Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 130(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
“You called this meeting, Morello, I suggest you start talking.”
“I want the girl,” Vincent said. “The girl, and everything goes away.”
Alexey shook his head. “You want everything to go away. The girl lives, she stays with me, and you remove the price you have on her head.”
“Not going to happen. That bitch killed my son.”
Alexey smiled. “That bitch saved my fucking life.”
He saw Vincent’s hands clench into fists.
“I wonder if you have told the rest of your crew that you’re choosing a war your son started. I mean, Frank, was he really a good boy? Last I heard, your little clan was getting tired of all the bullshit and trouble he had breathing down his neck.”
Alexey watched Vincent, and it was then he realized that Frank was acting on his own once again. Vincent was treating this as an attack.
Alexey laughed. “They don’t know, do they? They don’t know that the girl you seek to kill helped them all. Killing Frank stopped them from killing me. It was an attack on the Baranov Bratva and nearly destroyed our very unstable alliance.”
“It was not her place.”
“But you didn’t give the order, and it was not Frank’s place to be there,” Alexey said. “There is only one way this will go, you back off and leave the girl alone. You keep coming, and you’re going to regret it.”
“I could just kill you now,” Vincent said, but his hands were still at his sides.
Alexey smiled and took one step in front of another, then another, until he was toe-to-toe with the man in front of him.
“Go ahead, do it. Do you think that will end well for you? If you kill me, you think my boys will let it go unpunished? I’m not my father, Morello. I’m no coward. You’ve got too much political bullshit to make that call.”
He stared at Morello, and he didn’t back away.
Alexey never thought it was going to happen, but he watched as Morello finally looked away. Vincent Morello was a coward. He was happy to play the big man when he thought he was the only big man around, but he was nothing.
Alexey stood his ground and watched as Vincent Morello went back to his car, climbed in, and then pulled away.
It was not a very promising meeting, and it pissed him off that Vincent had wasted his time.
Less than ten minutes later, Alexey caught sight of Makar’s car coming toward him. His friends arrived, and from the look on their faces, they were not happy. They looked pissed off, as they all climbed out of the car, including Nikolai.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Igor asked.
“Do you think you can do this on your own?” Nikolai asked.
“Nothing happened.”
“You’re lucky nothing happened.” Makar glared at him. “If he had killed you, then what?”
“He wasn’t going to kill me,” Alexey said. “He wanted to make a deal.”
“We all know what kind of deal he wants to make, and it’s not the good kind.” Nikolai shook his head. “I didn’t think you were this much of a fucking idiot.”
“Easy,” he said. He was not going to allow his friends to call him names.
“You could have died. He could have killed you.”
“He wants Jane,” Alexey said.
“We all know he wants Jane. She had the balls to do what no one else ever has. She fucking killed him, and it was fucking beautiful,” Makar said.
Alexey laughed. His friends adored Jane. There was no way they were going to let her go.
“He will always try and get Jane,” Nikolai said. “It doesn’t matter what happens.”
Alexey looked between his friends. “I could marry her.”
Everyone looked at him, and Alexey waited for them to weigh in on his decision.
“Don’t you think that is a little extreme?” Makar asked.
“No. if I marry Jane, that makes her Bratva property. We all know Vincent has to go through the proper protocols with his little fucking clan. They must agree on everything, and right now, no one would agree to put a hit out on a Bratva bride.” It also meant he could marry Jane, which is exactly what he wanted.
“Dude, marriage is, like, real,” Makar said. “It’s not a game.”
“He’s not playing a game,” Igor said. “He’s not making this suggestion to help Jane. He’s making it because he wants to marry her, don’t you?”
Alexey looked between his friends, and at first, he didn’t say a word, then he nodded. “Yes, I want to marry Jane.”
“Marriage is permanent,” Nikolai said.
“Well, is it really? He could get divorced,” Makar said.
“No, if he marries Jane, he sticks with her. We all know this,” Nikolai said. “I guess what we need to know is what do you want to do?”
“I want to marry Jane,” Alexey said. “She’s mine. I’m not giving her back. Without even knowing me, she killed for me, and you can’t buy that kind of loyalty. No one can.”