Page 75 of Bought By Sin

Now, though, it was time to see what these two miserable idiots could tell us.

We went through the other doors to reach the innermost room of the building. I rapped my knuckles four times on the solid slab of metal that made up the door.

Markus didn’t delay in stepping out at the specific knock that would mean my arrival. He exited the door, and while it was cracked open for him and another Bratva dungeon master to slip out, moans of pain trailed out after them.

I crossed my arms and regarded his stoic, gargoyle-like face. The man was a hulking nightmare of death personified with eyes like rocks of coal and a scowl worthy of a cursed demon.

“Are they talking?” I asked.

He nodded. “Rueben.” He tilted his head at the other man, prompting him to speak.

“One’s a defector from a Cartel near the Gulf. Other one’s a fugitive who escaped a maximum-security prison in Texas. Both of them were recruited by Yusef Antonov.”

“In a new group?” Adrik asked. “What are they even calling themselves?”

“In that compound?” Rueben asked with a shrug. “They didn’t specify. It sounds like they all see themselves as one under Gregori’s influence. Or under Antonov’s.”

“What else?” Alexei asked, impatient as ever.

Rueben detailed what they had revealed, and I was sure it wasn’t easy for them to get the answers out of them at first. The blood splattered all over the apron-like coverings they wore suggested that much.

“They’re being trained to serve as an army of sorts. But there’s no organization among them. They’re all equally expendable, there to do the dirty work, and the range of what’s expected of them varies.”

“Like what?” I asked Rueben.

“Breaking and entering where they can, especially at the bosses’ residences of lateral and small families. Theft. Burglaries. If it’s something to bring in more money, they’re doing it,” Rueben said.

I glanced at my brother and Adrik. “He’s doing it to further his income?” I guessed.

“Maybe to invest the capital into a bigger plan of attack,” Adrik said.

“If he’s been so busy bribing and buying out Feds and politicians, that won’t be cheap,” Alexei said.

“Some of them are trained to infiltrate and then establish revised enforcement cells,” Markus said, taking over for Rueben. He didn’t talk much, but he wouldn’t leave anything out between the two of them. “They’re sent to get an in with federal agents and arrange cells in the city. Radicals, too. Whatever it takes to bring them into the cult of working for this network.”

“Local law enforcement? Or only federal?” Alexei asked.

“Both,” Rueben answered. He continued explaining, saying how there are multiple groups of men assigned with courting the favor of those who claimed to be loyal to the law and order of society. Based on the names of sheriffs, deputies, and commanders that they mentioned of the San Diego, Los Angeles, and Reno areas, they were trying to form a whole front against us in the Las Vegas area. Rueben name-dropped a few others who were near us, but I wasn’t worried about taking notes or remembering any of it. All that they did in that disgusting torture room was recorded on the cameras hidden in there. We could play back through the audio and have a list prepared of whom to look out for.

“It’s going to be much harder to address such a scattered approach,” Adrik muttered as the conversation hit a pause.

Alexei shrugged, nonplussed. “Then we diversify how to handle the pressure from law enforcement.”

Uncle Dmitiri had faced similar issues before. Rivals could try to attack us and our business by cranking up the heat on us. Anything from having our bartenders arrested, setting up stings with undercover agents to catch our dealers, and paying for a trick to have our prostitutes taken in near our brothels. It wasn’t anything new, but it was a pain in the ass to have to count on more trouble from the law. It would interfere with business as usual, intended to compromise the prosperity and wealth of our empire.

Satisfied with Markus and Rueben’s report so far, we discussed what the two captives shared a little more. It sounded like Gregori was instructing Yusef to put the most pressure on us from so many different angles so we’d be distracted.

From what, I didn’t want to know.

I was still convinced deep down that Gregori was playing the long game to come back and take the throne of the Volkov Bratva for himself. Like he’d tried and failed to do so many years ago by planting that bomb that killed my grandparents.

All that we’d learned from these two at what seemed like a concentration camp to convert criminals and defectors into Gregori’s henchmen was a huge help. The information would enable us to try to stay one step ahead of the enemy. But in this case, it seemed like we needed to be several steps ahead in a variety of directions.

“It won’t be like handling the Cartels,” Adrik mused, rubbing his chin before heaving out a deep sigh. “We won’t be able to count on this being done after one counter-attack.”

“If we even knew where to attack,” Alexei said.

That was probably why the network was multi-faceted like this.