Page 65 of Prey of the Bratva

“He stands beside me,” I added quietly. “Not in front of me.”

That changed something. I saw it and felt it, and the room didn’t explode this time. It shifted instead and grew a lot more subtle.

Ilana moved first, walking towards me. Her face was still expressionless, but her gaze never left mine.

“Does he treat you well?” she asked.

The question caught everyone off guard. Including me.

“Yes,” I said.

She nodded once. Just once. “He is my brother Misha, and I have never been very close with him, especially after everything that went down with Avgust. But one thing I know about Kliment is that he has loved me more than life itself all hislife, and the only reason he was against Avgust was that he felt protective towards me.”

“I know,” I whispered.

“But Kliment held our family together when we had no one. He took care of everyone and brought us to where we are today. He established us from the bottom, and I know that when he loves someone, he loves with his whole heart.”

“You cannot seriously be considering that he loves her, too?” Avgust asked, looking at his wife.

“I’m considering the fact,” Ilana said calmly, “that she’s alive even though Kliment wanted to kill her initially, and that says something.”

Elisse nodded slightly beside her.

“She’s right,” she said softly. “We can argue about everything else later.”

“Yes,” Timofey cut in. “Later. Preferably after we’ve dealt with the Russian trafficker running operations through our ports.”

That redirected it exactly where it needed to go. I didn’t miss the way Iosif’s attention sharpened again. Focused and strategic.

“Volkov,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Everything you told us—”

“Is real.”

“And Sidorov?”

“He is still active. Still moving shipments.”

Timofey exhaled slowly. “Well. That’s… unpleasant.”

“Understatement,” Zhenya muttered. “After everything that happened with Ilana and god knows how many more women, we need these two men gone.”

Avgust stopped pacing, and his attention shifted towards me.

“If Volkov is behind this,” he said slowly, “then this isn’t just your problem anymore.”

“No,” I agreed. “It isn’t.”

Iosif stepped forward again, but this time it wasn’t a confrontation. It was a decision.

“We will obviously help you in this mission, Misha. That is, if you want us to,” he said.

The words landed quietly, but they carried everything.

Avgust nodded once, sharp but resolute. “We finish it together.”