Page 73 of The Bratva King's Claimed Bride

I pick up the empty whiskey glass and hurl it against the wall. It shatters into tiny pieces, and I clench my fist. I use my arms to sweep everything off my desk in a fit of rage.

I take the bottle of whiskey and leave the room, going to drink it alone in my bedroom.

The days pass in a drunken blur. Three days after the meeting, I’m stirred from my drunken sleep when Yvonne pulls the curtains open. “Get up.”

“Go away,” I moan, turning over.

She opens the curtains on that side as well.

“Yvonne, I’m not in the mood.”

“You’re never in the mood, but you have an important business meeting today, and I promised Matvey I’d get you up for it.” She stands with her hands on her hips.

I sit on the edge of my bed and put a hand on my head. “I have a headache.”

She turns and picks something up and comes toward me. She hands me a glass of cold water and two tablets. “Here’s something for the headache, and a greasy English breakfast is waiting downstairs for you to help with the hangover.”

I take the tablets reluctantly, and I’m pleased when she leaves. I finish off the glass of water and set it down before I go to shower. The water wakes me up a bit, but it does make my stomach feel like it’s flipping around.

I get dressed and run my hand through my hair. My beard is getting unruly again, but I can’t be bothered to trim it. Everything seems pretty pointless without Arina.

I take the stairs two at a time as I come downstairs to the dining hall. Yvonne and Matvey are both there already eating.

I sit down, and Marie brings me a plate of food—fried eggs, French toast, baked beans, fried bacon, a chop, and three fried sausages.

I don’t really feel like eating at first, but once I am underway, my stomach feels better for it.

Yvonne looks at me. “I’ll book a trip to the barber for you. You need a shave again.”

“I can shave myself,” I mumble.

“Then why don’t you?” she asks.

I glare at her and go back to my food.

Matvey doesn’t say anything, but when it’s time to leave for the meeting, he opts to go in his own car, and I’m thankful he does. I don’t feel like entertaining my little siblings at the moment.

Alfie is sitting up front, and he turns around to hand me a folder. “The Estiva family. They own a lot of apartment buildings around Las Vegas, not to mention several businesses that hide their money laundering. They want to go into partnership with a resort.”

“Arina dealt with this,” I grumble.

Alfie falls silent, probably unsure what to say that won’t set me off. It’s best he just stays quiet.

I go over the reports in the folder and then put it beside me.

“Who from the family are we meeting today?” I ask.

“Paulo De Sousa. Everyone refers to him as the asshole, so he might push your buttons. We can always ask Matvay to handle this.”

“No, I will deal with this asshole. Matvey can just stay and watch.” I look out at the passing scenery.

When we arrive at the resort, I go upstairs to the fifth floor, where the offices are. I pass Arina’s dark office, and my heart sinks further. I go past my own office and straight to the board room, where three men are waiting.

Matvey walks in after me and nods. “Paulo, Luke, Matthew. This is our leader, Igor Sidorov. You may refer to him as Mr. Sidorov for now.”

I sit opposite them and look at them. “You propose to put in half a million dollars toward my new resort for thirty percent of the profit. That new resort cost me almost eight million dollars. You clearly don’t do math very well.”

Matvey puts a hand on my arm, but I yank my arm away. “You are insulting me if you think that I would give so much up for so little.”

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