Page 56 of The Bratva King

“Okay. No point in trying to talk you out of it. Your mind is made up.”

“It is. I gave her the week off. She’ll need to hire a nanny.”

“Maybe I can bring Mila over,” Pasha says.

“Why?”

“To hang with Luke,” he says. “They should get to know each other.”

I’m not sure what I think about that. I know it’s normal. Kids play with other kids. I always had my brothers. Luke has Gabby.

“Yeah, sure. We’ll figure something out.”

He gets to his feet and moves to the windows. “You know this is going to get hot, right? Every dollar that used to flow their direction now flows yours. They don’t like the idea of you taking over.”

This almost makes me smile.

“It’s not taking over,” I say. “I’ve already done it. This city is mine.”

He chuckles. “Of course, you have.”

“Which reminds me. Henderson.”

“What about it?”

“I want to move on that property. The one we looked at in February. The old venue space off Water Street.”

He raises an eyebrow. “The Henderson property. You want to open another casino?”

“Not a casino.” I fold my hands on the desk. “A club. I’ve been watching what Maksim built in Miami for years. The revenue model is different, but the margins on the right club in the right location are significant. Henderson is growing. Younger people don’t want to mingle with the old farts who gather on the Strip. We can get the old and the young.”

“You want to take a page from Maksim’s book,” Pasha says.

“I want to expand intelligently.” I pause. “Don’t tell him that.”

Pasha grins. “My lips are sealed.”

“Pull the property details again. I want to look at the numbers this week. If it makes sense, I want to move fast. Before someone else gets the idea.”

“The Italians don’t have a real foothold in Henderson,” he says, thinking it through. “It’s newer. Less established territory.”

“Exactly.”

He nods slowly. “I’ll pull the file.”

He smooths the front of his jacket and starts toward the door. He’s halfway across the room when he stops and turns back.

“For what it’s worth, having a kid under your roof makes life interesting. In a good way.”

“Like?”

I try to remember Maksim as a child. Unfortunately, my life was very different back then. I struggled to get through a day. I didn’t have a lot of energy left to pay attention to my little brother.

“They talk a lot,” he says.

“Not Luke.”

Pasha offers a half smile. “Sounds like someone I know.”