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My hand tightens on the gun.All this time, I suppose I’d always known. But hearing it out loud… I feel vindicated in my rage. I also feel as though someone’s breathed new fire into me.
“What else?”
“I don’t know the details. I only know this much because I overheard it. Boris always brags that he only lost one man, but the Bugrov Bratva lost the head of the snake.”
I scowl. “Except that Sobakin didn’t and still doesn’t understand something about the Bugrov Bratva: you cut off one head and another grows in its place.”
I raise the gun a little higher. Akim closes his eyes and breathes out softly.
It’s that one act that changes my mind—the fact that he doesn’t beg for his life. He prepares himself for death like a man, not a coward.
Time ticks past. In the background, I hear the wheeze and cacophony of one of the warehouse rafters giving way to the heat.
One eye peeks open. Akim realizes that my hand has dropped and the gun is no longer pointed at him. “Y-you’re not gonna shoot me?”
“No.”
“Why not?” he asks suspiciously.
“Because you gave me what I wanted.”
He looks even more confused now. “I barely gave you anything.”
“You confirmed something I’ve been grappling with for years. Thanks to you, I have clarity and purpose. Well—renewed purpose anyway.” I take a step towards him and he flinches back instantly. “But remember one thing, Akim: if you ever cross me again inanycapacity, I will pull the trigger.”
He still looks skeptical. “Sobakin would never let me live.”
“I’m not him.”
He bows his head. “I… I can’t thank you enough.”
“Then don’t thank me at all. Leave before I change my mind.”
He stumbles away, refusing to turn his back on me. Only when he’s several feet away from me does he turn and start running as fast as he can.
“That’s a first.”
I turn around and find my brother staring at me with raised eyebrows. “It’s just like you to get here when the party’s over.”
He smirks. “I knew you had it covered.” Then his eyes veer past me. “And I was mostly right.”
“It was Sobakin. He was the one that killed Mother and Otets.”
Nikolai’s jaw clenches tight. “I could’ve told you that. In fact, Ididtell you that.”
I shake my head. “You had a suspicion. You never had proof.”
“Did we need it?”
“Yes,” I hiss. “Yes, we fucking needed it, Nikolai. You think I want to start a war with a powerful Bratvapakhanfor shits and giggles? You’d think I’d risk my men, my family, for the sake of my ego?”
Nikolai holds up his hands. “Fine. But now, you know for sure. What are you gonna do about it?”
“Kill that motherfucker once and for all.”
Nikolai smiles. “For once, Uri, we’re on the same page.”
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