“Remember when I sent her to The Viper’s Nest?” Stephan continues.
“The place has been so lucrative for us.” Aleksei chuckles from the other end.
“The whore was supposed to die that night, but the bitch got lucky. And wouldn’t you know it—” Stephan’s words slither through the speaker. “The slut ends up pregnant, couldn’t even tell us who the father was.”
My heart stops. The night at The Viper’s Nest. The club where I first saw her, where I—
Blood rushes in my ears. My fingers leave dents in the steel table edge as the pieces click into place.My son.They tried to kill my son before he even drew breath.
“I told her to get rid of it. Even arranged the clinic. But no—”
The room seems to shrink, the walls pressing closer as Stephan’s voice keeps coming. Vic’s basement smells of copper and revenge, and all I can think of is Elijah’s small hand in mine, how fragile his fingers felt. How close I came to losing him before I even knew he was mine.
“Clara fucking Caldwell had to play mother, acting all high and mighty about keeping some random bastard…”
I draw in a deep breath to center myself, but my lungs feel like they’re filling with ice. Every muscle in my body coils tight, readyto snap. My son. The child I’d dismissed as another man’s blood. The boy who has my mother’s eyes—
Aleksei’s laughter cuts off abruptly. “But what about Leonid? He’s getting smarter with his business deals. The expansion into Europe, the new alliances. He’s not the reckless boy we could easily manipulate anymore.”
There’s a pause as they both seem to consider this.
“Suka blyad’,” Aleksei spits. “Always was an arrogantmudak.Just like his father. Andrei thought he was untouchable, and now hissyn sukistruts around like he owns everything.”
The mention of my father strikes a nerve so deep it reverberates in my bones. My grip on the table shifts, fingers splayed, grounding myself.
“Patience,” Stephan soothes. “Leonid and Ludis will do the job for us. They’ve been destined to destroy each other from the start. Andrei made sure of that.”
“Remember how beautifully this worked last time? Your position in the family made it so easy. That suggestion to Andrei about separating the twins—masterful. Nothing like a mother’s death to tear a family apart.”
I ball my hands into fists. I want to tear these men apart, to rip their throats out with my teeth.
Jebat’ eto der’mo.
“Six-month-old twins,” Stephan muses through the static. “Should’ve been an easy job.”
Aleksei’s grunt crackles over the line. “Who would’ve thought Sofiya had it in her? Diving in front of those bullets, using her own body as a shield.” His laugh scrapes like nails on concrete. “Both brats survived because of that stupidsuka.”
My vision blurs red.
“But it worked out better than we planned, didn’t it?” Stephan’s voice drips satisfaction. “Watching Andrei break, thinking his precious wife died protecting their sons fromoutside enemies…” A pause. “The fool never suspected the man he trusted the most ordered the hit.”
“Love makes men weak.Pizdets.” Aleksei chuckles. “The fool wasn’t listening to me after he became a father.Blyat. He turned into a pussy. But convincing him to separate the twins? ‘For their safety,’ I said. The grieving father, so desperate to protect his remaining family, he’d do anything—even tear it apart.”
“Time to finish what we started.” Stephan’s voice fades into static. “Send confirmation when it’s done.”
“Da.” The line goes dead.
The steel table crumples under my grip.
Vic’s hand on my shoulder stops me from crushing the speaker.
My jaw clenches so hard I taste blood. In the old days, traitors like these were fed to the dogs, piece by piece. But dogs are too quick, too merciful. I think of Elijah, Clara, of my mother, dying to protect her sons from a threat that came from within.
No. Dogs won’t do. I’ll take them apart myself, slowly, intimately. I’ll make them experience every moment of fear they inflicted on my family. And when they beg for death, I’ll remind them how they laughed about my son.
“Your move,” Vic says quietly, but I’m already reaching for my phone. It’s time to remind thesesvolochiexactly whose blood runs in Elijah’s veins.
TheVory v Zakonehas old rules about traitors. But for men who target children? We have special protocols. Ones that make the old punishments look like mercy.
