Control is everything. But control was exhausting.
The photograph on the corner of my desk caught my attention. Face-down, same as always. I'd placed it that way three months ago and hadn't turned it over since.
I didn't reach for it now. Didn't want to see her face looking up at me, young and hopeful and completely unaware of what was coming. Didn't want to remember that some things couldn't be controlled no matter how carefully you planned.
My mother. Katerina. Twenty-four years old in that photograph, pregnant with me, smiling at the camera like her future was bright.
Six years later she'd abandoned us. Run away with a member of a rival bratva. The ultimate betrayal. The wound that never healed, not for my father, not for Mikhail, not for any of us.
Vulnerability equals danger. Emotional connections are weaknesses. Control is the only way to ensure safety.
That's what I learned from her absence. That's what shaped everything I became.
I stared at the face-down photograph. Wondered why I kept it. Wondered why I couldn't quite bring myself to throw it away or turn it over.
My phone buzzed against the mahogany. Once. Pause. Once again.
Grandfather's ring pattern.
I checked the time. Twelve forty-seven AM. My grandfather kept odd hours, always had, but this was unusual even for him.
I picked up the phone. Let it ring twice before answering.
"Dedushka."
"Kolya." His voice was rough, amused, that particular tone that meant he was about to say something cryptic. "Are you ready for what's coming?"
My spine straightened. "What's coming?"
He laughed. Deep, knowing, that sound that used to comfort me as a child and now just made me suspicious.
"You'll see. The Settling will be very interesting this year."
I stood, pacing to the map on the wall. "You know something. What do you know?"
"I know that you're a brilliant strategist. I know that you see patterns others miss. I know that you've planned for every contingency you can imagine."
"But?"
Another laugh. "But life isn't chess, vnuchok. Sometimes the board has pieces you didn't see. Sometimes the game changes while you're playing it."
Frustration coiled in my chest. "If you know something about the Belyaevs—"
"This isn't about the Belyaevs." His voice shifted, became serious. "Not entirely. This is about you, Kolya. About whether you're ready to be Pakhan. Really ready."
"I've proven myself—"
"You've proven you can strategize. You've proven you can lead. But can you adapt? Can you handle the unexpected? Can you protect something you didn't know you needed to protect?"
My hand tightened on the phone. "You orchestrated something."
"I made an arrangement. For the good of the family. For your good, though you won't believe that at first."
"What arrangement?"
"You'll see at The Settling. Trust me, Kolya. Everything I do is for you. For your brothers. For the family."
"Dedushka—"
