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“The Pakhan’s the head of the Russian mafia, right? Like Nicholas is Don?”
“Yes, that’s right. His name is Igor Vasiliev. You’ll meet him, in time.”
She looks a little uncomfortable at that. “I will?”
“Yes, he’ll want to meet the woman I’ll be marrying. Courtesy demands I bring you with me to brotherhood meetings. The wives lounge around speaking to each other while the men talk business. You’ll love it,” I say teasingly.
Her nose wrinkles in distaste. “No thanks.”
“Unfortunately, that can’t be avoided. While we’re gone, I’ll ask one of my men to come in here and give you a rundown on the members of the Bratva. At least the ones of importance that you need to be aware of before being presented.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” she drawls, flipping her brown hair over her shoulders. “Any other homework I need to get to?”
“Yes. Try to work on the sass,” I state.
“No promises.”
I shake my head, fighting a smile as I gesture at Ruslan to tell him we’re leaving.
“See you later,krasavitsa.”
“Sure. Bye Ivan, bye Hulk.”
Ruslan makes a soft grunt of annoyance as we walk out of the living room. He pretends otherwise but I’m pretty sure she’s growing on him. Lucia’s endless charm and warmth is impossible to ignore.
“Anything new to report?” I ask on the ride to the Pakhan’s home.
It’s crucial I have all the information I need before walking into his house. Considering I’m supposed to know everything, I can’t very well be left in the dark.
“Our sources have confirmed that Zelensky will be at the meeting today,” he informs me.
“That’s bold considering the Pakhan is already aware of his betrayal. This should be interesting.”
“What do you plan to do, sir?”
“I’ll see if Igor has the balls to do anything about it. Zelensky traded with the Yakuza using Bratva supplies without the Pakhan’s permission. If the Pakhan doesn’t do anything about it, then I’ll step in. Anything else?”
“We still can’t find your brother,” he states apologetically.
I was utterly unsurprised when Alexei managed to ditch the men I had following him and went off the grid a few days ago. I was expecting him to pull a stunt like that, but it bothers me. I would have expected him to go straight for Lucia as soon as I couldn’t find his whereabouts. Then again, she’s been watched at all times in the villa so it can’t be easy to reach her. I’m still uneasy, though.
“Ensure that Mika doesn’t let Lucia out of his sight today,” I say, in reference to one of the guards I left behind to watch over her.
“He has his orders, sir.”
We arrive at the Pakhan’s home. Instead of heading to his office like I usually would, I head to the large ballroom in the mansion instead, where I find a full-blown party. Every one or two months, the Pakhan’s hosts this event to supposedly bring the Bratva together. But really, it’s held to weed out weaknesses and secrets. The men in the Bratva are required to bring their significant others to events like this.
As soon as I appear in front of Igor to greet him as is customarily required, a frown blossoms on his face. He’s surrounded by two of his most loyal commanders, two men who hold a lot of power in the Bratva. Yuri and Damien are both middle-aged men in their fifties who seemingly have nothingbetter to do that to reel in as much wealth as they can and kiss the Pakhan’s ass.
The older one of them Yuri Zakharov is a loud, boisterous man who makes it no secret that he despises me and would get rid of me given the chance. Damien Morozova is the more gentle one of the two. He stays under the radar most of the time and I’m not privy to a lot of information regarding him. He’s the smartest one of the bunch, but still, something about him just rubs me the wrong way.
“Ahh, Ivan. We were just talking about you,” Igor begins, his brown eyes trailing over my face. “I was telling Roman how excited I am to meet your new Italian wife.”
“Unfortunately, Pakhan, she won’t be joining us today. She’s feeling a bit ill.”
His eyes make it clear he’s not buying into my bullshit.
“I see. Only a few days in your home and she’s already falling ill. Your company must not agree with her,” he says sharply.
