The mercenary gasps for air, swallowing hard. “Chang…he pieced it together. He knows she’s not missing. He knows she’s with the Rusnaks. He realized the wedding was protection, not a ransom.” His voice drops to a terrified whisper. “He wants her back to ruin her.”
My jaw tightens. “Ruin her how?”
“He says he’ll auction her publicly to pay off all his remaining debts. He wants to turn the Bratva against you. He wants her to feel the consequences of defying her father. He wants her back to punish her for thinking she could throw him out in the cold.”
The words—auction her publicly, punish her—strike me harder than any bullet. My protective instinct flares into a blinding, savage rage that shatters my strategic composure. David Chang has made this personal, aiming for Elara’s soul.
I lean down until my eyes are level with the mercenary’s. “You’ve delivered your message,” I state, my voice dangerously low. I pause, letting the finality of my decision settle. “Now, I’ll deliver mine.”
I stand up straight. “Luka. Send Chang a message he’ll understand. Cleanly. No body, no evidence. Just noise and a missing man.”
“Understood, Boss.” Luka’s smile is slow and chilling.
I turn and walk toward the exit. The basement air, thick with pain and blood, suddenly feels too thin. All my cold, strategic plans are now useless. David Chang won’t just lose his network; he will lose his life. I won’t stop at choking off his channels; I will eradicate him.
Elara is mine. And no one, especially not her father, touches what belongs to me.
David Chang thinks he can muscle the Rusnaks with mercenaries and shadow brokers. He thinks he can touch my woman and get away with it. He’s misread the map.
I call my brothers. My voice is flat when I tell them: emergency meeting, one hour. I give them the gist. Chang mobilizing, mercs in the city, brokers ready to spend billions on illegal goods.
They agree to meet me in one hour.
One hour later, we’re all gathered at Lev’s home. Luka’s still in Greece, but the rest of us are here—Adrian, Niko, Kaz, Lev, and me. Dimitri too, lounging on one of Lev’s leather chairs like he owns the place. I’m surprised to see him. Looks like he’s taking his promise of always showing up for family—as long as he’s around—very seriously.
“Didn’t expect you to come,” I mutter as I take my seat at the head of the long mahogany table.
He grins lazily. “Family meeting, brother. You know I never miss a chance to drink and watch you all pretend to be civilized.”
Kaz snorts. Lev glares. Adrian just folds his arms and says nothing. I lean forward, both palms flat on the table. “David Chang has mobilized his private network of mercenaries and enforcers. He’s hiring muscle through offshore channels and laundering the funds through fake art transactions.”
Niko’s brow furrows. “So the buyers from last month—”
“Connected,” I cut in. “Chang’s using them to move product, weapons, and stolen goods under the guise of auction shipments. He’s also looking for Elara. He sent a man to my estate to snoop around.”
That gets everyone’s attention.
Adrian’s jaw tightens. “He knows she’s with you?”
“Yes. He’s keeping it quiet for now, but his men are already testing our perimeter. I caught one near the estate earlier.”
The room grows still. Dimitri leans forward, his voice low but calm. “Then this isn’t just personal anymore. He’s not just challenging you, Roman. He’s challenging the entire Bratva.”
I nod slowly. “Exactly.”
Kaz cracks his knuckles. “So what’s the plan?”
I meet each of their eyes. “We end this before he can turn it into a public scandal. Before he can touch her. And before he makes the mistake of thinking the Rusnaks can be cornered.”
Lev exhales, steepling his fingers. “You want to hit him first.”
“I want to bury him first,” I say, voice low, controlled. “But we’ll start with his money. Cut the brokers. Burn his networks. And when he comes crawling out of whatever hole he hides in—then we finish it.”
Silence. Then Dimitri raises his glass with a crooked smile. “To family, then. And to the poor bastard who thought he could steal from one.”
Glasses clink. The room hums with purpose.
The war with David Chang has just begun.
