all week, starting over with our relationship, falling more deeply in love. She’s friends with everyone in the house, becoming more playful and spontaneous every day.

The atmosphere in the house is lighter than it’s ever been.

Or maybe that’s just me. I feel lighter than ever.

There’s still a serious edge to me. I know I’m responsible for the safety, well-being, and financial abundance of everyone here, but that sense of having my very soul on lockdown—that fear of looking away for a moment and missing something—is gone.

Lara took the blade out of my heart–the one I inserted myself after watching Valentina die– and she patched it up. The wound is still there, it’s still sore, but I no longer feel like I’m fighting to survive every night while I sleep.

“Hey bro.” Lili walks outside with a guy and gives me a hug. “This is Carlos.” She introduces the tall, lanky blond guy in soccer shorts and a T-shirt that reads Manchester United. They’re holding hands.

“Carlos.” I try to muster a menacing air to show this guy he better not fuck around with my little sister, but my heart isn’t in it.

“Be nice,” Lara tells me in Russian, coming up behind me and placing her hand in the center of my back. I fucking love it. Her casual touches, her giving me orders. The fact that she’s really my wife.

Leo must think I’m slacking because he saunters over and looks the guy over with a frown.

“Is the food ready?” Lily asks.

“Ten minutes.” I flip a burger in the air and catch it on my spatula then slide it onto the grill, showing off for Lara.

“Leo made Bloody Marys,” Lara tells her. “And there are mimosas too.”

“She’s not twenty-one,” Leo growls, still glowering at Carlos. “And I’m guessing he’s not either.”

Lara rolls her eyes.

Considering both the twins are drinking, and they’re not of age yet, it seems odd that Leo’s being an asshole about it, but I don’t interfere.

“How are classes?” I ask, feeling guilty that I haven’t checked in on her more. But losing Lara made me realize that despite all my micromanagement, I can’t keep everyone safe all the time. Maybe I need to let Lili be free to make her own mistakes. “Is Vasiliev still giving you trouble?”

Lara gasps beside me. “Vasiliev!”

“What?”

“He warned me about Denis.”

I turn to give her my full attention. “What? When?”

“The week Brash showed up. That Monday when I was in the bookstore. Remember you found me there?”

I’m ready to pull Denis’ tongue out of his throat. I looked for him when we got back to school, but it seems he has vanished. According to Anya’s research, he hasn’t attended any classes in the last week.

I nod. “Yes.” I’m wary, my entire body on full alert.

“Well, Denis had tried to talk to me in the bookstore. He basically said the same thing Brash had offered on the phone–that he could help me get away from you if I needed it.”

My upper lip lifts in a snarl. If I were a lion, I’d be showing my deadly canines. “And then what?” There’s so much menace in my voice that Lara recoils slightly, then reaches out a hand to wrap around my forearm and reassure me she’s still here. She’s still mine.

“Then I walked away, and when I was checking out, Vasiliev came up behind me in the line. I had just waved at you in the window, and he told me to be careful because you were dangerous.”

I snarl some more.

“And so I snapped at him and said, yes, I know you hate Baron. And then he said, n ot Baron, the other one. ”

My brows pop. What does Vasiliev know about that oligarch mudak ? “He warned you about him? Interesting. I had seen them talking and thought they might be working together. But it sounds like Vasiliev is under their thumb.”

I file that away for future reference. It could become an interesting lever to pull if I ever need it. Or it could be something I offer to get him out of for a fee.

The front doorbell chimes through Leo’s phone, and he glances at the face of it. His eyes widen slightly, and he meets my gaze. It’s Chancellor Ogden.

I roll my shoulders. I expected this after the Titan house burned. “Well, invite him in. The meat is ready.”

A moment later, Leo leads the president of Thornecroft University back.

Zoe sees him and pours her Bloody Mary into a plant.

He’s in his early sixties, but he carries himself with the same stealthy grace as Gabe Tracy’s special ops guy. He's extremely fit–we often pass each other running in the morning, and he appears alert, like he’s taking in everything around him.

“Benjamin.” He offers his hand to shake without a smile.

I clasp his hand. “Chancellor Ogden.” I don’t smile either. We met before when I was petitioning to donate Baranov House to the university to make it an official society house. “You’re just in time for our barbecue.” I hand him a plate.

He accepts it, which surprises me. I slide a burger onto the bun he opens on the plate, and he helps himself to the simple but tasty side dishes Emma left for us–potato salad, watermelon, and chopped vegetables with hummus.

“This is my wife, Lara,” I introduce him.

“Lara, this is Chancellor Ogden. He’s the pakhan of Thornecroft.” I give her a faint smile at my use of the Russian word for bratva boss.

I wait, but he doesn’t broach any conversation at first, so I serve the house members then fix myself a plate.

“Have a seat. You probably didn’t come for the burger.”

We settle onto one of the plush outdoor sofas beside each other. He’s giving off interrogation vibes–treating me to the same silence I got down at the police station where they seem to hope you’ll fill in the space with chatter.

But I’m not that guy.

The chancellor finishes all the food on his plate before he says to me, “So, the Titan House was behind Ms. Tracy’s assault.”

“Were they?” I play dumb.

Melinda looks over at hearing her name, and her smile drops away. I want to punch the chancellor for reminding her of it. Anders says she’s even more tightly-wound than ever although I think she looks better now that she has him in her court.

“I can understand wanting to exact revenge for that. Sending a message that your house isn’t to be fucked with.”

So this visit is definitely about the fire.

I made sure everyone in the house has an alibi for that night.

The bomb had a timer that Leo activated from the library where at least a dozen people saw him studying.

He planned it when the entire house was out at a pledge event, and even activated the fire alarm before it went off, to make sure.

“The fire marshal said the alarm went off before the fire started, which is odd.”

I take a bite of a pickle spear and give a polite but disinterested nod.

“I don’t accept violence of any kind on this campus. I am committed to the safety of all students here. It’s one of the reasons people like Gabe Tracy, Sultan Khalid al-Nasir, and members of the Russian mafiya alike trust sending their children here.”

I tense. This feels like boarding school all over again. Is he about to expel me?

He sets his empty plate down on the wide square slate table in front of him and puts his hands on his knees. “So it ends here. I told the boys at Titan House that if I hear of any more house warfare, they lose their charter. Same goes for you. Understood?”

“Message received,” I say easily, rising as he does. “Thank you for stopping by.” I stick my palm out.

He squeezes my hand in a vise-like grip and locks eyes with me. His blue-grey gaze bores a hole in mine. “I know what goes on here, Benjamin.”

My heart skips a beat.

“You’re quiet and careful, which is why you get away with it. But the moment you bring negative attention to this school, it’s over.”

I greet that mild threat with silence, and he releases my hand. “Thank you for the burger. Enjoy your barbecue. I’ll see myself out.”

“Stop by anytime, Chancellor,” I call after him.