Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Why this woman? Why now?” His blue eyes drop to the bread for a moment, and he picks at the crust before his gaze flicks back up to me. “We know what it is to lose a parent, you and I, do we not?”
“We are far from the only ones,” I scoff.
“She has kids relying on her, brother.” Vasya drops his voice and leans further across the table, his eyes oddly intent again. “We are like brothers, are we not, Ev? Your father took me in after my parents were killed. We grew up together. You taught me English when all I knew was Russian. We saved each other from boyhood scuffles and got into trouble together, and your dad beat our asses together. Even before you became pakhan, I was doing your dirty work so you could hide your scars in the shadows. Can you do this one favor for me? Go easy on the girl, she’s scared out of her mind.”
I watch Vasya for a long moment, wondering what the hell brought this on. Is he bargaining for Eva? Does he have feelings for her?
“She made her bed.” The practiced answer leaves my lips as I lean back again and close my eyes, dismissing the subject.
But Vasya won’t let it go. “I’m pretty sure that’s what she’s doing, yeah?” he says. “She’s locked up in your palace, surrounded by armed guards, and separated from her family who don’t even know if she’s safe…”
“I had the tech team call them with her voice telling them she’s safe and she’ll get in touch when she can.” I cut him off. We didn’t want her family to call the police and cause problems. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her sob story, Vasya. Don’t fall for her tricks.”
“Okay, so maybe they think she’s safe, but she’s still locked up tight.”
My annoyance gets the best of me, and I glare at my oldest friend. “I gave her the run of the house. What more does she need?”
“Maybe you can stop growling at her? Stop trying to scare her?”
“She should be scared,” Dmitri mutters from my other side as he returns to the table. I answer with a tight nod of agreement.
“Why are you defending her? I’ve never seen you take interest in anyone like this.”
Vasya shrugs as if waving off the implications of my question. “I know you were lurking in the shadows listening to us. You heard her. She did it to save her family, not because she was trying to take you down. Maybe that deserves a little bit of leniency, if not respect. You and I both know what it’s like to lose a parent and have all those expectations on your shoulders, people who are relying on you. You do what you have to. We go after bad guys, Ev. She’s not one of them.”
Vasya’s blue eyes are as intense as I’ve ever seen them, and my hackles rise again in response to something in their depths.
I don’t have a moment to figure it out. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the door open, letting light into the restaurant’s dim interior. Vasya’s gaze flicks to the door, and he hisses. He and I are both on our feet the next moment.
The sound in the room, every clatter and whisper, grinds to a halt, and all eyes are on the men who have entered.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to warn you, Evgeny Kucherov, you and your Bratva. We are coming for you.”
“What makes you think you can take us down? You and your Bratva are smaller and weaker.”
“Unlike you, Evgeny, I am a true vor. I made myself who I am in prison in Russia. I earned the three cathedral steeples tattooed on my chest. I fought and killed my way through the ranks, always keeping to the code. You don’t know what it is to be a true vor.”
“Evgeny was born with the stars on his shoulders, unlike you,” Vasya spits. “He’s the one who’s expanded the Kucherov Bratva, while all you do is petty theft and trafficking. You don’t know who you’re dealing with, Tsepov.”
“You came with your warning, and now I’m giving you one of my own. Do not take on the Kucherov Bratva, or you will be in for a world of hurt. I won’t stop with you, either. I’ll take the entire Sokolinaya Bratva down before I’m done.”
I expect fear, or at least false bravado, since this man and his Bratva have never taken on the likes of us before. Instead, a slow grin spreads across his face.
“That’s what you think, Evgeny. But I’d watch your back because you never know who’s coming for it.” Tsepov turns on his heel, snapping the order to leave before the surrounding men can make good on my threat.