Page 4 of My Ex’s Dad

I slam the door shut behind me and don’t waste a second. Before the adrenaline can crash and I’ll be reacting to this betrayal, I get my phone out and text my friend Jenni, asking if I can come over.

She won’t mind. She’s never liked Roman, and she especially hasn’t been fond of him pressuring me to consider the loan he’s been pushing on my parents.

I shake my head as I get back into the cold outside.

Jenni will let me stay with her. And she can hear me out about all of it. How my best friend and boyfriend betrayed me.

“You’re doing me a favor, Roman,” I snarl to myself. I don’t have time to waste on a cheating boyfriend or a friendship with a liar.

“It’s a new year. New me,” I vow with vehemence, taking one angry step at a time to return to the subway. It’s time to make the most of it.

The End

2

ANTON

Blood sprays from the man’s mouth. The enforcer doesn’t stop there. On the other side of the tinted window, the deadliest Sokolov soldier raises his arm and strikes the traitor again. This time the rat’s head lolls to the side, hanging down as he strains to breathe through the blows.

“I didn’t do it!” he cries seconds later, red dribbling down his mouth, a tooth clinging crookedly. “I didn’t steal it!”

The enforcer pivots toward the window, aware I’m watching. If there were any mercy to grant this man, I’d rap on the glass and signal a pause.

I don’t. I don’t move toward the wall that partitions me from the latest defector in the organization. Witnessing enforcement isn’t something I need to do. It’s not even something I care to bother with anymore. Every man in this family has earned my trust, from the spies and bookkeepers who flagged this supervisor for embezzling Bratva money to the guards and soldiers who beat our enemies before finishing them off. I trust them all.

Viktor, my long-standing assistant and former bodyguard, approaches from the other side of the small viewing room in the basement of this restaurant, one among many that we operate.

I spare him a cursory glance, intrigued by what has him smirking so smugly. Yet the punishment being doled out in the other room holds my attention too. I won’t confess that this kind of justice pleases me, and watching this asshole get what he deserves is mildly entertaining.

Not much keeps my interest these days, anyway. After ruling one of New York’s most powerful crime families for twenty years, I’ve fallen prey to boredom.

“Well?” I ask.

Viktor faces forward, watching this man get his due for stealing from the family. He doesn’t need to supervise the punishment either, but since I’m here, he’s faithfully at my side, like always.

“That call I stepped out to take confirms that they’ve recovered most of the funds,” he replies.

“Good.” Sometimes it takes days, weeks even, to retrieve stolen funds. That’s one of the pains of digitized banking. But I have full confidence in the men working for me, like everyone else in the family does, especially those in the control rooms operating the maze of our computer network.

“I also received a call about Roman.”

I stare ahead, blanking my features at the mention of my son. My only child. My heir.

The one person who has yet to earn a speck of my trust or respect.

Roman Sokolov should be a prince in this city, next in line to rule and wield all the wealth and power I’ve amassed over the last two decades. Instead of proving himself in any way, he garners my attention only when he inevitably screws up and needs my help.

“Now what?” I ask, deadpan.

“He was partying uptown last night,” Viktor replies, no-nonsense about it. I can’t tell if his tone is this blunt because it’s far from the first time Roman’s fucked up and made a mess he can’t clean up himself, or because he’s just as annoyed with the idiot as I am.

“Color me surprised,” I mutter.

“It’s not as bad as the debacle over New Year’s Eve,” Viktor quips mildly.

I arch one brow, facing forward as the enforcer hits the man again. “Not as bad?” I huff. “It’s a fucking waste of my time to expect anything but bad from him.”

Viktor nods, well-versed in my attitude toward my son.