Page 24 of Savage Truce

At first, it was amusing, but Tim is the one who uncovered the factions that are plotting to overthrow me. For the time being, he’s keeping tabs on them.

Still, the kid is only seventeen, and I’m not too comfortable with the idea of him getting involved in the Bratva.

Once Rosie is back on her feet, I’ll have access to her exceptional hacking skills. She’s the best in the world, and I made sure that her services were part of the deal with the Cosa Nostra for delivering Yegor to them on a silver platter.

I’ll ask Rosie to talk to Tim, seeing as she’s his idol. Maybe once he’s older I’ll give him the odd job, but for now, I’d like him as far away from danger as possible.

Andrei pulls up to the airfield where the helicopter is waiting so we can fly out to a factory. I’ve heard a group of men took it upon themselves to hit Yelena Fedorova’s house out in the country and apparently took her and some other family members captive. I hope the report is wrong because I sure as fuck didn’t authorize the attack on Yegor’s family. If it’s true, the odds of them still being alive are slim. It’ll piss me off because it does nothing to restore order to the Bratva and will only incite Yegor’s associates even more.

Especially Sokolov, who’s Yegor’s best friend and the loudest of them all.

As the SUV comes to a stop, my phone rings, and digging the device out of my pocket, I see Atanas’ name. The corner of my mouth lifts as I accept the call from the head of the Bulgarian mafia.

“Volkov.”

“How are things after the showdown at the prison?”

“A little up in the air, but the dust is starting to settle.”

“I’m still in Moscow. Let’s get together,” he demands.

“Sure.” I check the time on my wristwatch. “When?”

“Tonight.”

“Dinner at my place?” I ask, knowing an invitation to my estate will show Atanas I’m fucking serious about building a relationship with him.

His tone sounds a little friendlier when he replies, “I don’t like vegetables. See you at eight.”

Ending the call, I stare at the screen of my phone.

“What was that about?” Andrei asks, pushing his door open.

As we get out of the SUV, I grin at him. “Atanas is coming over for dinner tonight.”

We walk to the eight-seat executive helicopter, and while Andrei takes the space beside me in the middle row, Sergei and two of my best men fill the other seats.

The blades start spinning through the air as we put on the headsets, and I decide to use the twenty-five-minute flight to check in with my five captains, each of whom controls a specific area in Russia.

While Andrei and I handle all international operations to ensure none of the alliances I’ve worked so hard to secure are compromised, the captains oversee Moscow, St. Petersburg, Southern Russia, Siberia, and the Ural Region.

Once I’m sure all the rogue groups who are doing their own goddamn thing and sowing destruction in the name of the Bratva have been dealt with, I’ll give the captains full control of their territories. So for now, my ass has been all over Russia to show the men who’s in charge.

Either they bend the knee, or they’re dead. There’s no in-between.

When the helicopter is set down at the front of the factory, I tuck my phone away and glance at the shithole.

“Blyadʹ,” Andrei says. “I don’t think this place can be salvaged and turned into a manufacturing plant.”

“Let’s just deal with the men, then we can decide what to do with it,” I mutter as I wait for Sergei and the two guards to get out before Andrei and I follow.

Dressed in combat gear, I blend in with the other four as we walk toward the entrance.

Two men are warming their hands by a fire, giving us curious glances, and the moment the one on the left’s eyes land on me, they go wide as saucers.

“Pakhan!” he shouts loudly, alerting the others.

When I stalk into the dimly lit factory, the acidic stench of piss and death hits my nostrils.