“Smile, Maksim,” Mother hissed under her breath.
I then turned to face the onlookers below me and forced a smile to my face.
“As most of you know, tonight I announce my heir and the future leader of the Korolov Bratva.”
Turning to me, Father beamed. “I am extremely proud of my firstborn. He has everything a leader should have:immense strength and physical prowess along with cunning and intelligence.” With a cocky smile, Father added, “It doesn’t hurt that he looks just like his Papka, so he’s one hell of a handsome motherfucker.”
Laughter rang through the crowd. Since my father wasn’t one for compliments, I preened like a fucking peacock under his words. In private, he’d never said anything remotely positive about me or any of my siblings. Well, except maybe Annika. Aleks and I often gave her a hard time for being Papa’s Princess.
Father’s jovial expression suddenly grew serious. After squeezing my shoulder, he said, “And as much as he is deserving of me handing over the leadership of this family, I cannot.”
The world around me shuddered to a stop. As the buzzing of shocked conversation filled my ears, tiny cracks began to chisel away at the smile frozen on my face. Furiously, I blinked my eyes, hoping I’d perhaps misheard him. When I turned my head to stare questioningly at him, he merely shook his head.
“Communication is at the forefront of being a successfulPahkan. Being able to command your men is vital, and I’m afraid Maksim’s deficit will never allow him to adequately command the Korolov men. Over the years, we’ve sought out many therapies to rid him of this defect, but sadly, none of them could help him.”
LIARI inwardly screamed. Phantom pain rang in my cheeks at the thought of all the times years ago he had tried slapping the stutter from me. Only my mother had tried to get me help.
When my gaze swiveled to hers, surprise flooded me at the fury raging like a wildfire behind her eyes. There was no way in hell she’d had any idea this was coming, and she was fucking livid at his choice.
“Maksim still has a bright future in our organization. Due to his strength and intelligence, he will become our newobshchakupon completion of university.”
I’d been reduced from heir to bookkeeper in one breath. While it was an important and respected position in Bratva, it was not the number one spot, so it was an utterly humiliating position to be given as the firstborn son of a Pahkan.
There was a small smattering of applause. I didn’t dare look out into the crowd to see the expressions on their faces.
“And now I won’t hold you in suspense any longer about who the next Korolov Pahkan will be. I wasn’t just blessed with one strong, intelligent son.”
Slowly, my attention turned from Father to seek out the table I’d abandoned. When I met Aleks’s gaze, absolute panic reflected back at me in his eyes. It was completely jarring considering his usual jokester self. I couldn’t imagine the panic going through his mind at that moment. As the second legitimate son, he’d been raised completely differently than I had, especially with Dima between us.
And now the burden of being the leader was going to fall to him all because I had a fucking stutter.
“Please raise a glass to my son,” Father said.
My attention spun back to him as he held up his champagne flute to the crowd below. “To Dima.”
At my mother’s hiss, my gaze spun from Father to Dima. If Aleks had looked horrified, Dima’s expression was pure agony. As Father waved him up, Dima remained frozen in his chair.
“Come on, Dima,” Father commanded forcefully.
Dima slowly rose to his feet, a myriad of emotions playing on his face. As he started from the table, he appeared to be in a stupor as his steps faltered from time to time. After jogging up the stairs, he hurried to join Father.
When he started past me, I tucked my head to my chest and stared at the floor. As an aching betrayal sliced through me, the last thing I could do was look into his eyes. At that moment, Icompletely dissociated. A low whine filled my ears as I tuned out whatever Father was saying about Dima.
The moment I realized Father’s speech was over, I whirled around and started streaking across the terrace. Ignoring both Dima and my mother calling my name, I pounded up the stairs.
At the sight of me striding the corridor, the soldier guarding the door stepped out of the way. As I stalked into the house, Dima’s voice rang out behind me. “Maksim, wait!”
My eyes shuttered in agony. I couldn’t talk to him right now. The betrayal was too fucking fresh. Ignoring him, I pressed on, stalking down the antique rugs lining the hallway’s mahogany floors. I’d just reached my bedroom door when Dima rushed in front of me, blocking my escape.
Agony etched across his face. “You gotta fucking believe me, Maks. I had no fucking idea Father was going to do that!”
With my body shaking with hurt and rage, I couldn’t respond. I wouldn’t because I knew I couldn’t do it without stuttering. It wouldn’t be just a few of my words that I would fuck up. When I was upset, there were so many others.
I remained staring into Dima’s blue eyes. Within them, truth radiated back at me. Finally, I gave a sharp jerk of my head in acknowledgement.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one freaking out. Dima’s entire body shook. “My mother will freak out when she finds out. She’s never wanted me to have a part in Father’s world.”
From my time with Irina, I knew that to be true. Even though she’d grown up in Bratva and loved a Bratva leader, she wanted better than the underworld for Dima and Lev. “I…know.”
