Page 26 of The Virgin I Desire

“To be a pakhan you need to be ruthless,” said another who was sitting at a table further away.

“Do you have any doubt I am?”

“It's one thing to kill your unarmed brother, it's another to lead the entire Russian mafia. Your father was a clever man who ran the business for almost forty years. You're just...”

“What am I?” I gritted my teeth, looking at him with a repressive posture.

“Young.”

“I'm not a kid anymore and I've been working in the mafia since I was ten. I'm sure I've seen and done everything necessary to be in this role.”

“We're counting on that.”

“Get real.” A man in the background began to laugh as he twisted the cap of the bottle of beer he had finished drinking between his fingers. “I can't believe we're here taking this bastard seriously. He doesn't deserve to be in this position. Without Igor we should...”

The sound of a shot echoed inside the club room and the men gathered there alternated their gazes between the barrel of my gun and the body of the man who fell lifeless on the table, forming a pool of blood on the wood that flowed to the floor.

“Do we have any further objections?” Sergei asked the men before I spoke again.

They shook their heads and murmured among themselves for a while longer until they stopped talking.

“Excellent!” I put the gun away and maintained a serious and proud posture.

“Pakhan.” Another of them raised his hand, catching my attention.

“What is it?”

“Will the division of territories and the supply of drugs remain the same? Your father had promised that me and my family...”

“We have a new territory to designate.” I pointed to the man I had just sent to hell. “With the exception of this, the rest will continue as before unless any of you want to challenge me.My father and the others before him may have made promises, but they are no longer here and now I am the one making the rules. If you don't agree, I'll do my own redivision.”

He was silent, but his expression and his gaze made me realize that he had understood the message I had to convey.

“Can the girls come down?” One of them asked, referring to prostitutes.

Sergei looked at me and I nodded. If they already understood my message, they could have fun.

From the back of the room, one of the men got up and walked over to me, stopping in front of me and catching my attention.

“I'm sorry, sir.”

“What you want?” I raised my head and looked the gray-haired man up and down.

“I am...”

“I know who you are, Vladimir Frydorov.”

“Yes, of course.” He opened a disconcerted smile. “I would like to extend an invitation to welcome you to my home in Saint Petersburg. I have a seventeen-year-old daughter who may be of interest to you.”

“Maybe at another time. I have a lot to take care of in this transition phase.”

“I understand. On another occasion, then.”

“Yes.”

I turned my back and walked out of the room when the prostitutes started to come down. The soldiers and Sergei camewith me. As soon as I got into the back seat of the car, the counselor dared to speak again.

“His daughter could be a good wife.”

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