Page 85 of Toxic Temptation (Krayev Bratva #1)
KOVAN
By the time Ihor puts out his cigarette, Osip, Pavel and I have him surrounded. Three guns pointed at his head.
Ihor doesn’t even flinch. He offers each of us a smile that could pass for welcoming if I didn’t know better.
“Really, boys. There was no need to force your way in. I would have opened the gates.” He adjusts his cufflinks. “We’re family, after all.”
Pavel spits on the ground. Osip sneers.
“I thought I made myself clear,” I growl. “Vesper was off-limits.”
“Your resourceful little girlfriend did her own digging.” Ihor reaches for his whiskey tumbler like we’re here for afternoon tea. “She was the one snooping around locked offices. I simply confirmed what she already knew.”
My jaw clenches. “You told her about the Keres.”
“I told her the truth.” He takes a slow sip. “Must have been difficult, hearing that both her boyfriend and her father were neck-deep in stolen organs.”
Father?
I grimace. Alongside me, I catch Osip and Pavel exchanging looks of shock.
“Oh, dear. Don’t tell me you didn’t know?” Ihor chuckles. “When you drop the ball, Kovan, you really drop it hard. Some might question your leadership.”
I force my voice steady. “I take it you didn’t mention that I was shutting down the organ trade. That it was already over.”
“But it’s not over.” His smile vanishes. “It’s nowhere close to over.”
“I am your pakhan !”
“You are. And I respectfully disagree with your decision.” He sets down his glass, laces his fingers in his lap, and looks up at me. “Which is why I’m asking you to reconsider. Politely, of course.”
“Are you fucking insane?” Osip snarls.
I shift my aim three inches to the right and fire. The bullet shatters Ihor’s whiskey glass, sending crystal and liquor exploding across the room. He jerks to his feet, face splattered with dark liquid.
The calm mask finally slips. His ears turn red. Veins bulge in his neck.
“This is not up for negotiation,” I tell him. “We’re done with the organ trade.”
He sweeps his arm across the table, sending glass shards clattering to the floor. “Except we’re not. Not if you want to keep custody of the boy.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask. “The judge already ruled in my favor. His decision is final.”
“You think you’re the only one who can threaten judges in the middle of the night, Kovan Krayev?
You think you’re the only one who bribes cops and politicians?
” He cracks his neck, then spits on the ground at our feet in disgust. “This could all be so simple. You oppose the organ trade? Fine. Leave it to someone who can handle the heat. Give it to me.”
“Why the fuck would I do that?”
“Because I have the Keres behind me. And they have records of all your dealings. All I need to do is send a copy to the FBI and you’re finished.
” He rolls his shoulders back and the redness starts to recede from his cheeks.
“You might fight me in the shadows. You might even win. But sooner or later, you’ll lose custody of Luka.
He’ll come right back here to his mother and me. ”
“Do your worst,” I say. “I can fight you and I will win. You might have the Keres, but once I’m done with them, it won’t mean anything.”
Ihor’s nose wrinkles with disdain. “You’re really going to risk the brat over this? Risk your freedom and a child’s wellbeing to dissolve a trade that earned your family billions?”
“I’ll make billions another way.”
“Look at you. A pakhan with a moral compass.” He shakes his head again. “If your father saw you now, he’d be ashamed.”
Pavel stiffens. “Don’t you dare talk about our father?—”
“What’s the matter, boy? Don’t like hearing the truth?
” Ihor stares at Pavel with open contempt.
“I knew your father better than either of you. He was my friend, my comrade. We built this Bratva together. We had a vision . And that vision might have been possible if he didn’t have such weak, pathetic sons. ”
Pavel opens his mouth, but I silence him with a look.
“You’re right,” I say instead. “We didn’t know our father as well as you did. And right now, I’m grateful for that. Because if I had known him the same as you, I think I would have hated him. I could never love or respect a man who makes a dollar off the misery of others.”
Ihor’s face cracks into something reptilian. “Interesting choice of words. I wonder if Vesper thinks the same about you.”
“Kovan is nothing like his father,” Osip hisses. “He’s trying to stop this.”
“But will Vesper believe that?” taunts Ihor. “Will she believe you after I tell her the truth about how her father died?”
My gun arm drops. The weapon suddenly feels impossibly heavy. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that Vesper’s father died because of yours.”
A beat of silence passes. Then Pavel rolls his eyes and Osip starts laughing. I decide both reactions make sense, so I do the same. “Jesus Christ, Ihor. You really will say anything to get what you want.”
Ihor doesn’t respond. He just watches us with narrowed eyes, waiting for our laughter to die.
When it does, my throat is dry. It hurts to swallow.
“You’re lying,” I say.
“I have proof.”
“No. No. You’re fucking lying. You’re full of shit.”
He shakes his head slowly. “Doesn’t matter how many times you repeat yourself, boy. Won’t make it any less true.”
He reaches for his desk drawer. All three of us raise our weapons.
“Don’t move!” Osip orders.
Ihor holds up his hands. “I’m trying to offer you proof. Unless you’d rather not see it…?”
Pavel’s voice cracks. “Kovan, we shouldn’t listen to him. He’s a snake who’ll say anything to destroy you.”
“I’m trying to preserve the Krayev name,” Ihor insists.
“This Bratva deserves better than you. It deserves someone who understands what power really is. Someone willing to do anything to achieve it. Your father understood that. That’s why, when Thomas Fairfax started having doubts about our operation, Genrikh had to take him out. ”
“Bullshit,” I say. “Thomas Fairfax died of liver failure. It had nothing to do with?—”
“He was offered a liver. Multiple times. He turned them down. Do you know why?”
“Shut up!” Pavel screams. “Shut the hell up!”
I stop him with a hand on his shoulder. “No. We need to hear this.”
“That’s right, Kovan.” Ihor’s voice turns condescending. “You do need to hear this. You need to know just how strong a leader your father was.”
The chill in my bones spreads, but I refuse to shiver. I won’t let him see a shred of weakness.
“We had been monitoring Thomas for months. He started making excuses to get out of harvesting surgeries. The month before he died, he openly refused to take a kidney he had already prepped. He’d developed a conscience .
” Ihor says that as though it’s disgusting.
“We knew it was only a matter of time before he went to the cops and blew up our entire business.”
“So you threatened him.”
He presses a hand to his chest, the picture of offended dignity. “ I didn’t do anything. Your father gave Thomas his options. Refuse the liver, shut his mouth, and his family would be safe. That was the price. His silence and his life.”
I turn away, my gun arm dropping. “This can’t be true.”
“It is true. No amount of denial will save you from it. Your father is the reason Thomas Fairfax rejected that first liver. Your father is why Thomas declined his daughter’s offer to donate part of hers.
That’s why he died. Genrikh killed Thomas.
” Ihor pauses. “It’s poetic that you two met. Some would call it karma.”
I storm forward and shove my gun in his face. “I will kill you.”
“You could,” he agrees. “But the moment I’m dead, the truth gets sent to the cops in a neat little package.
A copy also goes to your pretty girlfriend.
Your life implodes, your woman leaves you, and you lose Luka anyway.
” He bares his teeth in a smile. “But if you stay your hand a few more moments, you’ll see I’m offering you a way out. A truce.”
“You want me to keep Vesper from exposing the Keres.”
“Smart man.” Ihor winks. “Keep your girlfriend from interfering and you can keep Luka for good. Both Yana and I will sign over our rights and leave you alone. As long as you stay out of our way.”
Every cell in my body screams to pull the trigger.
“Fuck you,” I snarl.
A smile curls across his lips. “I’ll take that as a yes.”