Page 55 of The Pakhan’s Heir

“Rikki and Yeva are the people that he will always be able to trust. Always. They are and always have been the exception to the rule. If you want him in your corner the same way, well, you have to be someone he can trust with his life,” he says.

“How can I do that? I’m not his siblings. I’m…” I stop myself. The errant thought stops just behind my teeth. I’m just his wife carrying his unborn baby. “I’m an outsider, Kostya. I’ll never have the history that they do with him.”

“But you do have some history, right?” he says. “Open up to him. Make yourself completely vulnerable to him and then let him make the decision to accept you.”

The image of lions accepting a cub into a pack comes to mind. I’ve seen enough nature shows to know that it doesn’t always go well and cubs can easily be devoured in the process. “That sounds dangerous.”

“It is,” he says as he pours the hot water into his cup. “And you both know it. That’s why it will work. If he means anything at all to you, he will have to reckon with what it means for you to hand him your life. And that’s something he can’t ignore or fight or run away from. He will have to confront it, for better or worse.”

My jaw clenches automatically. It feels like he’s asking me to walk myself out onto a plank in the hopes that Alex will decide to pull me back in.

He steps away with his cup in hand. “Thank you for the tea. I’ve got to have a word with your husband.”

I watch him walk away and suddenly, I feel less like weeping and more like fighting.

Maybe I’ll be one of them in the end, after all.

20

ALEX

I’ve spent these last few hours preparing and planning. The attack on my brother must be answered, but more importantly, I’ve made a decision tonight that I didn’t think I would have to this soon into my time as Pakhan.

We’re in the dining room—the only room in my house with a table big enough to accommodate all of the brigadiers for this meeting—and I’ve listened to everyone’s reports as they’ve given them. Over the course of this day, more than half of our warehouses and businesses have been hit by the Irkutsks. At the moment, the casualties are few, but I expect that number to rise as this war goes on.

Slavik’s strategy is to try to spread us thin so that he can get an opening to come for my family. His only mistake was attacking Rikki and sending me that warning. My father always said that Slavik’s biggest flaw was the way he underestimates us.

Rikki is sitting at my left and Kostya to my right and we’ve already been making moves to protect and fortify my home. I don’t know where the final battle will take place, but I’m keeping everything I hold dear here in this house.

That means Yeva and Rikki will be staying here. At the moment, I’ve sent a small crew of Sixes to get her and bring her back. They’ve been gone about forty-five minutes. They’d better be walking through my door soon.

“He’s trying to bankrupt us,” Sergei, one of my brigadiers, says. He’s one of the older ones with a shock of white hair and a full, snowy white beard. “The noise he’s making is going to chase away business and bring attention to our stash houses. He means to cripple us before we can start.”

“He’d better work fast if he means to do that,” I say, “because I mean to shut him down. For good.”

The room goes quiet. Good. I want them to hear me.

“He killed my father,” I say. “Tonight, he tried to kill my brother. He will not get another chance to dismantle us. Not now or ever again. I’m prepared to wipe them all out if need be.”

“Hold on,” Sergei says. “Think about what you’re saying, sir. The Irkutsks are as old as we are, perhaps older. They have roots all over this country and in Mother Russia. To spend our resources on such a thing… We could end up with nothing at the end of this conflict.”

“I can’t deny that is a valid concern. But Slavik has gone too fucking far. Should I wait until he attacks my sister next? What would you do if were any of your families?”

They all adjust uncomfortably. “With all due respect,” says Kostya, “Slavik might be a low-down dog for what he’s done, but he is crafty. He will be expecting a full-on attack from you.”

I look over at Kostya, considering that. Slavik and my father were at odds since before I was born. He has been playing this game for longer than I have been learning it.

“All right,” I say slowly, thinking through strategies. “Then we’ll do the unexpected. The Irkutsks make the bulk of their money in the strip clubs and escort services. So, if he thinks he can try and take money out of our mouths, let’s see how he likes it when we return the favor.”

Smiles and nods all around the table. Even murmurs of excitement. Any chance that we can burn something to the ground, nine times out of ten, we are glad to take it on.

“We’re not going to just scare away customers and draw unwanted attention,” I go on. “I want every strip club and every cat house under his banner to be burned to the ground. Not only that, should any of the whores in his stable want to seek out new employment, let’s give it to them.”

“That’s positively diabolical,” says Rikki. “We’ll be up to our necks in Irkutsk pussy before the next week rolls in.”

“Good,” I say. I nod to Artem, who runs the few strip clubs we’ve got on our side. “Artem, I want you to handle the intake. Make room for them anyway you see fit. Even if that means expanding your own business ventures.”

He sits straight up and smiles, the curved mustache he sports twitching with glee. “Yes, sir.”