Page 3 of Used By the Bratva

I got revenge for you, priyatel' [buddy]. I will never forget you.

Boris cuts his gaze toward the grave. “He was a good man and watches over us now.”

I nod. “He was. Goddammit. We will raise a toast in his honor tonight when the family comes together.”

“At least you put the fucking bastard who killed him in the ground right after.”

The corner of my mouth twitches. “Slaughtered the entire family, too.”

Boris chuckles and turns back down the path, heading for the parking lot. “You did. I spent most of that night supervising the cleaners and making sure they scrubbed every drop of blood from that house.”

“Antonio never knew what was coming for him, like my brother didn’t.” I hold my head high, shoulders back, as I take one last look at the crying widows.

Their children stand behind them, but there’s a dull in the eyes of one boy. He looks as if he’s close to thirteen, standing tall and bearing the burden of the family, even when I’m sure he feels as if it’s going to fall apart.

I know that life well. Some boys are forced to become men faster.

This is a good thing. It means they won’t grow up weak. They will know what to do and do it without asking why. These are the kind of boys who will become the backbone of their family and hold it together when everything else falls apart.

I was that boy, and now I’m that man.

Boris leads the way to the waiting car, holding open the back door and waiting for me to get in. The chauffeur glances at me in the mirror. “Where to, boss?”

“Back to the house. I have business to deal with.”

Boris slides in beside me and closes the door with a thud. “Speaking of business, the fucking Mancinis were caught snooping around one of the warehouses in Manhattan. We found a body, one of the security guards, where the Mancini had been lurking.”

I lean back in the seat, waiting as Boris pours me a glass of whiskey from the decanter resting in the console. “Fucking Italians. And did you go after the Mancini men?”

“A few others were waiting for us. They thought it wise to lure our men into an ambush while we were receiving a shipment of cocaine. However, several of our men were injured in the fight.”

I slosh the amber liquid around the sides of the crystal glass, letting the flavors bloom before taking a sip. “And?”

“We killed the four Mancinis who thought they could attack us. I personally brought their bodies back to their territory.”

“Fuck yeah.” I lean back against the buttery, soft, black leather seat, staring out the tinted window as the city passes us by. “The only good Mancini is a dead Mancini.”

This is what we do.

This is our life.

If the Mancini clan wants to take the Bratva, we'll hit back twice as hard.

They want to start a war, a war they’ll get.

Chapter 2 – Natalie

I step out of the library, squinting against the bright sun that reflects off the skyscrapers. Manhattan is everything I thought it would be and more. Something about the hustle and bustle of New York speaks to me.

Getting accepted into the semester exchange program was a stroke of luck. Finishing my last year of university in New York instead of Russia is a dream come true.

Marina was crushed. She begged me vehemently not to go, but with my stubbornness and persistence, she didn't stand a chance. In the end, she accepted the fact that I was an adult, and there was nothing that could stop me. She transferred quite a generous sum of money to my account, and when I asked if it was from Boris, she just shrugged and shook her head. I didn’t push any further.

I pause momentarily on the stairs leading down to the busy sidewalk. People from all walks of life and all over the world pass in front of me, oblivious to what is happening around them.

At home, everyone looks more or less the same.

Here, everyone is different, and that’s wonderful. I love the diversity and the big city vibe. I don’t know how I will ever return to Russia when I know a place like New York exists.

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