Page 1 of The Bratva King's Twins

Chapter 1 - Ari

The thick smell of smoke and freshly sparked gunpowder traveled through the air, greeting me as I shoved out of my office and moved down the hall with urgency.

Shouting came from the distance, along with the volleying gunfire, both inside and outside the building. I listened closely as I loaded my pistol and cocked it, mouth fixed in a scowl. Unfortunately, it was nothing new.

It was another raid, no doubt. The second one in less than a year.

There was something about being a Levov that seemed to draw the other families, both major and insignificant, like flies to shit. Apparently, the warehouse had a big red target on it, begging for the others to try and bring us down.

But try as they may, it always ended the same way.

The guys were already on it, calling out commands according to rank and gunning down any men trying to enter the building. They shot on sight, working hard to not let any of them get away.

So long as they wanted inside our house so badly, they could die there, too, right on the cold concrete for all I cared.

They were nothing but cannon fodder, and regardless of who their families were or who they worked for, it didn’t affect me. If they were stupid enough to work for someone willing to send their men into a Levov den, then in a sense, they already had it coming.

More shooting rang out inside, and I spotted flashes of light on my left side from where I stood on the second floor. Positioning myself over the railing, I fired down below, knocking down one of the assailants as they tried to sneak in.

The other beside him fell after, pulling my attention to the metal platform across from me.

There stood Benedikt, having the same idea. He winked, I scoffed, and we both descended our respective staircases.

He was a good shot, at least.

More shouting came from the south side of the building as our men flooded out, and we followed in tow, picking off whoever we could find.

It seemed we had missed the initial showdown, given how the moment we reached outside, the surviving assailants peeled away in their vehicles, leaving behind anyone who was either dead or dying still. Their tires squealed, trying to get away without being caught in the middle of the chaos.

“Send a unit after them!” I shouted, gesturing to a group of our guys, who all nodded once and ran for the nearest SUV.

“That’s too bad,” Benedikt said, sucking his teeth in slight disappointment. “I was hoping to get more practice in.”

“There’s always the firing range.”

He shrugged. “It’s not quite the same as real, moving targets.”

“We’re lucky we have the forces we do,” I muttered in return, tone laced with a slight warning. “The faster they’re taken care of, the less damage they do, and the less money we have to shovel into fixing this place.”

“Andrei wouldn’t whine about a few hundred grand going into renovations. He’s used to it.”

“And I am not Andrei, unless you’ve forgotten,” I began, giving him a side-eye. “His resources here are a lot more abundant than what we had in Russia. Forgive me if I got used to counting every dollar.”

Benedikt sighed, clicked the safety on, and absently scratched the back of his neck with his pistol. “Don’t remind me. You were on my back about every little thing.”

“Speaking of, get me the details on who did this, will you?”

Toeing the line between brother and subordinate, Ben gave me a disinterested look. “That’s what Lukyan is for.”

Narrowing my eyes at him, I let that authority come through, even if it was undercut with slight amusement. “I don’t care who reports back—just make it quick. I’d like to know what bastards decided to halt our productivity today.”

“Alright,” he said with a sigh, pulling out his cell as he walked away. “Lukyan it is.”

As the others collected intel and did the usual running around to get things organized again, I made my way over to the attackers' point of entry. Assessing the damages, I found myself scowling all over again.

A handful of our men were down just outside of the north wall, right where someone had cut through the steel wall and forced their way through. From there, it seemed their guys had piled in with their weapons drawn. Fortunately, they only made it so far.

I couldn’t understand what would’ve given them the idea that they could successfully infiltrate our operation and take whatever they wanted.

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