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“Then we’re all in agreement,” I replied with a curt nod.
“Business settled,” Ivan agreed.
“Not quite… On an entirely different note, this wedding of yours,” Sergei started, raising an eyebrow as he turned his eyes on me. “When were you planning to put it to a family vote?”
Ivan chuckled, his gaze twinkling with amusement. “Yeah, Maxim. Planning a wedding without us? What if we had other ideas? Maybe a nice ballet performance instead of a band, eh?”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t keep myself from smiling. “I think Riley would prefer if we kept the ballet out of the wedding plans,” I scoffed. “But don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to weigh in, especially on the vodka selection.”
“Good, because you know we wouldn’t let you live it down if the vodka was anything less than perfect,” Ivan added with a laugh, clinking his glass against mine.
Just as Sergei was opening his mouth to rag on me some more, the front door of the Iron Wolf Tavern slammed open.
Three men dressed in suits burst into the bar, their shoes thudding against the wooden floor as they entered. Their guns were already drawn. The bar fell silent, the atmosphere turning from jovial to deadly in an instant. All eyes fell on the intruders, and I took the briefest moment to study them.
The leader of the three had a scar tracing from the underside of his right eye all the way to his jawline. The other two looked just as fierce standing behind him, one tall and lanky, the other one short and stocky.
I glanced at my brothers.
Sergei’s face hardened as he subtly reached under the table for the gun he kept hidden there. Ivan’s eyes narrowed, coolly assessing the situation as he reached for his weapon. I stood slowly as my hand reached into my suit jacket where I had a 9mm of my own stowed away in a holster.
“Gentlemen,” I began, my voice calm but cold, “this is a private establishment. I suggest you bring your business elsewhere.”
“Mikhail Orlov sends his regards,” the leader said as he stepped forward. He held up his gun, aiming it right at my head but I didn’t back down. Instead, I just stood my ground.
I had a reputation to protect.
“What do you want?” I sneered.
“We know you’ve got the girl, Morozov. Riley, isn’t it? You think hiding her will keep her safe from answering for Gregor’s death?” the leader scoffed, his disdain for me clearly written all over his face.
That’s alright.
The feeling was mutual.
The leader cocked his head as the two soldiers behind him smirked.
“Blood for blood,” the tall one murmured.
“I’ve seen her. I bet she’d scream so pretty under the boss’ knife,” the stocky one said.
I saw red.
I wanted these men dead on my floor for even daring to think about touching my future wife. They’d never put a hand on a single hair on her head.
Over my fucking dead body.
I wrapped my fingers around the butt of my gun. The fabric of my suit jacket felt cool under my fingers as I slowly pulled it out, my gaze never leaving the three men.
Sergei stood next to me, his frame rigid with palpable anger, but he had reasons all of his own to be angry.
“This is Morozov territory, and we don’t let harm come to women under our protection. Especially not to satisfy some vendetta,” he declared, his voice thick with disdain. There was just the slightest amount of grief in his tone, but that was only because he was my brother, and I knew him well.
He’d lost someone very special to him to revenge a long time ago and he still bore the scars from that loss.
“If you think you can take her,” I said, my voice low and deadly, “you’ll have to go through me. I didn’t hesitate to kill Gregor and I won’t hesitate to kill all of you.”
Ivan’s hand clamped down on my shoulder, his grip firm, holding me back. I resisted for a moment, but his hand tightened, and I gritted my teeth.
