“Gregor,” Mikhail hissed. “I always knew you’d turn out to be a thug.”
Gregor laughed. “Your jealousy is showing, cousin. Your father was a coward and so are you.”
He had no idea what he was doing in trying to goad my Pakhan.
“You see, we are going to rise to power once again. Now that we have Nina, we have everything we need to defeat our enemy. Kirill. Take the child into the next room. She doesn’t need to see this.” Yuri was enjoying himself, even while he had difficulty breathing. He wasn’t long for this world. My plan was to help him reach his maker.
“No. Daddy!”
As soon as my little girl screamed, it took every ounce of strength not to wrap my hands around the fucker’s throat. I moved toward her, pulling her into a hug. If they dared try to stop me, they would learn I wasn’t the kind of man to be fucked with. “It’s okay, baby girl. Everything will be fine. Just go with him and I’ll come get you in a few minutes. Okay? Can you do that for me?” I smoothed hair from her face, trying to smile.
She glanced at Lainey and so did I. I could tell by the look on Lainey’s face that she was ready to fight to the death. She was so strong, but the bruise on her face and the blood on her lip pushed the anger to the edge. “It’s okay, Nina. We’ll be right there. Bernie. Jaxon. Go with them. Keep her safe.”
“Yes, sir.” Jaxon snarled at Yuri and the two others as he walked closer.
Bernie immediately reached for Nina, refusing to take any crap from the enemy soldier.
Kirill started to push her and I pointed my finger in the man’s face. Without saying the words, I could tell he got the message. Bernie too, taking her hand and I watched as she was escorted out, her little face telling me everything I needed to know. I didn’t give a shit they were supposedly family. They’d crossed every line.
“Bastards. You fucking bastards. They plan on selling me off to the highest bidder,” Lainey said with her usual defiance that I’d come to adore.
“Don’t worry, little butterfly. That will not occur.”
I glanced at the three men who stood by their father. Our cousins. “Gregor, Konstantine, and Nikandr. The fruit of corruption doesn’t fall far from the tree, I see. Let me venture a guess as to what this is really about. There was a deal made with the Petrov family just recently. You saw an opportunity to gain even more power than you’ve had. That’s who you negotiated an alliance with, but you plan on deceiving them. This was just a power play using a little girl with Antonova blood to ruin the Petrovs. Isn’t it?” There was still a huge piece missing. Noise drew our attention, men sweeping into the party from the rear.
Instantly, my hackles were raised, Mikhail and Kazimir reacting first with noted surprise as well as agitation.
“That’s exactly what’s happening, son.” The arrival of my father and uncle surprised all of us. “Don’t look so shocked, son. We might be advanced in our years, but we still maintain significant power, including in parts of Moscow and beyond. We’ve been watching what’s been happening for years. Waiting until Yuri played his hand. One. Final. Time.”
“Yuri. I wish I could say it’s good to see you, but I’d be lying,” Uncle Boris said casually. I could see another group of men inthe corridor. “I assure you that you won’t need to worry about your alliance with anyone any longer.”
Mikhail had told me more about how they’d been taken and tortured by their own brother years before, using their contacts to help free them. Arrangements had been made to get both families out of the country, but they’d been forced to leave everything behind. All their riches.
However, there were still other aspects of the story we’d yet to learn.
Yuri stood on shaking legs, glaring at them. “What the fuck did you do?” He hadn’t anticipated seeing his brothers. All he’d wanted was to lure the children into the compound and kill us.
He was cracking and his sons were uncertain exactly what was going on. However, I sensed Gregor was ready to fire his weapon if necessary.
“What we should have done a long time ago.” My father pointed a gun at his own brother. “We informed the Petrovs that you betrayed them. Again. They were very interested in what we had to say. In fact, they are on their way here to have a long chat with you.”
“You killed my Katerina,” Yuri said. “You took her from me.”
“Your Katerina? She didn’t belong to you except out of force. However, you didn’t care, believing your own brothers had betrayed you. When you learned Selena was Katerina’s daughter, you decided that was the appropriate way to get back at your family. You did so out of revenge. You took my little girl’s mother away. How could you be so fucking cruel? Because all you care about is power.” My words boomed in the room.
“We had nothing to do with Katerina’s death,” Uncle Boris said, addressing Yuri. “You forced an arrangement with her father to marry you. If he refused, you had plans to destroy them. He had no choice. There was already an alliance in placebetween the Antonovas and the Petrovs and you played everyone involved. All because of greed.”
“If the Antonova family had aligned with the Petrovs, they would have been the most powerful Bratva in the entire world. Katerina was in love with someone else and killed herself because of what she was being forced to do,” I said quietly, shifting my gaze from Yuri to my father and uncle, remembering what Elena had said, yet I was also putting a few pieces of the puzzle together. “You were trying to help her escape. Weren’t you?”
My question forced Mikhail to suck in his breath.
The tension in the room was increasing.
Uncle Boris nodded. “Katerina was in love with the man she had a child with already. One of Petrov’s sons.”
“Shit,” Mikhail whispered. “Natasha’s father.”
The ultimate betrayal and all for true love.
