I cup her face. “It’s not an easy situation, but don’t worry. Look around you, there are thousands of men here who won’t let me die.” I kiss her lips. “Just stay in whatever safe room they take you to and wait for me there like a good girl. I swear I’ll come back to you alive.”
“Come, Matleon. We don’t have time.” My father-in-law pulls me away from my wife once again.
She follows Marco inside. I turn and follow Damir Mikhailov toward the other men.
Kaz slaps a hug around me. Then I hug Uncle Maksim.
Kaz lays out all the information, how the Bratvas planned this and how, according to his inside sources, they intend to proceed.
He points to the map of Russia spread across the table, old territories marked. “It started with the Sokolov Bratva. They used an old grudge to ignite the rebellion. Over the past two months, the old pakhans of Baranov, Morozov, Dragunov, Petrovich, and Zimarev have been meeting at parties hosted at the Sokolov mansion. Turns out they were planning a joint attack with all their combined forces.”
He taps Moscow on the map. “The first step of their plan was to attack Moscow and kill Dad, but that failed. So now they’ve moved to the second step—attacking the Mikhailov Palace with as much manpower as they can manage. They know they don’t have modern killing systems that can match ours, so they’re relying on brute force. The ancient method.”
He moves to another map, this one of Vladivostok. “We have ten levels of security,” he says. “The first is outside the city. The second is here.” He circles the outer borders of the city with a pointer. “The third is here,” he marks a deeper region, “the fourth is here,” and like that, he walks us through all ten layers of defense.
I frown. “Then what’s the problem? With this many people equipped with high-class weapons, what’s the catch?”
“The catch,” he says grimly, “is that among the people who work for us, there are snakes—men they’ve already bought. And killing from inside a syndicate has always been the most efficient way to take down power. My most trusted men have been ordered to identify and filter them out, but a few hours ago we received information that at Base Six, soldiers were poisoned. A hundred casualties in the blink of an eye. And we still don’t know how much more damage they’re capable of causing.”
“So what’s the plan?” my father-in-law asks.
“The plan is the same one they chose,” Kaz says coldly. “We wipe out every single person these families have. Backthen, when you spared the women and children of the Sokolov Bratva, this is what it led to. This time, no one walks away alive. My men have already begun attacking their territories. But because they’re spread across multiple locations, our forces are weakened. And we can’t use large-scale blasts, civilians all across Russia are our responsibility.”
“Who’s the most powerful among them?” Uncle asks.
“Morozov Bratva,” Kaz answers without hesitation. “Over the years, they’ve accumulated massive wealth and influence by ruling across several countries.”
Uncle Maksim nods once. “Then break them first.”
“To break them,” Kaz says, “we need our full attention focused on them.”
“No problem with that.” I step forward. “Tell me which countries are backing them.”
“South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, and Botswana.”
I nod slowly. “You concentrate your forces on eliminating the others. Leave Morozov to me.”
I’ll strip the Morozov Bratva of every ounce of power they hold… within twenty-four hours.
Iselyn
Aunt Savi sighs softly. “It feels like time has gone back twenty-five years. Remember that Christmas, Hope?”
Mom nods, her expression darkening. “It was horrible.”
“What happened back then?” I ask quietly.
Aunt begins. “Back then, your father was the Pakhan, and your uncle and I were in America. We came here for Christmas, and that’s when one of your father’s enemies launched a surprise attack. Your mother and I were hiding in that room.”She points toward the room on my left. “Your grandmother was alive at the time, and she was hiding in that room.” She gestures to the room behind me.
“They wanted us alive so they could torture Damir and Maksim.” She swallows. “They found us. We ran, just kept running, until we reached outside. It was snowing heavily that night.” She shivers. “I still get chills remembering it. Damir and Maksim saved us. And after twenty-five years, we’re once again in this basement.”
Mom looks around the space. “But it’s in much better shape now. We could live here comfortably. Back then, it felt like an abandoned place.”
Aunt nods. “After uncle and aunt died, this entire wing was renovated.”
The wing where this safe room is located is the First Wing. It got its name because it was the first wing built here. It’s also known as the Pakhan’s Wing, whoever becomes Pakhan stays here. My grandfather was the Pakhan back then, and later my father took over. But Papa never wanted to live in the palace, so he had his own mansion, while Grandpa continued living here.
I don’t have many memories of my grandfather and grandmother. They died when I was very young.
